This. Is. Genius. You all know how giddy I get when someone really nails a marketing piece that truly inspires change…and boy do I have a treat for you today, courtesy of the American Heart Association. Get ready to bust out your best Travolta moves, cuz this is gonna get disco….

I was a lifeguard for most of my teenage life, and did a LOT of training on how to save someone’s life who wasn’t breathing. It was a lot of steps, and I’ve often wanted to take a refresher course. But like so many other life-saving tasks, they always fall to the bottom of the to-do list. This video now saves me the trouble, with its easy approach to being a first responder. Just 2 steps? I can handle that. From a social change perspective, there is so much to be learned here:

# 1. Laugh, silly! OK, I think we can all agree a sudden heart attack is not hilarious. Or awesome. Or a welcome addition to a game of charades. But that doesn’t mean learning how to respond to such a dire situation can’t be. In fact, I think bystanders are more likely to respond if they have learned how to perform such a critical skill in a laid-back, enjoyable environment. It takes the drama out, and removes some of the fear around “doing it right.”

#2. Easy Breezy. If there’s one thing most of us would prefer NOT to suck at, it’s CPR. I mean, that’s kinda high stakes – and lacking performance could be a total downer. Margin for error is greatly decreased, however, because it’s so simple for people to learn. This video teaches us, in less than two minutes, how to save a life. Anyone who watches this video can easily remember to #1: Call 9-1-1. And #2: Push hard and fast in the center of the chest. (and if you question the proper tempo, just pump your hands to the beat of Stayin’ Alive)

#3. Characters welcome. And they don’t need to be famous, like Ken Jeong. (Who, by the way, is a real medical doctor. Read his Wikipedia article – fascinating guy.) Too often PSAs and self-help videos are delivered in a monotone, serious or hyper-factual manner. Relax people! If you really want others to learn something, teach them like they were a guest in your living room. Everyday people (like you) are often the best catalysts for teaching others something important. I mean, look at reality TV as a concept…if we didn’t find our non-celeb peers so damn interesting, we’d all have a lot more time on our hands.

And there you have it, ladies and gents: Change happens. And sometimes it occurs to a funky beat, while wearing your best leisure suit.

I love it when campaigns for social good actually work. Especially when they use video, as this approach has been a bit overdone lately. Watch this one as a guide and check out my 8 success points afterwards.

#1: It’s targeted.
The title of the campaign says it all. It’s a campaign directed at teenagers, 16-year-olds to be exact. Too often when creating campaigns we try to target all people at once. This waters everything down.

#2: The target has a periphery.
Even though it’s outwardly aimed at 16-year-olds, let’s be real. It’s people like me (33 year olds) who are actually watching it. This age group tends to have influence over teens, so there’s another level of action we may have just inspired. It’s us older folks who get all sappy at the idea of talking to younger versions of ourselves…

#3: It’s funny (at the right times).
Gotta love the pale, red-headed guy talking about how hard it is to be a “ginger”. I had never heard the term, but with my Irish roots and knowing lots of people who look like him, I laughed out loud. And the humor was perfectly timed…I was just starting to get a little depressed when they sprinkled that in.

#4: It’s easy.
“Just ten minutes”. Hey, that’s do-able, to check your skin (or a loved one’s skin) for 10 minutes every so often. Low commitment, high return and big stakes for taking the time.

#5: Success is fast.
They tell you what to look for when you take that ten minutes. (new moles, ones that change size, shape, color) We can all handle that. Easy enough.

#6: I didn’t want to kill myself afterwards.
Every good cause needs to tug at the heart strings. Hearing about someone who died at 26 of skin cancer just ain’t right…that’s a good shock to the system for the folks I refer to as “the invinceables”. Thankfully this campaign doesn’t dwell on it, though…otherwise people would tune out. I teared up, but didn’t cry. That’s an effective emotional balance.

#7: No preacher man in the house.
It’s amazing how many smart people with good intentions absolutely destroy opportunities to create change by simply talking too much. Or talking wrong. Or worst of all, talking down. I approach the campaigns I create as a very awkward discussion that needs to be addressed at Thanksgiving. You gotta strategize the timing, the words and anticipate the rebuttals to ensure Uncle Mort doesn’t have an outburst.

#8: Just 5 minutes
And bam! All these things done right in just 5 minutes. It felt shorter, yet another marker for success. That’s the sign of a well-done piece. Way to go, David Cornfield Melanoma Fund!

Today I am very happy to announce the launch of our new Girls Fight Back website! Located at http://girlsfightback.com, the site strives to be easy to navigate, easy to learn about personal safety online and easy to bring the GFB program (keynotes or workshops) to your school, college or business.  We hope it simplifies the process of learning to defend yourself without stress or confusion. Since we just launched, we anticipate a few glitches here and there. If you find any errors on the site, let us know via the contact form and I’ll personally send you a free, autographed copy of my book! (Girls Fight Back! The College Girl’s Guide to Protecting Herself.)

Probably my favorite feature on the website is the entire Girls Fight Back presentation is viewable online.  And guess what? It’s FREE. You don’t even have to give us your e-mail address. (Pop some popcorn, then click here to enjoy.) Many of my professional speaker friends think I’m a nut for doing this. After all, the presentation IS our business, so why make it free? Well in addition to it being my business, it’s also my mission. And we get LOTS of e-mail from women living in fear or in crisis with no ability to access to a self-defense class. Sometimes these notes arrive from faraway places like Egypt and Bahrain! While I don’t claim the GFB program is a substitute for taking a live class, I do think it’s a good first step and I’m delighted to make it available to women who so desperately seek it.

I have to thank my friend David Meerman Scott (a rock star author and professional speaker – not to mention an amazing guy and father) who inspired me to make the presentation free and accessible to anyone. He actually blogged about our new website, so click here to read it. Someone once told me, “If you love something, set it free.” Besides all the amazing people in my life, I couldn’t love anything more than Girls Fight Back…so have a nice flight, little birdie! Mama loves you!

You’ll also notice on the home page and the partners page, we announce some exciting sponsors for the GFB Fall Tour – which is now underway. (Heather spoke at University of Memphis last night. Yee haw!) We’d like to give a big thank you to SELF magazine, FORSSE and CampusTshirt.com for backing our tour this season. Also mentioned on the partners page are two awesome speakers bureaus that book all our college programs, Bass Schuler Entertainment and CAMPUSPEAK. We’re really psyched to be working with both of them.

Another big feature on the new website is our two new speakers, who have made Girls Fight Back a GLOBAL movement of peace and girl power. I extend a very warm welcome to Khalida from Pakistan and Trina from India – both of whom I spent this past summer training in public speaking and self-defense. They are incredible warriors in their own battles, with Khalida working to end honor killing across Pakistan and Trina working to end sex trafficking in Mumbai. When I first met them, I was so excited by the idea of GFB going global…I had no idea that training them would also to give me 2 more sisters. (BTW: Trina & Khalida will be using all money earned from programs they give in their countries to create revenue for their non-profits. They keep 100% of what they earn. This is the first major initiative of the Girls Fight Back Foundation – training women from other countries to be speakers on the topic of peace and safety, and how to make money doing it. Then use that income to fund social change.)

If you enjoy the new website, please tell us by visiting our Facebook fan page and leave a comment. Even better, send the link to 3 of your friends. Or blog about it, tweet it or post a link on Facebook. Our mission is to make women’s safety education as widely available as possible, and we thank you in advance for helping us out. We can’t do it alone – making women see that WE can be our own best protectors takes an army of women and men who love women.

Before I scamper off, I’d like to thank the following people for making contributions to this new website: Photographer Sean Savitt, graphic designer Jenn Doe, web designer Peter Lacis, GFB Program Director Cheryl Goff, t-shirt guru Jim Levy, Morgan Jelling at SELF, Liz Meitus at FORSSE, all our past and future clients and my incredible GFB speakers.

People often tell me and my team that Shannon McNamara is very proud up in heaven. In the past, I’ve always said “I hope so.” But now that any woman, anywhere, can learn some basic skills that could save her life – “I know so.”

Message from the August e-Newsletter…

The other night my husband and I went out for Thai food, and had a lovely dinner on the outdoor deck.  The sun was setting on a very productive day, and I had gotten many things crossed off my to-do list.  At the completion of the meal, our server brought us fortune cookies.  And let me tell you – I love fortune cookies.  Yes, they taste good, but I’m also a big believer in fate and subtle (or not so subtle) messages that are dropped in our laps.  (Or in this case, show up in our food.)  I always take my fortune cookie messages very seriously.

This night was no exception. Perhaps with everything going on right now, I built it up more than usual. With the busiest Fall Tour we’ve ever planned starting in September, and our first baby due next week, I am open to all the wisdom I can get.  As I cracked the cookie in half with nervous trepidation, I hoped it would rock my world.  And it said…

“About time I got out of that cookie.”

Really? A fortune cookie with a sense of humor? How fitting. And that’s when I knew this is the message I needed most. To relax, to live, to laugh…and to trust in the simple idea that everything is alright in good time.

Because things over here are better than alright…let me bring you up to speed on a few things.  First off, in June I trained a team of incredible speakers who will be carrying out all presentations this Fall while I’m on maternity leave.  You can meet them all by watching this brand new video on YouTube.

Second, you probably noticed we changed our official name to Fight Back Productions.  This came about as customers began asking for educational programs for female employees (Women Fight Back) and for mixed gender audiences at colleges (Students Fight Back).  It was time to develop a larger umbrella organization beyond Girls Fight Back that would be the home for all our educational programs.  And so it was…

Third, we are currently planning our biggest and busiest Fall Tour to date.  Please see the tour stops at right to see if we’re coming to a city near you.  If your school, college or business would like to book a stop on the tour, we offer discounts if you book when our speakers are in your area.  And if you work for a business that might be interested in becoming a tour sponsor, please contact us for an info packet.

So that’s the scoop! Until next time…I’m sending you simple joys and lots of  good fortune.

Strong. Resilient. Spirited. Unified.

This morning I made the flight to my homeland, lovely Chicago Illinois.  Tonight I had the pleasure to give the How to Be a Bad Victim program to about 50 amazing college women, most of whom were in the thick of sorority recruitment.  I really can’t think of a better way to kick off the school year than to give serious attention to issues like personal safety and self-defense.  And on campuses like UIC in the middle of a transforming urban area, it’s especially important to be proactive about these issues.  We had a great time, and I want to send out a huge thank you to Veronica Rodriguez for pulling together an excellent event, even in the madness of back to school!