Learn the Four Elements of a Memorable Soundbite
It took Jen Psaki 17 seconds to do what the entire 2016 Republican presidential field failed to do to Donald Trump on immigration — hit him hard enough to leave a lasting mark.
“We don’t take our advice or counsel from former President Trump on immigration policy which was not only inhumane but ineffective over the last four years. We’re going to chart our own path forward. And that includes treating children with humanity and respect and insuring they’re safe when they cross our borders.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s March…
The NAACP is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Established in 1909, the name is a throwback to the days of Jim Crow segregation.
After all the years, and landmark legal victories, why hasn’t the group changed its name?
“The NAACP was founded as a multi-ethnic organization by Whites, Blacks, Jews, Christians, male, female, etc,” the Rev. William Barber, the group’s former president said in 2008. In fact, the majority of the founders were white. The first chair was a white woman. …
Advice for Sen. Ted Cruz: Time to Show, Not Tell
By Ryan Banfill
When I worked on the communications team for the governor of Florida in the 1990s, we had a joke in our family not to schedule a vacation. Why? Because Whenever I would take a vacation, a crisis would hit the state.
In the summer of 1995, I took some time off around July 4 to be with our newborn son, Grant. My boss, former Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles, went fishing and had a transient ischemic attack. The year we were hit by wildfires? I remember being on the road (probably in the Carolinas) when those flared up…
Originally Published: February 16, 2018
Sharing stories of the horrors and unspeakable acts they were forced to endure in Florida’s hotels and motels, a group of brave human trafficking survivors this week pleaded with a Senate panel to empower them to hold their trafficker or facilitator accountable for the crime against them.
Sen. Lauren Book is the sponsor of legislation (SB 1044) she called “lifesaving and vital.” It’s a bill that has drawn behind-the-scenes concern from the state’s hospitality industry, but has great support among advocates for human trafficking survivors.
Sen. Book set the stage for the discussion that followed…
Originally Published: January 25, 2019
When President Richard Nixon enacted wage and price controls in the early 1970s, iconic conservative economist Milton Friedman cautioned that the policy would spur inflation despite creating the illusion of price stability. Friedman — who won a 1987 federal case seeking plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees — was right.
Now, insurers are bringing a basket of bad ideas to lawmakers. Big insurance companies and their supporters in the business lobby are gaining steam in their years-long mission to have lawmakers reject free-market conservative theory and impose new government mandates on attorneys’ fees.
Originally Published: May 17, 2019
There’s a beast that can eat your firm from the inside out; generate employee frustration, and force star performers out of the door.
Distraction is this corrosive force.
Like rust can eat away at the strongest metal and cause it to erode, research shows an environment where distraction and interruption is the rule can cause the strongest members of your firm to fail, give up, and move on.
Requiem for Your Email Inbox
One chief contributor is email — and we have Ray Tomlinson to blame. He’s credited as being the person who invented email — in 1972.
Originally Published: May 24, 2020
PART TWO: Protect yourself and the other difference makers working with you. Recognize signs of job burnout and learn how to address it.
Source: A Medium Corporation
Songwriter Ray Davies sang about the devastating impact stress can have on people.
Nervous tension, man’s invention,
Is the biggest killer that’s around today
Let the tension out or it will build and build inside
And strike you down some day
From: National Health by The Kinks, Songwriter: Ray Davies
Stress can kill a career, if it doesn’t kill the one who’s stressed, first.
It can also hit the firm in its bottom line. The chart below shows the initial investment organizations invest in hiring, onboarding, and training new associates.
Originally Published: June 7, 2019
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter accused Johnson & Johnson of helping to create the “worst man-made public health crisis in the history of our state and country.” That’s what he said to a packed Norman, Oklahoma courtroom during opening arguments in the state’s action against Johnson & Johnson and Jansen Pharmaceuticals.
The trial began on the heels of the announcement of Teva Pharmaceutical’s agreement to pay the state $85 million to settle the case.
According to Fortune, Johnson & Johnson’s opioid products at the center of the trial are a tablet called Nucynta (divested since…
Originally Published: July 19, 2019
Does Russian strongman Vladimir Putin have copies of Americans’ most-prized personal photos? With an innocent click of a button, millions of Americans gave a Russian company permission to access their photos and use them, perpetually.
That’s forever. Why would a nuclear power want to have your Valentine’s Day selfies or photos of your nephew’s Bar Mitzvah? Estimates say the data could be worth billions of dollars. In the hands of a superpower’s intelligence agency, the information could be priceless. The same is true for other social apps, too.
Note a recent Wired article carrying the…
Originally Published: July 26, 2019
An exposé by Bay News 9 in the Tampa Bay area shines a bright light on the role of pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs). According to the National Community Pharmacists Association, PBMs develop and maintain formularies and other clinical management programs; process prescription drug claims for insurance companies or corporations; and negotiate contracts with pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
With a reported profit margin of 2.9%, the PBM business model generates revenue by keeping the difference between what they charge the pharmacy and what they bill their client for the drugs. …
Ryan Banfill
Ryan Banfill is a marketing/communications strategist. He is the founder of The Message Clinic, providing concierge communications services for influencers.
