Photo: Chuck Kennedy/The White House

BY ARON HIRT-MANHEIMER, 9/25/2019

From 2009 to 2017, Sarah Hurwitz served as a White House speechwriter, first as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and then as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. She is the author of Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life – in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There).

ReformJudaism.org: You and Michelle Obama come from very different backgrounds. How did you capture her voice?

Sarah Hurwitz: I’ve found that what matters most in speechwriting isn’t sharing the same background or life experiences as the person you write for, but rather, sharing the same sensibility about what makes a good speech. And on that front, Mrs. Obama and I were in complete agreement that good speechwriting is about using personal, authentic, vivid language and telling memorable stories. And the best speeches are always an answer to the following two questions: What is the deepest, most important, most helpful truth I can tell at this particular moment? And, how can I tell this truth in a way that my audience can receive it?

Read the full interview at ReformJudaism.org