The Secret Behind Every Great Speech, According to Obama’s Speechwriter? The 50/25/25 Rule

Every generation has its great political communicators. There was Winston Churchill in the 40s, JFK and MLK in the 60s, and Reagan in the 80s. My generation had Barack Obama. 

Whatever you think about his accomplishments, just about everyone can agree that as president, Obama was a mesmerizing speaker. But he wasn’t always able to hold a room spellbound. In fact, working as a community organizer early in his career, he bombed as hard as any of the rest of us. 

What changed? According to his former speechwriter, he learned one profound truth about public speaking that can be summed up with just three numbers — 50/25/25. 

Obama wasn’t always an amazing speaker

In his new book Say It Well, Obama’s former speechwriter Terry Szuplat — currently a speaking coach to high-profile CEOs — related a story Obama told him about pitching a group of philanthropists at the tender age of 24. 

“I had not written down my remarks. I felt like I could go into any room and just sort of wing it, which was a bad mistake,” Obama recalled to Szuplat. “There are a bunch of people in suits. I’m looking a little raggedy and a little out of place. About four or five minutes into my presentation, I just started freezing up. I lost my train of thought.”

“I was terrible,” he concluded. “I felt a little bit of flop sweat and hemmed and hawed, and got stuck, and was not particularly coherent.”

Which will be entirely relatable to many business leaders who struggle with public speaking. So what changed between then and 2004, when Obama gave the electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention that launched his national political career? 

A whole lot of practice, of course (sorry, no speaking tip or trick will save you from simply putting in the hours). But Szuplat claims that the most essential piece of the wisdom Obama gained through all that hard work can be summed up by something he calls the 50/25/25 rule. 

Why the 50/25/25 speaking rule is so powerful

On the surface, the 50/25/25 rule is simple — for any speech, no matter the type, venue, or timeline until delivery — you should spend 50 percent of your time researching, organizing, and outlining, 25 percent of your time actually writing, and 25 percent editing and practicing. 

Whether you have a month or a couple of hours to prepare, you should always divide your time along these approximate lines. 

This seems hardly revolutionary at first glance. Just about every speaking guru under the sun stresses the importance of practice. And everyone knows you’re not going to deliver a persuasive speech if you don’t know what evidence or stories you will use to convince your audience. 

But Szuplat insists the 50/25/25 rule is about more than just reminding speakers not to skimp on preparation. The important thing, he points out, is the ratio — you need to spend twice as much time reflecting as you do writing. 

That’s because, as Szuplat explained on LinkedIn, “the best predicator of whether we’ll give a good presentation is not what we do at the podium… It’s the preparation we put in before we ever get near the podium – the work we do before we ever write a single word.” 

Conviction is the best speaking hack out there. 

By the time he became president, Obama understood that knowing what you want to say is more important than rhetorical tricks or slick delivery (though don’t get me wrong, everyone acknowledges those are definitely valuable too). 

Szuplat once asked him directly what makes a speaker truly effective. Obama, he reported on the HBR IdeaCast podcast, answered: “effective public speakers are people who are sure of their core convictions.”

At 24, Obama was smart and charming. But he didn’t yet know what he believed in or why it was important. That’s why he melted down into a sweaty mess. By the time he got to the White House, he had learned that if you know with clarity what you are trying to say, it’s far harder to get derailed. 

And that’s what actually makes the 50/25/25 rule so valuable. It reminds you that what matters most for successful speaking is knowing what you stand for, and that lots of reflection is the only way to get there. 

“I encourage people, if you have to give a presentation in a week, a month, or a few months to sit down with yourself, maybe with your team, if you have one, if you’re a business leader, and go through… what you’re trying to achieve, what is my mission? What is my vision?” Szuplat advises on the HBR podcast. 

Yes, these can be big, scary questions. And yes, doing this may feel uncomfortably close to going to therapy. But spending half of your available preparation time on getting clear on your values and message is “what great leaders do and that’s what great speakers do,” Szuplat insists. 

And that’s what the 50/25/25 rule reminds you to do.