Voice Matters Blog

Jobs, Greatest Disparity between Black and White Americans Says National Urban LeagueThe National Urban League released its annual State of Black America (SOBA) report on Thursday, March 31, under the theme Jobs Rebuild America: Putting Urban America Back to Work. “According to their research, the state of black America is,... Read More

A PowerPoint that Pops: 5 Techniques to Wow Your Audience, Part 1PowerPoint is an excellent tool for presenters to engage their audience in a unique and interactive way. This week, we will explore five techniques that will help you develop a winning presentation for current and potential clients. Tip #1:... Read More

A PowerPoint that Pops: 5 Techniques to Wow Your Audience, Part 1PowerPoint is an excellent tool for presenters to engage their audience in a unique and interactive way. This week, we will explore five techniques that will help you develop a winning presentation for current and potential clients. Tip #1:... Read More

A PowerPoint that Pops: 5 Techniques to Wow Your Audience, Part 2Tip #2: Use your bullets wisely!!A PowerPoint should never have slides full of text, and often, people think bullet points are the best way to avoid this problem. Although bullet use in presentations is a common practice, it is... Read More

A PowerPoint that Pops: 5 Techniques to Wow Your Audience, Part 3Tip #3: Animation is your best friend when used correctly.An effective PowerPoint normally includes animation that keeps the audience engaged throughout the presentation. Problems occur when we get carried away and animate everything on each slide, making it cluttered... Read More

A PowerPoint that Pops: 5 Techniques to Wow Your Audience, Part 4Tip #4: K.I.S.S. Keep it Straight and Simple!Keep in mind that your slides are meant only to support you as you talk freely about your topic. Provide keywords throughout your presentation to keep you on-track but don’t use full... Read More

A PowerPoint that Pops: 5 Techniques to Wow Your Audience, Part 5Tip #5: Practice. Practice. Practice!In this final installment of the PowerPoint that Pops series, I want to leave you with a very simple tip that will ensure a winning presentation: Practice makes perfect! A well-prepared and enthusiastic talk will... Read More

 Common Pitfalls of PR CampaignsAfter all the hard work of designing a PR campaign and the communications strategy to support it, don’t blow it by making avoidable mistakes!Tip Number One:  Make sure your campaign is integrated.  More than a news release, a PR campaign is both multi-channeled and multi-layered. Use... Read More

Common Pitfalls of PR CampaignsAfter all the hard work of designing a PR campaign and the communications strategy to support it, don’t blow it by making avoidable mistakes!Tip Number Three:  Are You Ready to Launch?       Have you reviewed your plan?  Are you prepared with contingencies?  Are all members of the... Read More

Common Pitfalls of PR CampaignsAfter all the hard work of designing a PR campaign and the communications strategy to support it, don’t blow it by making avoidable mistakes!Tip Number Five:  Is Your Campaign Customer Focused? Can your campaign make a difference?  Can it improve service delivery?  Increase market share? Help... Read More

Common Pitfalls of PR CampaignsAfter all the hard work of designing a PR campaign and the communications strategy to support it, don’t blow it by making avoidable mistakes!Tip Number Six:  Is Your Campaign Sustainable? Here today . . . gone tomorrow?  Will your campaign and its impact fizzle after only... Read More

Common Pitfalls of PR CampaignsAfter all the hard work of designing a PR campaign and the communications strategy to support it, don’t blow it by making avoidable mistakes! Tip Number Seven:  Last, But Not Least . . . Assure that your PR campaign is successful.  Avoid the common pitfalls and... Read More

Sack Lunches Get the 'Sack' in Chicago SchoolFirst Lady Obama's "Let's Move" campaign has inspired communities, families and schools to lead healthier lifestyles by exercising and choosing better foods. However, Little Village Academy on Chicago's West Side went a step further by banning sack lunches. Parents were packing their kids' lunches with... Read More

Place Matters When it Comes to Life and DeathThe recent shooting death of 16-year-old Ra-Heem Jackson near his home in the Congress Heights community of Washington, DC, is a health equity issue. Where Ra-Heem lived proved as significant to his health as his genetic code.  The high school honors student... Read More

One Year Later: Hopes Washing Away   Today marks the one-year anniversary of the catastrophic BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill that killed 11 workers, devastated animal life and heavily altered the lives of Gulf Coast residents. The despair remains. Many Gulf residents' fishing, food or tourist industry businesses were lost to one of the largest oil spills on record.  Seasonal incomes that... Read More

Barcelona PrinciplesA New Yard Stick for Measuring PR or Same O’, Same O’?You be the judge.Clients want and deserve to know if the public relations strategy they paid for is effective. Did your campaign drive desired change, raise critical awareness, or reframe the conversation on a particular issue? Measuring public... Read More

Can Education and Money Buy Your Health?This may be odd to suggest that you can “buy your health,” but ask some folks in Florida. According to the following Florida Times Union article, the state’s southern most counties experience better health than those in northern Florida. They also have more college-educated... Read More

Bike Sharing to Good HealthD.C.’s bike-share program is on a roll.  The Washington Post reports that more than 300,000 rides have been logged since the program launched September 20. This robust initiative has more than 1,000 bikes and more than 100 stations.  If you’re in the D.C. area, try out... Read More

Egypt’s Future: Freedom, Now What?February’s uncontrolled, enduring protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to remove longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were fueled by a fire ignited by social media. The Egyptians’ unyielding pursuit for long-deserved democracy at whatever costs, resulted in several hundreds injured and some killed. But in the end,... Read More

Remembering Phoebe SnowMcKinney & Associates pauses to honor the life and legacy of singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow, who died on April 26 at age 60 from complications of a stroke that she suffered in January 2010. The New York Times calls Ms. Snow a “leading light of the sing-songwriter movement and... Read More

Lean on MeIn McKinney & Associates’ continued quest to promote health equity for all and as part of our Be Well campaign to encourage Black women’s overall health, we share today’s TheRoot.com blog post on a startling topic in Black women’s health: bulimia. This is a conversation stereotypically reserved... Read More

“To Begin is to Win”‘First Trainer’ Cornell McClellan’s Fitness Theory From the pages of USA Weekend Cornell McClellan offers you the same fitness advice he gives to President and Mrs. Obama – “Get started and the most difficult part will be over.” Making the decision to get fit and stay... Read More