That’s the curious conclusion of a language analyst who says the President’s comments Tuesday night, written to a 9.8 grade level, went way over the head of most viewers. (via CNN)
According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, America reads at around an 8th grade level – with average comprehension hovering somewhere between 8th and 9th grade. CNN talked to Paul J.J. Payack, a language analyst who studied the 18-minute Obama oil spill speech, who said the president’s prose was needlessly complex.
Payack revealed his results on Wednesday, the same day that BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said his company cared “about the small people” – and a day before BP CEO Tony Hayward was preparing his own written remarks to be presented to Congress. Many analysts mocked the BP chairman for talking down to the American public – and yet Payack seemed to be saying that Obama should have found a way to dumb down his speech even more. (Check out our list of BP’s biggest verbal blunders)
Payack specifically criticized Obama’s 19.8 words per sentence, as well as the speech’s average word length of 4.5 letters. The language expert said in doing so the President “added some difficulty for his target audience,” while obscuring his key messages.
This particular analysis of Tuesday’s speech contrasts sharply with other key Obama speeches. The “Yes, We Can” victory speech, for example, was written for grade 7.4.
Is it really possible that Tuesday’s explanation of the Gulf oil spill may have simultaneously been Obama’s smartest, and yet poorest, outing as orator?