Have you missed Tim Farron’s regular #TimTalks videos from his leadership campaign? He did some crackers, on issues such as housing, foreign affairs and rebuilding the party
Well, someone has put him in front of a video camera and he’s been talking about the key issues in this week’s news: Labour, the fiscal mandate and how Osborne’s ruse is a trap that has well and truly snookered Corbyn’s party, housing and the EU Referendum. He also mentioned the Liberal Democrats’ audacious by-election win from the SNP in Aird and Loch Ness. Here it is in full:
So what did you think? How could he expand this idea?
My initial concern is that if we’re going to do these we need to make them accessible. There must be someone in the party with the skills to at least transcribe the text or to subtitle it.
Tim is very good at being able just to talk in a very conversational way about anything he wants and that’s great. I’m just wondering if he needs to take it away from the office and the quite hideous plant in the background sometimes. Maybe he could show people what poor housing really means to millions of people, tell the stories of families waiting years for a property that’s big enough.
I quite like it being on a range of subjects, too. That’s something he can vary.
I guess he also needs to work out who the audience is. Until the end, I thought it was directed at any voter who happened to be watching but at the very end he was thanking us for what we were doing to help this #libdemfightback thingy. I am really nitpicking here, by the way.
This is a great way of delivering highly usable, sharable content, playing to Tim’s strengths and he should do more of it.
What do you think? And what sorts of issues would you like to see him cover?
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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10 Comments
“Tim is very good at being able just to talk in a very conversational way about anything he wants and that’s great. I’m just wondering if he needs to take it away from the office and the quite hideous plant in the background sometimes. Maybe he could show people what poor housing really means to millions of people, tell the stories of families waiting years for a property that’s big enough.”
Yes, that’s a good idea. I’m surprised that no one else has commented.
Yes I agree it should have subtitles.
I am pleased he started on the fiscal mandate. The party has said very little on the economy since the general election and I am really not clear where we stand now. I know Susan Kramer is now leading on economic policy and I would like to know more about what she thinks. It is good to know that we are opposing the Tories fiscal mandate (I wonder what Danny Alexander thinks about that?)
Tim is giving a summary of where we are now, and it might be worth getting the rest of the team to do their own video clips with some more detail.
Tim Talks are a great idea and Tim will do them very well. I would like to see them lead on the issues of the day and add in the comments and ideas that link to our core values in coverage of the issues of most concern to voters. The economy, education and health. The BBC? and the destruction of Local government ? are other possibilities.
Tim has made us smile and laugh out loud a few times already and if he can continue to do that too then so much the better. Links to ‘modern media’ essential and signing or transcription? Yes please.
Excellent idea!
If I was doing this I’d crack open Adobe Premiere and add an intro, closing slide (probably “agree with Tim? Join the Liberal Democrats today – hotlink – and please follow our channel”) and maybe have a small signifier in the bottom left to say what the topic is.
Making these interesting and getting people talking about them could really help out our effort to reconnect with voters.
Pleasant as this is, is it the best use of Tim’s time, to be chatting regularly about the issues of the moment to members? I’m a bit concerned at the comforting but inward-looking implication of Liberal Democrats talking constantly to each other on social media. I think we have to be looking outward to the public all the time, and remembering that to many, if not most, we are still that sleazy lot who worked with the Tories to impose austerity on the country, and who are now irrelevant. Great, therefore, to hear about Tim’s speech about the Tories’ threat to social housing, and its backing by our Local Government spokesperson and others. Is it being reported on television and in the Press? I think we need a continuous outward-looking campaign, with articles, speeches, social media and, yes, a mass leaflet setting out what we have done, what we care about, and who we are. We just can’t assume the public knows or cares.
Yes I agree that these should be put out, and by talking to the membership he gives us all ammunition to talk to people. He have to face the fact that somehow to get our message out we have to “go viral”
But I also agree that he needs a better background! Like Michael I noticed that straight away!
The title should be changed to Tiny Tim’s Talks.
He looks so small on the screen as he is too far from the camera and the top of his head is only half way up the screen. Camera should also be exactly at eye level, so that Tim is talking directly to the individual viewer.
For heaven’s, ditch the triffiid behind him.
The content is great and Tim has an amazing ability to talk on his feet, but Tim has a small voice and needs to improve his delivery. As he is now our most senior representative he should get some voice /acting training. It won’t change his persona, but it will help him keep the viewer engaged.
It could also do with some movement, with Tim doing a voice over to some action, such as showing us poor housing.
I know this is beginning to get into the realms of professional production, but if we want to get out there and show the voters what we are made of we need to show we are professionals. It needs to be pitched right, of course. We do not want it to turn into something like the dreadful video to promote the launch of the EU remain campaign, with a load of business ‘gurus’ pontificating.
It is great to hear Tim’s views from Westminster on a regular basis.
Is this videoblog for LibDem consumption only or for the wider public ?
For LibDem consumption the quality is sufficient, if for a wider public then there is a lot wrong with the presentation.
Firstly, it could be entitled Tiny Tim’s Talks. The camera has his small head in the middle of the screen. An amateur photographer’s basic error. He needs to take up two thirds of the screen, unless he is showing the viewer something. To engage the viewer, the camera angle needs to be at eye level, not shot from above. He has a chatty style, with a small voice that does not project, which is great for a video diary, but not for wider viewing.
Finally, please ditch the Triffid over his right shoulder.
Yes he should continue with these. – he does them well and they are informative -an an efficient way for both him to communicate and members to hear from the party on the immediate news stories. The comments on the style and professionalism of the videos are also valid and we need to raise the production values. We also need to get better at making these available to a wider audience.
I would like to see him do a piece on Education. We need to flag up our support for continuing to improve our schools, but unlike the government we feel the focus should be on the quality of teaching and learning, not the imposition of new structures, an improved role for local authorities to monitor (not manage) what is going on in all their local schools, free teachers to be flexible enough to respond to individual young people’s needs, do more for practical approaches to learning and vocational education, move away from the overemphasis on exams and tests and towards personal development and wellbeing and get on with the job (the conservatives agreed with us previously) of establishing a college of teaching to enable continuous support and professional development for teachers.