Electoral College

Preserve or Repeal - just say it correctly!

With just few minutes of research you can learn the history of this institution and quickly understand why Democrats want to repeal it and Republicans want to preserve it. What might give you trouble, though, is how to pronounce it. If you, like me, haven't discussed this strange institution of our democracy since eighth grade civics class (because there wasn't a lot about the electoral college to discuss until recently), you might have forgotten the root of the word: "elect." And I think every American has got that word down pat, right? If we can pronounce "elect," we can all pronounce "electoral."

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Post-Election Reflections

Read 'em and weep.

Well, just a few post-election observations, tossed out at random. Draw your own conclusions.

Sixty-two percent of Americans now say they get their news from social media. Social media! News! And forty-four percent of Americans say they get their news from Facebook, specifically. Have you ever, in your wildest dreams, considered Facebook a source for news? I must be a real dinosaur!

Twenty percent of Americans still claim to read newspapers.

Last summer Facebook apparently got rid of the humans editing its trending topics list. Now veracity is checked by an algorithm. (And I’m sure “al” is smart and all.)

Last July Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump for President of the United States. I know it’s true because I saw it on Facebook.

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Wait! He Might be a Good President!

He might! He might!

I’ve gone searching for a word, and instead I found a great candidate for President of the United States! And we’ve still got 24 hours left before we vote. Talk about serendipity!

Do you remember that I asked you in early September whether you thought we “might” have lost the word “might”? It seemed everyone around me was misusing the word “may” to mean possibility or likelihood. Losing a simple, functional word from our language is tantamount to losing a species from our earth. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and there’s really no substitute for it. The fewer words we have at our disposal for clear, correct, finely nuanced communication, the less our communication will be clear, correct and nuanced. Simply, we humans communicate with words. We can’t afford to lose our words any more than we can blissfully lose our teeth or our hair or our children.

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Your Brand: Clarify it, Polish it, Protect it!

It's worth the effort.

Whether you’re a big, powerful corporation, a tiny nonprofit struggling to be heard, or a small business hoping to grow, you have a brand, and it’s worth some attention and valuable staff time. Failure to pay attention to how your staff or membership or reps are communicating about your organization is a pretty sure indicator that, eventually, if not already, your brand is going to be fuzzy, feckless or forgotten. Does it matter? Only if you hope to have a future.

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Election 2016: Take Two

Where do we go from here?

When I wrote “The Election: Who Stands to Lose the Most?” last week, after agonizing about it for quite some time, I really expected people to voice their opinions, share their perspectives, post some comments of one sort or another. Frank Robinson, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, posted a most substantive comment (and the only one), building on the case I had made and further explaining it from a psychological point of view. (The comment is there; you can still read it.) So I did get a response – just not a public one. And, you know what? It wasn’t the response I expected

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The Election: Who Stands to Lose the Most?

 

How communication has failed us 

I’ve agonized a long while over writing this article, for two good reasons: I’ve committed not to allow politics into this space, and this is a weighty topic, requiring research on my part and a real commitment to understanding on the part of my readers. What finally drove me to take on the task was actual fear that, due to the way humans quite naturally make and defend their decisions, our country might be torn apart or at least face an ugly, painful period of violence and dissension. And there’s more: I suddenly realized that the outcome of this election is going to allow both candidates to win – and possibly all of us to lose.

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Planning: Strategic or Tactical?

Are you putting the cart before the horse?

Whether your ultimate goal is a solid marketing plan, a sound fund development plan, or, even more broadly, an overall direction for your organization for the next three years, it’s important to consider the significant differences between strategic planning and tactical planning. Both have a place, but one comes before the other – that is, if you hope to continue moving forward on a clear path toward a meaningful goal without a lot of costly side trips and unforeseen rerouting.

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Lets Take Stock

How about an update on some recent Speakeasy themes?

I suggest we take a few minutes today to revisit some of our favorite topics over the past few weeks and see what’s new. Here are ten rather interesting random “updates” I encountered quite by accident:

1.     I saw a glimpse of The Essential Hillary Clinton which included video from many years ago.

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Presenters and Speakers: Be careful!

Don't sabotage your own presentation.

Recently I had the pleasure of sitting in on an excellent presentation about aging. It was co-presented by two highly qualified, very experienced women – professionals in every sense of the word. They split their presentation time, each taking on half the job. The first speaker broke the three rules that I consider absolutely basic, beginner-level advice. The second one offered a polished, accessible, engaging presentation that was a pure pleasure to watch. So what were the three basic differences between these two presentations?

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