Helping global leaders and organizations shape the story behind their work.
I turn complex material into clear, structured messages —whether it’s a speech, strategy or story arc.
Photo Courtesy: Kiara Worth - COP28 - 2023
I’m Brent Kerrigan, a Strategic
Story Consultant.
I help turn competing ideas and scattered messages into a clear story arc — whether it’s about a person, a purpose, or the direction an organization is headed.
That might mean preparing a keynote for a policy or product launch, refining a message to stakeholders, or turning complex material into an op-ed, strategic narrative or public-facing message.
My background includes years of executive speechwriting and strategic communications across governments, the private sector and the United Nations — including serving as Head Speechwriter at UN Climate Change (UNFCCC).
I’ve also supported clients with ghostwriting, messaging development, and presentation prep for high-visibility events and publications.
I’m based in Geneva and work globally with clients who value precision, discretion and clarity.
My approach is collaborative and calm — built around deep listening, strategic insight, and helping people find the message that matters.
My Core Services
Exclusive Speechwriting for Exceptional Leaders
Keynotes, panel talks, internal communications, and high-stakes speeches: crafted for impact, clarity, and tone that feels true to the speaker.
Ghostwriting & Thought Leadership
Op-eds, articles, lectures, and long-form content that capture your voice, elevate your ideas, and position you with authority.
Narrative Strategy & Message Clarity
Advisory sessions, message development and story shaping for leaders, teams, and businesses navigating complexity or change.
A Strategic Voice Through Unprecedented Change
From 2017 to 2023, I served as Head Speechwriter at UN Climate Change (UNFCCC) — a role that went far beyond speeches.
In those six years, I helped shape, steer and sustain the organization’s internal and external narrative through some of its most turbulent and high-profile transitions:
The first U.S. withdrawal from — and return to — the Paris Agreement
The emergency relocation of COP25 from Santiago to Madrid
The global pandemic and its impact on diplomacy and public communication, including the organization-wide adoption of video-based speeches and messaging.
A change in leadership across three Executive Secretaries, including a caretaker term
Formalizing and launching the Paris Agreement Work Program
Sensitive shifts in tone and messaging during a serious health challenge faced by a sitting Executive Secretary
In moments like these, the challenge wasn’t just what to say — it was how to communicate continuity, credibility, and purpose across disruption.
That experience informs how I work today: helping leaders and organizations find clarity inside complexity, and shape a story that can carry them forward.
What I Bring
I’ve spent my career helping leaders, organizations, and institutions find the story behind their message, and then shape it into something powerful, clear and human.
For more than six years, I served as Head Speechwriter at UN Climate Change (UNFCCC), where I wrote the narrative arc and external messaging for the organization and worked with three different Executive Secretaries on high-stakes, high-visibility speeches.
Before that, I spent nearly two decades crafting messages for governments, NGOs, multilateral institutions, and senior executives across different sectors.
Throughout it all, I’ve seen the same pattern: leaders and organizations doing meaningful work, but struggling to express it clearly — especially when the stakes are high or the audience is complex.
My work is about bridging that gap: turning dense material, competing messages and scattered insights into a story that lands and is remembered.
Essentially, I turn messaging chaos into clarity.
Today, I work as a Strategic Story Consultant, combining speechwriting, narrative strategy, and ghostwriting to support clients around the world — from Geneva to Berlin to Mexico City to Washington.
A few quotes I’ve co-created…
António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, Petersberg Climate Summit, 2020
“These are dark days, but they are not without hope.”
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC, 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement
“The Paris Agreement is a covenant of hope with humanity.”
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC, One Planet Summit
“Trying to address climate change at current financing levels is like walking into a Category 5 hurricane protected by only an umbrella.”
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC, Address to the Vatican
“If we truly want to make the fundamental, transformative changes necessary to address climate change, perhaps what we need is not a physical ark, but an ark of ambition.”
Who I Work With
Photo Courtesy of Kiara Worth - 2024
Every message has an audience. I work with leaders who want theirs to land — on the record, in the room, and over time.
CEOs & Business Leaders
Clear messaging for high-stakes speeches and visibility moments; especially for leaders working in English as a second language.Government Officials, Diplomats & Multilateral Leaders
Strategic narratives and speech support that connect across borders, build trust and move global conversations forward.Sustainability & NGO Leaders
High-impact messaging on climate action, global development, biodiversity, ocean conservation and sustainability leadership.
Read Unscripted: My Reflections on clarity, story
and how leaders communicate.
I write about clarity, voice, and how leaders communicate with meaning — on the page, on stage and in the moments that count. Get it here.
Let’s Make Your Message Land
Whether you’re preparing for a keynote, shaping a bigger story, or trying to bring clarity to a complex message — I’d be pleased to hear more.
I offer short advisory sessions, speechwriting and editorial support, and longer-term consulting.
I’m based in Geneva and work globally.
Please use the form below, and rest assured: You will not be added to a mailing list.
I respond personally to all inquiries within 24 hours and will respect your confidentiality.