Lost in translation
Dear Labour
I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes my attention span isn’t the greatest. Between Twitter and Facebook and texting it’s frankly a wonder I have time for much of anything else.
I’m mostly in a hurry and I think that’s probably part of the reason I often don’t know what you’re trying to tell me. It’s frequently too long, too complicated or both.
Check out the video I made. It’s put together from clips of three different Obama budget speeches. It’s five minutes long but stick with it (maybe turn off that Blackberry first).
Having watched it just once I suspect you’ll have no problem filling in the gaps below. Give it a go.
- Obama has _________ a massive deficit.
- But he has a plan to ___ __ __ ____ by the end of his first term.
- The budget includes ___ ________ dollars in deficit reductions over the next decade.
- Despite some tough cuts his budget is an ________ ____-_____ for the future.
- Because so many americans are just one _______ or _______ _________ away from _________ there’s money for healthcare reform.
- And because the countries that out-______ America _____ will out-_______ it ________ there’s investment in education.
- He’s planning on making green energy the __________ kind of energy and sparking the ______________ needed for job creation in related industries.
- The budget doesn’t raise tax on families making less that $___,000 a year by a ______ ____.
- __% of working Americans will receive a ___ ___. A ___ ___.
- He’s not interested in passing the big problems on, he came here to _____ ____.
Now I’m not suggesting you become little Obamas. I’m not suggesting you “dumb down” politics. And I’m not suggesting you replace your (substantial) manifesto with bullet-pointed lists or polished phrases.
I am asking you to acknowledge the competing demands for my attention and perhaps try a little harder to help me understand what you’re saying by packaging it in a way that’s easier to absorb and digest.
I’m guessing there are people out there who feel the same way. If you help them I suspect they’ll help you.
Keep it short and simple
Dear Labour
I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes my attention span isn’t the greatest. Between Twitter and Facebook and texting it’s frankly a wonder I have time for much of anything else.
I’m mostly in a hurry and I think that’s probably part of the reason I often don’t know what you’re trying to tell me. It’s frequently too long, too complicated or both.
Check out the video I made. It’s interspersed clips from three different Obama budget speeches. It’s five minutes long but stick with it (maybe turn off that Blackberry first).
Having watched it just once I suspect you’ll have no problem filling in the gaps below. Give it a go.
<video>
Obama has _________ a massive deficit.
But he has a plan to ___ __ __ ____ by the end of his first term.
The budget includes ___ ________ dollars in deficit reductions over the next decade.
Despite tough cuts his budget is an ________ ____-_____ for the future.
Because so many americans are just one _______ or _______ _________ away from _________ there’s money for healthcare reform.
And because the countries that out-______ America _____ will out-_______ it ________ there’s investment in education.
He’s planning on making green energy the __________ kind of energy and sparking the ______________ needed for job creation in related industries.
The budget doesn’t raise tax on families making less that $___,000 a year by a ______ ____.
__% of working Americans will receive a ___ ___. A ___ ___.
He’s not interested in passing the big problems on, he came here to _____ ____.
Now I’m not suggesting you become little Obamas. I’m not suggesting you “dumb down” politics. And I’m not suggesting you throw out your (substantial) manifesto in favour of bullet-pointed lists or polished phrases.
I am asking you to acknowledge the competing demands for my attention and perhaps try a little harder to help me understand what you’re saying by packaging it in a way that’s easier to absorb and digest.
I suspect there might be people out there who feel the same way. If you help them I suspect they’ll help yo