James Holtje

James Holtje has been in the speechwriting, corporate communications, and adjunct teaching arenas in the U.S. and overseas for more than 30 years. His experience includes speechwriting for the CEOs of IBM; Siemens AG in Munich, Germany; Siemens USA in NYC; The McGraw-Hill Companies; consulting firm RGP; the head of emerging payments at MasterCard International as well as UNESCO’s Director General.

Holtje has been teaching speechwriting and public speaking at Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) since 2016 and won SIPA’s 2019 Outstanding Teaching Award as well as several SIPA Annual Top Five awards, among other honors. He’s also previously taught at NYU’s Stern School of Business and NYU’s School of Professional Studies.

He additionally coaches Japanese executives and government officials at Columbia Business School’s Center on Japanese Economy and Business (CJEB); Columbia’s Obama Foundation Scholars Program; SIPA’s Institute for Global Politics (IGP) Scholars Program, as well as visiting Advocates from Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights.

A frequent speaker at speechwriting and communication conferences, he most recently led workshops and addressed the Professional Speechwriter Association’s World Conference in Washington, D.C. (Georgetown University); as well as the European Speechwriter Network conference at Oxford University (Brasenose College) and an ESN conference in The Hague (NL).

In 2023, he founded Speak Up International LLC, a New York City-based consultancy specializing in communication coaching for non-native English speakers. The firm is currently working with the CEO of Siemens AG in Germany, the UNESCO Director General in France, as well as a former Latin American-Caribbean head of state, among other clients.

Holtje previously worked more than a decade at Siemens AG, including as a CEO speechwriter for Klaus Kleinfeld in NYC and at the company’s global headquarters in Munich, Germany. His three-year overseas delegation in Munich included writing the global CEO & Chairman’s English-language speeches, Op-Eds, annual report shareholder letters, and other executive communications. 

Before returning to Siemens in 2021 to write for the CEO of Siemens Digital Industries, Holtje headed corporate communications, public relations, and thought leadership at RGP, a management consulting firm spin-off of Deloitte Consulting serving 86 of the Fortune 100. 

Holtje also previously served as a speechwriter to the Chairman & CEO of IBM, Ginni Rometty, writing numerous internal and external speeches, video scripts, and other communications.
He later headed the Writing Center of Excellence at IBM’s Global Technology Services, the world’s largest IT infrastructure provider.

Prior to IBM, he served as the speechwriter to the head of emerging payments at MasterCard International and as The McGraw-Hill Company’s Director of Public Affairs & Speechwriting where his primary responsibilities included speechwriting and executive communications for CEO Terry McGraw.

Prior to entering corporate communications, Holtje worked at several public relations agencies and consultancies, including Brouillard Communications as well as Cohn & Wolfe where he managed various Fortune 500 accounts, including: Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Deutsche Post, Eli Lilly, and others.

The author of seven books—including The Power of Storytelling: Captivate, Convince or Convert Any Business Audience Using Stories from Top CEOs, published by Penguin Prentice Hall and Divided It Stands: Can the United Nations Work? for Turner Publishing—he recently wrote the text for Cathedrals of Industry: Exploring the Factories and Infrastructure That Made America, a photography book published by Abbeville Press in 2024 with a foreword by Nobel Economics Laureate, Joseph E. Stiglitz.

Holtje earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science and German literature from New York University’s College of Arts & Science (CAS) as well as a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) in international political economy. During his master’s studies, he interned at the Office of the UN Secretary General as well as the US Council for International Business (USCIB), both in New York City.

A board member of Brave Generation, a Yale University-based nonprofit helping educate and train Ukrainian youth for the rebuilding of their nation, he’s additionally a member of The Authors Guild and Professional Speechwriters Association. Holtje is fluent in German and speaks basic French, Italian, Spanish, and studied Latin. He lives in NYC with his wife, a former businesswoman from Taiwan.

Education

• Master of International Affairs (MIA), Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
• BA in Political Science, New York University