The Better Blog

Admiral James Stockdale was held as a Prisoner of War for seven years. Today, he gives us an excellent lesson for Coronavirus Communication. In 1965, Stockdale was flying a mission over North Vietnam when his plane was struck down. He parachuted into a small village, where he was severely beaten and imprisoned in the terrible… Read More…

In a New York Times article entitled What New York Looked Like During the 1918 Flu Pandemic, you can see historical photos that look eerily familiar to today: New Yorkers wearing masks, public health bulletins advising people to cover their sneezes, and graphs showing mortality “curves.” One image from this article has seared itself onto… Read More…

“But princess, the peasants are starving. They have no bread.” “Then let them eat cake.“ – Marie Antoinette (according to legend)   During the Great Depression, it was common to see long queues of people at food banks and soup kitchens:   Compare this with video of people waiting in line for help at a… Read More…

Images have immense power. We’ve talked about the power of the famous Tiananmen Square photo, where an anonymous protestor stood before military tanks, representing the power we all have as individuals to bring about change: Over the weekend, this happened: If you live in America, you really don’t need anyone to explain this photo to… Read More…

One month ago, I told you about our new Health and Wealth Portfolio, made up of four traditional stocks that would likely do well during the CoronaCrisis: Amazon (AMZN), which would deliver all our stuff; Netflix (NFLX), which would deliver all our streaming; The Clorox Company (CLX), which deliver all our sterilization; Zoom Communications (ZM),… Read More…

As bad as this Coronacrisis is, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 was worse. It took the lives of young and old, healthy and sick. It was faster and deadlier than COVID-19, and the illness was more gruesome. One physician at an Army camp outside Boston wrote a colleague: “It is only a matter of… Read More…

We’ll be brief, because you’re busy. That’s the tone and tenor of the times, isn’t it? BE BRIEF. Those of us who are busy are really busy. In this time of crisis, there is so much to coordinate, so much to communicate, that we have to be brief. Enter the Situation Brief. We were recently introduced… Read More…

My family and I play a lot of board games, and one of our favorites is called PANDEMIC. In the game, you work together to defeat a supervirus that’s taking over the world. I love PANDEMIC, because it’s a cooperative game, meaning you work together. You’re not competing against each other. The only enemy is… Read More…

During this time of Coronavirus Communication (CoCo), everyone is doing calls on Zoom. The way you look on Zoom matters. Poor lighting and camera placement are the new equivalent of coming into the workplace unshowered and unshaven. At Media Shower, we’ve been using Zoom for years. Here are a few Zoom best practices for looking your… Read More…

When an idea catches on, what do we call it? “Going viral.” In the age of Coronavirus, we need good messages to go viral. Whether you’re running a business, an organization, or a family, you need good messages to go viral. As a society, we must encourage people to #SlowTheSpread and help our #HealthcareHeroes: we… Read More…