#023 Dex Hunter-Torricke, Head of Communications for the Facebook Oversight Board - Foundation Building

My first guest of the season, Dex Hunter-Torricke, has had a very rich career! He is currently the head of communications for the Oversight Board, the independent body that makes binding decisions on Facebook’s most challenging content issues. Earlier in his career, Dex has worked with leaders across the tech industry and politics, including as head of communications for SpaceX with Elon Musk, head of executive communications for Facebook - including four years as speechwriter for Mark Zuckerberg - and as Google’s first executive speechwriter, where he supported CEO Eric Schmidt (which is how we first met). Before that, he was a speechwriter for the office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Dex is also a New York Times-bestselling ghostwriter and frequent public speaker on technology issues. In fact, I highly recommend you watch his recent TEDx talk called How to Change the World - A Practical Guide Our conversation was fascinating! We start off our chat talking about how Dex had a career plan which he thought would be linear and in the public sector. Then he realized he could have just as big of an impact, if not more, in the private sector. This was a realization that I too had in my career bridging academia and technology. So Dex shifted from government into tech, starting off at Google, where everything was very fast-paced. He and I exchanged some stories about how in those early years of the company everything you volunteered to help with you ended up owning by the end of the day. Our conversation then goes into the key differences between business and tech in the US and Europe and how the generational divide, geographical and linguistic boundaries affect our work- since Dex and I have both worked in Silicon Valley and Europe across careers. I then asked Dex to talk about what it’s like to write for some of the most quoted executives in the world. He said ‘’you're not trying to invent a voice, you're trying to unearth it’’ and ‘’figuring out what they really believe in''. This part of the conversation was very profound for me. And I couldn’t resist the temptation to ask him about all the speeches he’s written that have never been used. You’re definitely going to want to stay tuned until the end of our chat when we dive into his current role as the Head of Communications for the Oversight Board Administration, why this organization exists and the foundational issues it's trying to address. There are no easy answers and that made this part of our chat particularly fascinating! You’re not going to want to miss a minute of this! Let’s dive in! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ann-hiatt/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ann-hiatt/support

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This podcast is for ambitious people, just like you, who want to create a life and career that is full of adventure, learning and fulfilment. I'm Ann Hiatt and for the past 18 years I have worked with the most powerful and influential leaders in the world while at Amazon and Google. This podcast is dedicated to my fellow entrepreneurs, whether in heart, or already in the midst of daily startup struggles, who need to hear a perspective on greatness which you won't find anywhere else. I am going to help you fast track your success by hearing the habits and tips of the super performers. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ann-hiatt/support