James Holtje

Biography

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 New York; The McGraw-Hill Companies, consulting firm RGP; as well as the head of emerging payments at MasterCard and UNESCO’s Director General.

He joined Stern in 2024 after previously guest lecturing at Stern’s EMBA Strategic Communication program as well as teaching PR writing at NYU SPS’ Integrated Marketing and Communications department.

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 additionally coaches Japanese executives and government officials at CBS’ Center on Japanese Economy and Business (CJEB).

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 and the UNESCO Director General.

Holtje previously worked more than a decade at Siemens AG, including as a CEO speechwriter in New York 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 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 and as The McGraw-Hill Company’s Director of Public Affairs & Speechwriting where his primary responsibilities included speechwriting and executive communications for the 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 handled various Fortune 500 accounts, including: Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Deutsche Post, Eli Lilly, Walmart, and others.

The author of seven publications—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. He’s currently planning an eighth book on business speechwriting and classical rhetoric.

Holtje earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in political science and German literature from New York University (CAS) and a Master of International Affairs (MIA) from Columbia’s School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA).

During his master’s degree studies, he interned at the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) and the Office of the United Nations Secretary General at UN Headquarters in New York City. Holtje is fluent in German and speaks basic French, Italian, Spanish, and studied Latin. He and his wife, a Taiwanese businesswoman, live in NYC.