Cody Keenan: Speech Writer and Former Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama

Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People

Guy Kawasaki

Documentary, Society And Culture, Management, Evangelism, Innovation, Remarkable People, Education, Society & Culture, Apple, Silicon Valley, Writing, Technology, Marketing, Guy Kawasaki, Entrepreneurship, Self-improvement, Pitching, Social Media, Business, Macintosh, Speaking

4.6 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2021

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You'll be blown away with this interview with speechwriter Cody Keenan, former Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama. President Obama said he relied “on Cody not just to share my vision, but to help tell America’s story.” “He’s a brilliant writer," Mr. Obama added. “He’s relentless.” Listen in as Guy Kawasaki talks to Cody about his years working at The White House this week on the Remarkable People Podcast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In my years of entrepreneurship, I've seen countless startups. And here's the truth.
0:07.3	Smart spending drives growth, which is something Brex has championed. Brex isn't just a corporate credit
0:14.0	card. It's a strategic tool to help your company achieve peak performance. Corporate cards, banking, expense management, all integrated
0:24.1	on an AI-powered platform that turns every dollar into opportunity. In fact, 30,000 companies
0:32.9	are trusting Brex to help them win. Go to brex.com slash grow to learn more.
0:48.8	I'm Guy Kawasaki and this is remarkable people.
0:53.0	This episode's guest is Cody Keenan.
0:55.8	Cody was Barack Obama's director of speech writing from 2013 to 2016.
1:01.9	Imagine what it must have been like to write speeches for Barack Obama.
1:06.6	Actually, you don't have to imagine.
1:08.9	He's going to explain it in this episode.
1:11.6	He has a degree in political science from Northwestern University.
1:15.0	After graduation, he worked as an unpaid intern in Ted Kennedy's office.
1:19.5	Then he got a master's in public policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of
1:24.6	Government.
1:25.8	In 2008, he worked in the Obama presidential campaign.
1:29.5	He began his work in the White House as a presidential speechwriter in 2009. His next position
1:34.9	was special assistant to the president and deputy director of speech writing. Then in 2013,
1:41.1	he became an assistant to the president and the director of speech writing.
1:44.9	He is currently a partner at Fenway, a speech writing and strategic communications firm.
1:50.2	He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern.
1:53.5	By the way, take a look at his LinkedIn profile.
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