Sam Horn POP! Get More Bang For your Advertising Buck

$5 FOOTLONG.
What company is associated with that ad?
Chances are, you said Subway.
Which makes Subway execs very happy. It means they’re geeting more bang for their advertising buck because their ad is becoming part of our vernacular. It has “legs.”
Why is this 3 word tagline so successful? It features several POP! techniques:
1. It’s PURPOSEFUL (it brands their product in your mind.)
2. It’s ORIGINAL. (no one in that market has used this measurable phrase which gives the impression you get a lot for your money. In a tough economy when everyone’s pinching pennies, this makes it relevant and top of mind.)
3. It’s PITHY. It’s less than 7 words long (most iconic taglines are because we can only keep 7 bits of information in short term memory, i.e., Nike’s “Just do it.”)
4. It’s ALLITERATIVE (words that start with the same sound give our mind a hook on which to hang a memory - ala Dunkin Donuts, Dirt Devil, Best Buy, Rolls Royce.)
5. It’s said with disctinctive INFLECTION AND IAMBIC METER (Put it in a beat to make it easy to repeat. Great examples are Paul Harvey with “And now . . . for the REST of the story” and “Takes a lickin and keeps on tickin.”
Does your company slogan, product tagline or ad campaign have the above elements? If so, good for you. It’s maing money for you because people are repeating it and becoming your word-of-mouth advertisers.
If not, buy a copy of POP! Create the Pefect Pitch, Title or Tagline for Anything and start applying its 25 innovative techniques to help your product, service and business get noticed, remembered and bought . . .for all the right reasons.

Sam Horn Intrigue

Sam Horn - POP! Create the Perfect Pitch, Title and Tagline for Anything



How to Breakout - Rather Than Blend In




Tip 3: How to Be an Edge-Of-Your-Seat Speaker October 9, 2008

For those of you new to this blog, I’ve been sharing some highlights of the INC. 500 conference so you get to vicariously experience this impressive event.

Of the many intriguing speakers (e.g., Seth Godin, Tom Peters, Jim Collins, A. E. Hotchner, Elon Musk), a favorite was Keith McFarland, author of The Breakthrough Company.

Here’s the 3rd reason he received my Edge-of-Your-Seat Speaker Award.

Edge-Of-Your-Seat Speaker Tip 3. He illustrated vs. explained

Instead of simply telling us that Fastenal’s renowned customer service has contributed to their dramatic financial success, Keith illustrated his points with first-person stories and meaningful props.

He told us, “Our research team headed to Minnesota to try the Closing-Time Test’ on a Fastenal store. I’ve found if you show up at a store five-ten minutes before closing, you find out really fast how committed employees are to customer service.”

At this point, Keith walked over to a small table on the stage, picked up a bolt and said, “We walked into the store a few minutes before 5 pm and started wandering the aisles, loitering long enough to become a nuisance. Ten minutes after they were supposed to close, I picked up this bolt, walked to the front counter and started asking a lot of dumb questions.

The assistant manager, Keith Henderson, patiently answered all my questions and acted as if he’d be happy to spend the rest of the night there if that’s what I needed. I finally confessed I was there to do some research for my book and we all had a good laugh.”

What’s the point? Keith created a vivid, word picture so we saw what he was saying. He didn’t just tell us what happened, he relived it. He put us in the scene with a real-life example, complete with back-and-forth dialogue and the actual names of the people involved. We might as well have been there in the store with him.

He did not use, as many speakers do, an apocryphal, made-up story that strained the truth and undermined our respect for him. We all knew this story had actually taken place which added to his credibility. Plus, bringing the bolt with him and holding it up at a pivotal part of the story made his concept concrete and visually punctuated his point. Well done!

When and where will you be asking people for their valuable time and attention? How are you going to keep them on the edge of their seats? Could you keep them intrigued by using an illustrate-don’t-explain example that puts them in the scene? Could you bring a meaningful prop that illustrates your idea to help audience members visually grasp it? Invest some time and effort to keep audience members intrigued and everyone in the room will benefit — including you

Sam Horn Intrigue Speaker Trainer
Intrigue Consultant
http://www.samhorn.com/
Intrigue Branding
http://www.samhornpop.com/
Verbal Defense Methodologies
http://www.tonguefu.com/

Sam Horn - POP! Create the Perfect Pitch, Title and Tagline for Anything

How to Breakout - Rather Than Blend In
Can You Identify These Intriguing Slogans?

September 12, 2008

Dullness will not sell your product; neither will irrelevant brilliance.” - Bill Bernbach

Every year, Advertising Week selects the top slogans. By definition, these taglines are relevant AND brilliant. Of the tens of thousands of commercials we see and hear every year these are the “sticky” ones – the ones we can repeat word for word years after we first heard them.
Here are a few candidates for this year’s contest plus some past winners. Notice how they all have a verbal “kick.” A beat, cadence or comic twist that elicits a smile and makes them easy to repeat.
Can you identify the company associated with each of these slogans?
“What happens here, stays here” ______________

“Think outside the bun” _______________________

“When you care enough to send the very best” _________________

“Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t”_____________

“When you care enough to send the very best”_______________

“Takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’”______________
Why is it so important to have an intriguing slogan?

You may not have heard or seen these slogans for years, but the sponsoring company was on the tip of your tongue and on the top of your mind.

Wouldn’t you like your business name and slogan top of mind and on the tip of the tongue of millions of people?

You can — if you make it intriguing.

Websters Dictionary defines INTRIGUE as

1) to arouse the curiosity or interest of by unusal, new, fascinating or compelling qualities,

2) to appeal strongly to; captivate.

I’ve studied the art and science of intrigue for 16 years because I know that quality is important; it’s not enough. You can have a quality product, excellent service and a worthwhile offering — that doesn’t necessarily means it’s going to get noticed, remembered and bought.
My POP! Process takes the mystery out of intrigue. It features specific, replicable techniques to get anyone interested in anything.
Email us at Sam@SamHorn.com to receive an article identifying the 8 Elements of Intrigue so you can package your communication so compellingly it captures the favorable interest of your target audience.

September 4, 2008

“I never had to change a word of what I got up in the middle of the night to write.”

The above words of wisdom were just a few of the many shared at this year’s Maui Writers Conference — the finest in the world. What Cannes is to the film industry, MWC is to the publishing industry.

Our opening and closing keynoter this year was the inimitable Bryce Courtenay — the author of POWER OF ONE –the 5th biggest selling book on Amazon.com the past 15 years, just after To Kill a Mockingbird.
Part of Bryce’s message was “Writing is a perishable skill.”
Have you always wanted to write a book? Are you putting it off until the kids go to college, you retire or you’re not so busy?

What makes you think your writing skills will still be there when you’re finally ready to write?
A recurring theme at this year’s Maui Writers Conference (www.MauiWriters.com) is that authors write — no matter what. They write in the middle of the night, they get up at 5 am and write before they go to work, they write when they’re tired, they write when times are tough.
Jacquelyn Mitchard, the first Oprah pick with her book The Deep End of the Ocean, wrote in her kitchen even when her husband died at age 39 and left her with 3 young children and no life or health insurance.

Steve Berry, author of The Templar Legacy and The Amber Room, wrote even after he received 86 rejection letters from dozens of different publishers.
Comedian Judy Tenuta said, “My parents always told me I wouldn’t amount to anything because I procrastinated so much. I told ‘em, ‘Just you wait.’”

If you’ve always wanted to write a book, if you have ideas or insights you want to share; don’t wait for perfect circumstances that may never come. Start writing today and continue writing every day — no matter how tired, busy or overwhelmed you are.
In my 16 years of helping people get their book out of their head and into the world — I have never met any who were sorry they wrote their book. I’ve only met people who were sorry they didn’t write it. . . sooner.

How to Capture Interest in 90 Seconds, Part III
August 20, 2008

Make ‘Em Say a Mental Yes

“When are you going to understand that if it doesn’t pertain to me, I’m not interested?” - Candace Bergen as TV character Murphy Brown

Want another way to have your audience at hello?

Ask yourself, “What keeps them up at night? What are they worried about? What is frustrating them?” Begin your meeting or workshop with rhetorial questions around those issues.
For example, if you’re preparing a presentation on the topic of money, you could begin with:
Do you ever wonder:

“What am I going to live on when I retire?”“Who’s going to take care of me when I grow old?”“Is social security going to be gone by the time I’m 65?”“What if a health challenge drains my savings?”“What if my company goes bankrupt and takes my 401K with it?”

If you said yes to any of the above questions, you’re in the right place because that’s what we’ll be talking about today.

See how starting off with the questions that are on your audience’s mind wins buy-in?
People will immediately bond with you because they’re thinking, “That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking about!” They’ ll be motivated to pay attention because you’ve articulated their concerns and they’ll be eager for your answers.

Next time you want people to give you their valuable time and attention, include content in your first 90 seconds that makes ‘em chuckle, makes ‘em arch their eyebrows and makes ‘em say a mental yes.

They’ll be on the edge of their seats, ready and willing to hear what’s next, because you’ve shaken them out of their preoccuaption and made their eyes and mind POP! open.

How to Capture Interest in 90 Seconds or Less, Part II

August 20, 2008

Make ‘em Arch Their Eyebrows

“When you can do a common thing in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” - George Washington Carver

Want to know another secret to engaging people in 90 seconds? Start with something they’ve never heard before.

You’ll know you’ve succeeded if listeners raise their eyebrows. It’s a surefire sign you’ve said something that’s piqued their curiosity. They’re thinking, “That’s interesting. Tell me more.”
Are you thinking, “I agree with this, but where can I find items that will get those eyebrows to go up?”
Scan USA Today the morning of your presentation or staff meeting. You’ll almost always discover an eye-opening item to shake people out of their preoccupation and prove early on you’re not going to be predictable (the kiss of death for any speaker — after all, if people know what you’re going to say, why should they listen?)

Cut out an article related to your issue and bring it with you. Hold it up and use a POP! technique called hook ‘n hinge to link your factoid to your topic so listeners get a fresh “Aha”.
The fact that you went to the effort to share something current and pertinent shows you’re not launching into a canned spiel. This raises your approval ratings because people dislike speakers who are on autopilot.

For example, I got up early to read the local paper before a Tongue Fu!® keynote in San Francisco and was rewarded with an article entitled “California Couple with Empty Nest Gets Serious About Downsizing.”

The article reported that Steve and Judy Glickman realized they were using only 30% of their home after their sons left for college. In a rather radical move, they traded in their five-bedroom home for a (drum roll, please) . . . chicken coop. What made this even more startling was they paid $545,000 for their new 544 square foot home (a result of the pricy real estate market in Silicon Valley).

Quoting that article definitely arched my group’s eyebrows and provided a dream opportunity to play off our theme of unintended miscommunication. With a twinkle in my eye, I asked the audience, “Can’t you just picture Judy Glickman looking at her husband with eyes as big as saucers and saying ‘No, I said . . . ‘Why don’t we FLY the coop?!’”

That got a laugh, a segue into how easy it can be to misunderstand each other and a return speaking engagement, at least partially because that amusing news item provided an uncommon intro to my topic.

Want more ways to have your listeners at hello? Check my next blog to discover how to immediately increase your likability factor — so people are predisposed to like you and what you have to say.

How To Capture Interest in 90 Seconds or Less, Part I

August 20, 2008

My job is to talk; your job is to listen. If you finish first, please let me know.” - Harry Herschfield

What’s a situation you’ve got coming up in which you’ll be asking people to listen to you?

Did you know your success depends on whether you capture their interest in the first 90 seconds?
People today are BB (Busy and Bored). They have dozens of things competing for their attention and they think they’ve seen and heard it all.

If we don’t quickly prove we’re worth their valuable time and attention, they’ll start checking their watches (or Blackberries.)

The best way to instantly intrigue listeners is to fulfill the 3 Prerequisites of the First 90 Seconds of any Communication.

1. Make ‘em chuckle.

2. Make ‘em arch their eyebrows.3. Make ‘em say a mental yes.
Make ‘Em Chuckle

“I learned at an early age that when I made people laugh, they liked me.

This is a lesson I never forgot.” - Art Buchwald

If something makes you laugh, it will probably make others laugh.
Imagine you’ve been asked to coach employees on cell phone etiquette. The evening before the staff training, you’re watching a talk show and guest Sandra Bernhardt is complaining about how offended she is when people talk on their cell phones in restaurants.

The host says, “I have Caller ID and never answer my phone in public unless it is urgent.”
The quick-witted Bernhardt says, “Caller ID? What we need is Caller IQ!”

You could start your training with Bernhardt’s line (be sure to attribute it) and then segue into three ways staff members could practice Caller IQ so they don’t offend customers by taking calls during business functions.

Starting off a serious subject with a light-hearted approach will pleasantly surprise listeners and they’ll be more likely to tune in instead of tune out.
Check back for the next blog to discover more ways to capture people’s interest the next time you want them to pay attention.

Got Brain Fog?

July 4, 2008

Having trouble getting an idea out?

Something on the tip of your tongue you can’t quite articulate?

Sometimes consulting clients or participants in my weekend retreats will have a hard time communicating an idea that’s tickling the edge of their mind.

I suggest they coax it out by saying, “What I really want to say is ….” or “What I mean is ….”
Next time you’ve got brain fog or you’re struggling to express yourself, complete those sentences. It can help you bypass the self-conscious tension that is tightening your mental vocal chords. Instead of trying to get it right, this gives you permission to just say what’s on your mind — without criticism — which is where originality resides.

Sam Horn

http://www.samhorn.com http://www.samhornpop.com http://www.tonguefu.com

Sam Horn Communication ,Creativity Consultant

Sam Horn - POP! Stand Out in any Crowd
Sam Horn is based in Washington DC



Brilliant Brain-Droppings from George Carlin June 25, 2008
George Carlin was the poster child for POP!

His funny, incisive musings were Purposeful, Original, Pithy.

Samplings of his iconoclastic observations include:

“Before they invented the drawing board, what did they go back to?”

“What if there were no hypthothetical questions?”

“If you scratch a cynic, you’ll find a disappointed idealist.”

“Electricity is really just organized lightning.”

He was also known for saying, “You live 80 years and at best you get about six minutes of pure magic.”

Unfortunately for George, his loved ones and us, he didn’t make it to 80 years; but he certainly gave us a lot more than six minutes of pure genius and comedic magic. God speed.






Is Your Marketing Campaign Current? June 12, 2008

The most effective marketing campaigns have their finger on the pulse of POP! culture and reflect current trends.

For example, parents used to gripe about their kids being obsessed with their Gameboys during family vacations. The roles today are reversed with kids complaining their folks are the ones who ignore them while tapping away at their laptop and Blackberry.



A brilliant VisitOrlando.com ad addresses this issue by showing a family happily playing in a pool . The dialogue in the side bar says,

“Daddy, want to do swimming?” “Yes.”

“Daddy, can you carry me on your shoulders?” “Yes.”

“Daddy, will you leave your phone in the room?” “Yes.”

The subliminal message? Come to Orlando and have an old-fashioned vacation where you actually focus on family and play together instead of everyone caring more about their gadgets.

Are you tapping into the zeitgeist of your target audience? Does your marketing campaign reflect current trends? If so, good for you. If not, use POP! techniques to update your commercials so they resonate with customers and motivate them to try or buy what you’ve got to say and sell.











What Does Freak Dancing Have to Do with POP? June 3, 2008

Congratulations to Laura Sessions Stepp for her thought-provoking Genderations column in today’s Washington Post entitled Two Types of Dirty Dancing.

She discusses how difficult it is to “police” freak dancing and that parents and educators are often in an uproar about this issue of teen-agers grinding - which as Laura describes is “a lot more than shaking booty.”

When researching POP! Stand Out in Any Crowd, I discovered a perfect slogan that helped parents and teens come to an agreement about this controversial issue.

In the book’s section on the importance of “Cliff Noting” your idea or issue into an easy-to-say-and-remember phrase so people “get” it, I used the examples of “Click it or Ticket,” “Spot the Tot,” and the example a prom chaperone told me about that helped them decide to go ahead with their prom rather than cancel it.

Her daughter’s school had considered banning the senior prom because the adults were scandalized by “rampant grinding and freak dancing” and didn’t want it happening at this school-sponsored event. An enterprising counselor came up with a “rap” that outlined the boundaries of what type of dancing would be allowed. What was the little ditty that brought peace to this controversial issue?

“Face to face, leave some space.”

That was it. Six words and the chaperones had something “hip” to say that clearly enforced the policy with no “wiggle room” (so to speak). The fact that the rule was placed in a rap helped make it acceptable to the teens. The prom was held and a good (appropriate) time was had by all.


Comedian Steven Wright said, “My grandfather invented Cliff Notes. It was in 1952 and he . . . well, to make a long story short.”

If you want people to “get” your idea or issue, you need to make your long story short. Condense a controversial or complex issue into a concise sound bite that rhymes or that’s alliterative, and people will be able to instantly grasp it. That’s the power of POP!

Want more of Sam Horn's creative wordsmithing? go to
http://www.samhornpop.com
Do you loose your train of thought in a verbal confrontation?
Check out Sam's clear definitive techniques of verbal self defence at http://www.tonguefu.com
Want to know more about Sam Horn? go to
http://samhorn.com
Copyright © 2008. Sam Horn. All rights reserved.

Sam Horn - POP! Stand Out in any Crowd

How do I work? I grope.” - Einstein’s answer to a reporter asking how he created so many innovative ideas




Are you looking for an innovative, attention-getting brand that gets your business noticed?

Describe your company. What do you sell? What do you offer? Write down key words you use frequently when explaining what you and your organization do.

Those are your Core Words. They are what you “play with” to come up with a one-of-a-kind brand that helps you POP! out of your pack. Just as a jazz pianist “riffs” off standard chords to make new music, you “riff” off your Core Words to make an attention-getting brand new name.

Want to know how to create a “Half and Half” word that combines two aspects of your business or product to create an innovative brand name that belongs to you and you alone?
The Washington Post runs an annual contest that showcases the hilarious and high-potential results of doing just this.


“Its popular contest - The Style Invitational - invites readers to combine two names of the 100 horses eligible in today’s Kentucky Derby to “name” the resulting foal. Here are a few of the winning entries in today’s edition of the Post (page C2, Saturday, May 3, ‘08).

Arizona + In Orbit = AZ The World Turns

Pyro + Mapmaker = Your Heatin’ Chart

Casual Conquest + Total Bull = I’ll Call You

Clemens + Attempted Humor = Mock Twain

Fierce Wind + Big Brown = Hits the Fan

Revenge is Sweet + Oribit = What Goes Around

Signature Move + Total Bull = John Hancrock

Sea of Pleasure + I’ve Heard It All = Yachta, Yachta, Yachta

U.S. Treasury + Visionary = I See Debt, People

And my personal favorite?

Mapmaker + Behind at the Bar = Atlas Chugged

Are you thinking, “How would this help me come up with an attention-getting brand for my business?”

I think “Atlas Chugged” (playing off Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged) is a PERFECT name for a college-town bar.

“I See Debt, People” (playing off the memorable phrase from the movie Sixth Sense) is an amusing, attention-grabbing title for an article on how to get out of credit card debt.

“Yachta, Yachta, Yachta” is a smile-inducing slogan for a marine services store or boat Realtor.

(Of course, give credit where credit is due - to the originators of those phrases in the Post.)

Want a couple more examples showing how this works? A participant in my POP! Certification program last weekend told me about his favorite restaurant in San Antonio - a fusion restaurant combining Chinese and Mexican food. The name? Wokamole.

Perhaps you’ve seen the restaurant chain that blends Italian and Chinese food? Ciao Mein?

See how this works? Want to be walked through this process so you can produce attention-getting brands and “Half and Half” names and slogans for your company?

Buy my 3 hour CD series “Create Purposeful, Original, Pithy Names, Brands and Slogans that Help Your Business, Product or Services POP!” Listen to these CD’s while commuting or working out to kick-start your creativity and word-play your way to an attention-getting brand.

As Shari Peace, President of Peace Talks says, “I’ve been working on niching my business and wordsmithing my topics. Sam’s POP! techniques are by far the best resource I’ve discovered. Her concepts are creative, concrete and practical. I know everyone tells her this, but her ideas really are worth a fortune.”
Sam Horn
Sam Horn's other sites;
Tongue Fu!®
POP! Stand out in the Crowd
Take the Bully by the Horn"s

What's the 5th Worst Branding Mistake Businesses Make?

Their Name and Slogan Aren't Purposeful

Every year several dozen companies pay millions to place a 30-60 second ad during the Super Bowl.

Some of those ads produce big laughs. But if, one day later, you can't remember the company or the product that was featured in that ad that made you howl, that wasn't a purposeful ad.

If you want your brand to POP! out, it's got to be Purposeful, Original and Pithy. As ad genius Bill Bernbach said, "Dullness will not sell your product; neither will irrelevant brilliance."

I’m always on the lookout for shining examples of organizations and individuals who are standing out from their crowd – for all the right reasons.

I can think of no finer example than 13 year old Jack McShane who is bringing “lawn and order” to New Orleans City Park. After Hurricane Katrina flooded this formerly beautiful park, the city abandoned it. They had no funds to keep it up and personnel were too busy re-building infrastructure.

Jack said, “It bothered me that it didn’t look good. Nobody was taking care of it, so I decided I had to.”

Jack took his family’s lawn-mower out of the garage, walked across the street and got to work. People started thanking him for his efforts, so he recruited other “Mow-rons” to help out.

Their original slogan, 'The Mow-Rons are in City Park, the idiots are in City Hall,'" was intended to be edgy. After awhile, Jack decided it was inappropriate and counter-productive, so he changed it.

The result? A perfect POP! name. What does this fine young man now call his grass-roots organization? Weeding by Example.

As a result of that smile-inducing name, he's been interviewed by Katie Couric, featured on CNN, and thousands of people are contributing to his worthy cause. Now that's a purposeful brand!

Do you have recent examples of companies, causes and creations that have POP’d out for all the right reasons? Submit your nominations. If they make our POP! Hall of Fame, we'll send an autographd copy of POP! (which Edelman Sr. VP Marilynn Mobley says, "If you liked Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, you'll like Sam Horn's POP!")

What's the 4th Worst Branding Mistake Organizations Make?

They Can’t Explain Their Brand in 15 Seconds or Less

“My grandfather actually invented Cliff Notes. It was in 1952, and he was . . .
well, to make a long story short.” - Steven Wright

Remember when Andy Warhol said everyone would get 15 minutes of fame? In today’s rush-rush world, we don’t have that long to get people’s attention. We have about 15 seconds.

If you can’t quickly explain your brand in a way people get it and want it, they will move on. They are simply too busy to give us “the time of their day” unless we can quickly convince them we're worth their valuable attention.

That’s why it’s crucial to “Cliff Note” your brand's story into a concise, compelling Elevator Speech that captures interest in what you have to offer . . . in under 15 seconds.

Sound like an impossible dream? Not if you link your unfamiliar brand to something with which people are familiar and fond.

The secret is not to try to explain your brand. The more you try to explain what your brand does, the more confused potential customers will become. Instead, ask yourself, “What is my brand like . . . that my target audience already likes?’

I learned the power of this concept while in Denver for a speaking engagement with my teen-aged sons. We had a night free, so we went downstairs to the hotel concierge and asked if he had any suggestions for a fun night out.

He took one look at Tom and Andrew and said, “You’ve got to go to D & B’s.”

We were from Maui at the time and had no idea what he was talking about. We asked, “What’s D & B’s.”

He did NOT try to explain what D & B’s was. Imagine if he had said, “Well, it’s kind of like a restaurant, but it’s also a sports bar and they’ve got video games and TV’s and sometimes guys go there to watch football or play pool. But families go there too to play carnival games, kind of like an indoor amusement park.”

We would have looked at him in consternation and said, “Huh?” It’s just TMI (Too Much Information.) The longer he talked, the more baffled we would have become.

Instead, he thought about it for a moment and then smiled and said simply, “It’s like a . . . Chuck E. Cheese for adults.”

Perfect. Eight words and we knew exactly what it was and wanted to go there. By comparing D & B’s (something new) to Chuck E. Cheese (something we knew), he “told and sold” their brand in one succinct sentence. They should have put him on commission.

Do you have an elevator speech for your brand?

Remember, don’t try to explain it. Ask yourself, “What is my brand like - that these potential customers like?” If you compare your idea, company, product or service to something with which they’re familiar and fond, the light will go on in their eyes and their eyebrows will rise. That’s the way to win buy-in in 15 seconds or less.

Want to know the other 4 branding mistakes organizations make -- and how to avoid them? Keep checking this blog and I'll share them in the days ahead.

Into instant gratification? Email us at info@SamHorn.com with "8 Biggest Branding Mistakes" in the subject heading and we'll email you the entire article you can use in your organization's newsletter.