I must admit, I was pretty impressed on Thursday as I listened to Barack Obama give a speech from Cairo mainly directed towards the Muslim world. Intended to heal and build bridges but also articulate the positions of the new administration, it was an excellent example of skilled rhetoric at work.

An effective speech consists of a talented orator, which Obama is (appropriately placed pauses, punctuating hand gestures, fluidity and quality of tone) and great content. Great content is defined by impactful, resonant and concise messages, relevancy to the audience (in this case, multiple quotes from the Koran), allegory and anecdotes (references to his own personal connections with Islam).

I have been writing speeches for years and it is one of my not-so-secret pleasures in the world of public relations that I get to do this from time to time for a variety of speakers. The key to good speech-writing, as I learned long ago working with an ex-speechwriter for Pierre Trudeau, is not to only compose good text but write it as though the person who will be giving the speech would have said these words naturally.

Capturing tone and style is easier, of course, when you have a naturally gifted speaker like President Obama. Assuming his “voice” in a speech is made simpler because he has a definite mastery and approach that a truly good speech writer could capitalize upon.

Obama has a couple of very talented speechwriters in his roster, and the architect of this particular speech was Ben Rhodes, the MFA-in-Fiction-bearing staffer who specializes in foreign policy. His creation was a smart blend of analogy and historical reference, solidly based on some clear position statements, what we would call key messages. I loved it especially for its simplicity, which is also crucial when you know you are going to be translated into other languages (at least 13 by the State Department itself).

But I also thought it was particularly successful because it came across as authentic and genuine, not just statements being made for the sake of political expediency, but because they were meant and will be acted upon. And we all need a little more of the real thing.