When the audience has to be moved.

Speaking

Cody has written and delivered enough speeches to know exactly what makes a bad one. He tries not to give those.

His talks draw on more than twenty years at the center of American political and executive communication — the Obama White House, the campaign trail, the boardroom, and the classroom. He speaks from experience, not from theory. The material is specific, the stories are real, and the talk is built around the audience in the room.

Cody’s commencement addresses at NYU in 2015 and Northwestern in 2018 were highlighted as some of the year’s best, and in 2020, Northwestern’s graduating class of seniors voted for him to deliver their “Last Lecture.” In 2025, he delivered the commencement address and earned an honorary PhD at Salve Regina University.

Past topics include:

Author Talk: “GRACE: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America”

Based on his New York Times bestselling debut memoir GRACE, renowned speechwriter Cody Keenan shares his dynamic account of the ten most dramatic days of Obama’s presidency. Keenan, whose collaborations with Obama have been compared to the works of Abraham Lincoln, had a front-row seat to the key moments in Obama’s White House, and offers a stunning account of this key moment in history.

Idealism and Impatience: Reasons for Hope in Today’s Political Landscape

Drawing on his fourteen years as a speechwriter for President Barack Obama, Cody Keenan sheds light on the often disheartening nature of contemporary politics, and the importance of staying engaged in our democracy and optimistic about the possibility for change. A candid and compelling talk, chock-full of personal anecdotes about his own rise through the White House ranks, Keenan discusses what happens when youthful idealism and inspiration go up against the hard reality of a cynical and divisive politics — and why those values are, in fact, more important than ever before.

The Crisis Timeline

Every leader will face a crisis at some point. Cody has been in those rooms — after massacres, after failures, after the kind of days when there is no good version of the statement. Here, he offers a framework for communicating with clarity and humanity when the stakes are highest and the margin for error is zero. You’ll also learn how to help your organization manage the mess, protect your reputation, and even alter the timeline to prevent a crisis in the first place. In this presentation, Cody takes the audience through three types of crises his team handled in the White House, then reveals the tricks of their “Pre-Crisis” unit that averted many more.

The Art of the Speech — and Why It Still Matters

Every few years, someone declares that the speech is dead — killed by AI, social media, the 24-hour news cycle, or the fact that nobody's attention lasts longer than a clip. And then a speech changes something, and we remember why it matters. Cody makes the case for why the discipline of public rhetoric — finding the right words for the right moment — is more important now than it's ever been, and what leaders at every level can learn from the speeches that worked.

Executive Communication in a High-Stakes World

Most leaders are trained to inform. The best ones learn to move people. Drawing on his experience preparing leaders for the highest-pressure communication moments of their careers — and on the mistakes he's seen and made along the way — Cody explores what separates the messages that land from the ones that don't, and why the gap is almost never actually about the words.

Speechwriting as Leadership

A leader who can't communicate their vision can't execute it. Cody makes the case that speechwriting — the discipline of figuring out what you believe, for whom, and why — is one of the most essential and underrated leadership skills in any organization. Done right, the process of writing a speech forces a clarity that nothing else does.

Writing the Obama Presidency: An Inside Account

The stories behind the speeches that defined an era — what it took to find the right words when the wrong ones would be remembered forever. An audience-favorite talk that is equal parts memoir, master class, and accounting of what it actually looks like when history gets written one draft at a time.

People participating in an outdoor interview or discussion, with a woman holding a microphone interviewing a man, while others watch. The scene is set against a modern building with a large digital screen displaying text, under a partly cloudy sky.
A man with curly gray hair and a beard, dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt, and black tie, speaking at a podium in a wood-paneled room. There is a microphone attached to his suit and a teleprompter in front of him.
Panel discussion on stage with seven people seated in a circle, with a large screen above displaying the words "Words that Changed the World" and a megaphone graphic. The setting is a grand room with ornate architectural details and colorful lighting.
A large audience seated in a theater watching a presentation on stage. The presentation slide shows a man in a suit with the word 'STORYTELLING' at the top.
A man in a blue suit is speaking at a podium during a conference at the World Knowledge Forum 2025. A woman is sitting to his left on stage, with large white letters spelling '2025' behind her. The stage background displays the event's branding and a large screen showing a close-up of the speaker.

  • “Cody's performance in the Intelligence Squared event 'Words That Changed the World' was utterly brilliant. He was articulate and compelling, and we have had incredible feedback from our audience telling us it was the best event we have ever staged. It was a privilege to have a real White House insider to tell us about the fascinating process of crafting great presidential speeches.”

    — Intelligence Squared

  • “He was a fantastic speaker, the students loved him, the questions wouldn’t stop. He was personable and simply a delight to have on our campus. More colleges would benefit from his presence and insight. His message of simply getting involved is exactly what we like to see.”

    — Collin County Community College

  • “Cody was a huge, huge hit. I received a ton of incredibly positive feedback. Overall, a complete home run. I look forward to working with your team again.”

    — Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

  • "Cody stole the show at our global corporate affairs gathering. He brought his warmth, richness of experience, and incredible sense of humor together to give us the guidance we needed to cultivate authentic storytelling. I was not surprised to see that he rated the top speaker in our program."

    — Hilton Hotels