A speechwriter is someone paid to write the speeches that another person will stand up and deliver as their own. Presidents, prime ministers, mayors, company bosses, and anyone else who must speak often and well hires one.

A speechwriter isspeechwriter就是 someone paid to write the speeches領錢寫演講稿的人 that another person will stand up and deliver as their own讓另一個人站出來、當作自己的話發表。Presidents, prime ministers, mayors, company bosses總統、總理、市長、公司老闆 and anyone else who must speak often and well還有其他常常需要好好演講的人 hires one都會請一位speechwriter。

The speaker gets the credit and the applause; the speechwriter stays invisible. That invisibility is part of the job, not a secret — everybody knows leaders have speechwriters, and nobody considers it cheating.

The speaker gets the credit and the applause上台講的人得到功勞和掌聲；the speechwriter stays invisiblespeechwriter則隱身幕後。That invisibility is part of the job, not a secret這種隱身是工作的一部分，不是什麼秘密——everybody knows leaders have speechwriters大家都知道領袖有speechwriter，and nobody considers it cheating也沒有人覺得這是作弊。

Still, English keeps a slight edge available: if you want to suggest a politician has no thoughts of their own, you say 'that was his speechwriter talking'.

Still不過，English keeps a slight edge available英文還是留了一點諷刺的空間：if you want to suggest a politician has no thoughts of their own如果你想暗示某個政治人物沒有自己的想法，you say你可以說 'that was his speechwriter talking'「that was his speechwriter talking」（那是他的speechwriter在講話）。

Good speechwriters do more than arrange words. They have to learn one particular person's voice — their rhythms, their favourite phrases, the jokes they can land and the ones they cannot — and write so that nobody hears the writer. Some of the most famous lines in modern politics were written by people whose names almost nobody knows.

Good speechwriters do more than arrange words好的speechwriter做的不只是排列文字。They have to learn one particular person's voice他們得摸透特定一個人的說話方式——their rhythms這個人的節奏，their favourite phrases常用的說法，the jokes they can land and the ones they cannot哪些笑話講得出來、哪些講不出來——and write so that nobody hears the writer寫出來要讓人聽不出撰稿人的痕跡。Some of the most famous lines in modern politics現代政治史上一些最有名的名句 were written by people whose names almost nobody knows是幾乎沒人知道名字的人寫的。

In American usage it is one word, speechwriter; British writing sometimes hyphenates it as speech-writer, and both are accepted. The activity is 'speechwriting'.

In American usage美式英文裡 it is one word, speechwriter是連著寫的一個字，speechwriter；British writing sometimes hyphenates it as speech-writer英式寫法有時會加連字號寫成speech-writer，and both are accepted兩種寫法都可以。The activity is 'speechwriting'這件事叫做「speechwriting」。