Presidents' best phrases are tweetable
David Kusnet was chief speechwriter for
former President Bill Clinton from 1992 through 1994. He is a principal
and senior writer at the Podesta Group, a government relations and
public relations firm
Today, the nation commemorates the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. All 278 words.
Today, the nation commemorates the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. All 278 words.
Three days later, on the
50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Americans will
recall his most moving speeches, also crisp and concise.
The lesson is clear: To express big ideas, use few words.
New media, such as
Twitter and texting, demand brevity. But brevity is also important if
you're communicating as Americans did before "tweet" became a noun and a
verb. The newest technologies reinforce the oldest technique of
effective writing and speaking: Keep it simple.
Although the Gettysburg
Address was deceptively simple -- 10 sentences, consisting mostly of one
or two-syllable words -- it communicated complex concepts. As the
historian Garry Wills has written, by stressing the egalitarian ideas of
the Declaration of Independence, "Lincoln had revolutionized the
Revolution, giving people a new past to live with that would change
their future indefinitely."
Lincoln's new vision of
"a new nation, conceived in liberty," rather than a loose federation of
states, foreshadowed a national government that takes the lead in
protecting the rights and promoting the well-being of its citizens.
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