The Round Table: A YVote Podcast

Speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz unpacks when and why a line like “When they go low, we go high” (which Michelle Obama wrote herself) is so powerful.

Sarah Hurwitz underscores that what people remember is stories and images, not adjectives. Think about how Michelle Obama started her 2016 Convention speech. She didn’t say, “on my daughters’ first day of school at the White House, I was anxious and scared and worried.” She said, “on my daughters’ first day of school, they climbed into those big SUVs with all those men with fins and I saw their little faces pressed up against the window and I asked myself, what have we done?” That image conveys sooo much more.

Sarah Hurwitz shared that tbe second great truth of effective speechwriting is say something true. Often people will try to think what will make me sound smart or funny or powerful or what does the audience want to hear but your first question should be what is the deepest and most helpful and most important truth that I can tell right now. I think about then Senator Barack Obama’s first line in the DNC in 2004 : “Llet’s face it. My presence on this stage tonight is pretty unlikely.” And then he went on to talk about his Kenyan grandfather. NO consultant would have advised him to do this. But he got up there and shared who he truly was and people were electrified by that. They felt he respected them enough to tell them the truth.

Sarah Hurwitz shared the key truths of really good writing The first is writing that sounds like a human being would actually say it. You have NEVER turned to a friend and said, “hey, do you want to leverage our platform to catalyze a zoom call tonight?” or turn to a family member and say, “I just think hardworking American family values are the heart of our country”. That’s not how people talk. She underscored that if you wouldn’t say something to one person, don’t say it to many people. It actually doesn’t get better.

Sarah Hurwitz shared that people often ask her how she nailed Michelle Obama’s voice in speeches she’d write for her. Sarah notes that what she thinks people are REALLY asking is how did you, a white Jewish woman “get” the voice of a black woman when you have very different backgrounds? Sarah notes that while it’s true that they have very different backgrounds, they have a very similar sensibility about what makes good writing and good speaking. It comes down to touching people and moving them emotionally. Spending a lot of time with MO to get her voice also helped

So HOW do you write a speech for someone else—esp someone famous and iconic? Sarah Hurwitz shared that the key is to know them and their voice really well and to listen very carefully.

Sarah Hurwitz LOVED working w Michelle Obama. Michelle stayed true to herself rather than saying or doing things for political expediency. She never wanted to give some boring, weedy, wonky speech—she wanted to tell people stories, and touch their hearts, and honor their struggles, and make people feel seen and heard and respected and admired. Sarah considers MO her speechwriting soulmate and feels she won the lottery working with her.

Sarah Hurwitz shared her journey to becoming an (ace) speechwriter. After a bumpy start—and a number of campaign losses—she was hired by then-Senator Barack Obama’s campaign. She ended up being “loaned” to Mrs Obama to write her convention speech in ‘08. She was so compelled by MO’s warmth, smarts, and “relentless authenticity” that she took a “demotion” to work for the First Lady instead of the First Man

At this week’s Round Table, Inica, graduating podcaster Julianna, incoming podcaster Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Sarah Hurwitz, author of “Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life — In Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There)” Sarah Hurwitz was a White House speechwriter from 2009 to 2017, starting out as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and then serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. No, she didn’t write the iconic “when they go low, we go high” line but she did write a lot of other great ones! She provided us with incredible insights about how she became a speechwriter, what it takes to write and deliver an effective speech, why she went from speechwriting to writing a book about Judaism--something she found super boring as a kid, and, yes, what it was like to work so closely with Michelle Obama (spoiler alert: we should all be so lucky…) Thank you for joining us!

Riya Mehta shared her views that there isn’t l anything wrong with having “anyone but Trump” be the Democratic Party’s unifying call right now. She noted that ultimately, the focus of America is the middle class, the working class, and that’s what Trump and Biden are battling for. While she doesn’t feel Biden was the best choice for the Democratic Party in terms of its future goals she noted that if there was ever a time for Biden to be a nominee, now is it because as more people from GenZ vote, she finds it hard to see a future in which America does not become more progressive. As such, she doesn’t see this nomination as as much of a setback as it may seem.