Fumble: Obama talks too long

There. I knew that if I really searched, I could find something U.S. President Barack Obama has come up short on, in terms of his communications. And watching his first Presidential news conference this week, it hit me: the guy goes on way too long when answering questions. It’s one thing to rag the puck and chew up the clock in a time-limited debate, but when you’re fielding questions from a full-to-capacity White House press corps, it’s a mistake to prattle on and on and on, for a couple of reasons. First, answers that run well over five minutes in length on average will, by their very design, be unfocused. Make a couple of points, hit a few key messages, and move on. Second, it’s bad media relations, especially for all those who stood no chance of getting their questions in because of the length of Obama’s answers. So there you have it – the first Fumble of Obama’s presidency.