Rob Friedman

Former senior director of executive communications—Eli Lilly and Company

Sessions:

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• Panel: Tips for writing your best “big speech”
  Track 2

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• Breakfast and brainstorming: Tips on how to take the next step in your career
  Track 1 + Track 2

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• The art and craft of speechwriting: How to persuade, motivate and inspire audiences—and get results
  Pre-Conference Workshops

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Rob Friedman got his start in the late 1980s at Ragan Communications, editing Speechwriter’s Newsletter and teaching workshops on various forms of business writing. While there, he worked with Larry Ragan to put together the first national speechwriters conference. Friedman went on to become a speechwriter for Ameritech and the American Medical Association, then spent more than 20 years at Eli Lilly and Company, the last nine as senior director of executive communications. At Lilly, Friedman wrote for three CEOs and other senior executives—speeches, op-eds, annual reports, video scripts and the occasional bar mitzvah toast. For more than 30 years, Friedman has instructed thousands of professional communicators from around the world in speechwriting, storytelling, TED Talks and more. He is now an affiliate consultant with Ragan Consulting Group.