A professionally dressed man in a navy suit with a light blue tie, standing with arms crossed against a gray background.

Stephen McKenna

Strategic & Executive Communications

Reach Out

Mastering the Message.

Elevating the Voice.

I’m Steve McKenna, trusted communications advisor to Fortune 500, government, and nonprofit leaders. I’m passionate about using the art and science of persuasion to move audiences to action. Here’s what I can do for you:

Areas of Expertise

Strategic Communications Planning & Implementation

Executive Communications

Complex Subject Matter Synthesis & Translation

Audience Analysis & Targeting

Stakeholder Engagement

Speechwriting

Public Speaking Coaching

Beyond Ordinary Communications

As the founder and former chair of a university media and communications studies department, I bring uncommon rigor to strategic and executive communications. My background researching and teaching rhetoric and persuasion inform every piece of content I create, ensuring messages that inform, influence and inspire action.

Recent Projects

Keynote speeches for a national labor executive

Senior Executive Service narratives for leaders at the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Training series in strategic writing for managers and executives

Interviews, research, & writing for a state arts council history project

Strategic counsel to an international university building its first communications curriculum

Memoir development & editing for a leading research psychologist

I draw on the rich tradition of classical rhetoric, blending political and ethical wisdom with practical communication tools that inform, engage, and motivate. I harness the inherent powers of language to build winning arguments, compelling stories, and fluid style tuned to the speaker, subject matter, moment, and target audience. A writing project Swiss Army knife, I’ve crafted potent language for speeches, public testimony, annual reports, feature articles, book manuscripts, organizational self-studies, strategic plans, marketing copy, grant proposals, video scripts, white papers, web and blog content, internal communications, and more.

Rhetoric is a body of teaching comprising two thousand years of practical wisdom about how human beings respond to spoken and written language. It supplies a trove of principles and tools for the tactical art of persuading, but also for understanding the human dynamics that make strategic communication truly strategic. Rhetorical methods guide me to what technically works while often yielding surprising insight into challenging subjects and situations. Clients regularly tell me that my consulting not only makes them better communicators—it helps them understand the problems they face in new and productive ways.