The Chicago Tribune offers some insight into the Obama-Favreau speechwriting team, which emphasizes crafting speeches as stories.

“You and I always tell a story pretty well,” the president reportedly told Favreau, and I think that’s a nice way to look at the process.

Also, I nominate David Axelrod for head of the speechwriters’ union:

“I’ve never worked for a politician who values words as much as the president does,” Obama senior adviser David Axelrod said. “The speechwriter is an unusually important person in the operation.”