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‪This article analyses the work conducted at the Élysée Palace to prepare and stage the French President’s responses after terrorist attacks. Little is known about how Presidential communication is developed in practice. The article compare the events of January 2015, November 2015 and July 2016. The study is based on interviews with Élysée staff between March 2015 and April 2017 as well as on internal documents and notes produced during the period to which we were given access. It highlights three main dimensions in the writing of the speeches, each of them corresponding to different images of the president. The President first appeared as the leader who reassures its people and tries to make sense of what happened. He then put himself forward as the father of the nation, unifying the citizens and providing a safe space for expression. Finally, he more strongly impersonated a politician defending his term record. More broadly, the results show how the President’s public speaking was constrained by a number of factors such as the repetition of attacks, the electoral agenda, or the reactions of other actors including the opposition. Those indeed impacted quite substantially the common framework one can draw from the analysis of the speeches.‪