Years ago I learned a sequence to follow when giving things to people.<\/p>\n
First, you must give a person what they expect<\/strong>. Sadly, I almost always stumble on expect<\/strong>, but the few times I’ve followed this script have been magical experiences. The sequence works!<\/p>\n So, back in 2016 I watched the third Trump\/Hillary debate and noticed something.<\/p>\n Hillary fluently spoke a dialect of English I dubbed “Standard American Politician” (SAP).<\/p>\n Trump did not.<\/p>\n What is SAP?<\/p>\n Listen to the sound of, “That’s an important issue, Ralph. We have laid out a comprehensive plan to move America forward on that issue.<\/em>”<\/p>\n Notice it’s not just any old plan, it’s a comprehensive<\/em> plan. SAP has a unique set of buzzwords with idiosyncratic meanings.<\/p>\n Notice the politician has told you this “issue” is, um, not a priority, but they are ready to trot something out in case the issue ever bubbles up during a campaign. You understand that meaning because you understand SAP.<\/p>\n SAP allows a politician to state things in a way that makes it difficult for others to miss-spin meaning.<\/p>\n And SAP also makes it easy to, ah, add nuance when the politician’s position “evolves”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Is that the end of it?<\/p>\n No, the sequence of expect<\/strong>\/want<\/strong>\/need<\/strong> comes in play here.<\/p>\n Most people expect<\/strong> politicians to speak Standard American English. The higher the office, the more fluent the politician. If a politician does not speak SAP, then expect<\/strong>-people will miss a beat when they first hear the politician, but will get the message that this politician is running an outsider campaign. So. … Nothing of note.<\/p>\n Many people want<\/strong> their politicians to speak SAP. This makes sense. SAP has evolved to match its use. Meaning is more easily gleaned from SAP words. Etc. If a politician does not speak SAP, want<\/strong>-people will miss a beat, but will adjust as they might adjust to someone who speaks non-native English.<\/p>\n And, finally, some people need<\/strong> their politicians to speak SAP.<\/p>\n With that observation, in an instant, I understood a common, gut-level reaction to Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Years ago I learned a sequence to follow when giving things to people. First, you must give a person what they expect.Then you can give them what they want.Finally, you can give them what they need. Sadly, I almost always … Continue reading
Then you can give them what they want<\/strong>.
Finally, you can give them what they need<\/strong>.<\/p>\n