Obama speech writer to visit Weymouth (From Dorset Echo)

Obama speech writer to visit Weymouth

10:30am Tuesday 31st March 2009 in News By Martin Lea

THEY were the speeches that inspired a nation and helped Barack Obama to a historic victory and become the first black president of the United States.

Now people have a chance to meet the man who helped to craft the president’s powerful rallying cries – including his victory speech in Chicago which was one of the most widely-watched and repeated political addresses in recent history.

Jacob Rigg, who worked as a speech writer on the Obama campaign, will be sharing his wisdom during a visit to Weymouth. He will be giving an insider’s view on how the election was won and running a workshop for anyone interested in lobbying or changing opinion.

This will include examples of the effective techniques used by the Democrats to revive politics in America.

London-based Mr Rigg, 27, worked as an election campaign consultant and lobbyist after university.

He runs his own economic research and lobbying group and his previous experience includes helping to run Chris Huhne’s campaign for the Liberal Democrat leadership in 2007.

Mr Rigg said: “I had known people involved in the US election campaign for a while and jumped at the chance when I was invited to help out on the writing side.”

Mr Rigg said the key to a great speech is ‘observing the humble things in ordinary people’s lives.’ He added: “There’s also a lot of work about the rhythm of how we speak and the use of language.

“I’ve got ideas from a diverse range of sources including the Simpsons, even an advert for La Coste.

“The writer Philip Pullman said: ‘Read like a butterfly, write like a bee,’ and that is so true.

“The key is keeping up with a huge range of sources and information and try to make it applicable. But a speech has a more poetical bent than a hard information bent.”

Mr Rigg said he was struck by how ‘still and calm’ Mr Obama remained in the midst of a media storm.

“He’s able to step back and evaluate before coming up with something. He doesn’t panic. Also, as a writer he’s phenomenal,” Mr Rigg said.

The visit has been organised by Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for South Dorset Ros Kayes who is a family friend of Mr Rigg.

Mr Rigg will be running a workshop at Weymouth College on Saturday April 18 at 5pm with a further presentation at Emmanuel Church, Southill, at 8pm.

Tickets are £2.50 for the afternoon and £5 for the evening.

Contact Gill Taylor on 01305 779936 or email: gilltaylor@weyportlibdems.co.uk