Unconscious Bias and the Right to Bare Arms
February 16th, 2018Recently I shared the link to a blog post written by a writer whose insights I have often found relevant, useful and supported by research. My 200-character comment suggested that speakers who wanted to be taken seriously should cover up their arms. A minor storm ensued. I regret my failure to review the original study […]
Words Matter: Canada’s anthem finally acknowledges that half our citizens aren’t captured by the term “men”
January 31st, 2018Eight years ago, I penned the following op ed for the Ottawa Citizen on the occasion of the previous government’s brief flirtation with changing the lyrics of O Canada to include women. I am thrilled that the Senate today passed the bill the House of Commons originally approved in 2016. Thank you Nancy Ruth, Vivienne Poy and […]
5 Resolutions to maintain 2017’s momentum
January 9th, 2018If 2017 goes down in history as a year of resolve, what will we say about 2018? That we built on the momentum to make lasting change, or that we let the energy dissipate into nothingness? From women’s marches around the world to the #MeToo movement, many people took not just to social media, but […]
What Gets Measured Gets Done campaign puts media on notice, aims to bridge gender gap in Canadian news media by 2025
October 18th, 2017October 18, Ottawa – In recognition of Persons Day, Informed Opinions launched “What Gets Measured Gets Done”, a national campaign aimed at bridging the gender gap in news and information media. At the official launch, Informed Opinions Catalyst and Founder, Shari Graydon issued a challenge to journalists across Canada. The non-profit project will monitor the […]
Brad Pitt’s 3-step program for #MaleAllies
October 12th, 2017Among the many feelings (fury, disgust, resignation) that surfaced for me upon learning the extent to which casting couch hell remains alive and well, was this thought: There are a lot of decent men in the world capable of doing what Brad Pitt did when he learned of the encounter his then girlfriend, Gwyneth […]
What Gets Measured Gets Done – #WGMGD
October 3rd, 2017This conversation should be over: The business case for drawing on the entire talent pool is now unassailable — dozens of studies over more than two decades make clear that including women’s informed opinions makes companies more profitable, boards more effective, and research more relevant. Most people no longer accept the absence of women’s insights […]
Two unexpected performance lessons and the power of the mic
August 1st, 2017The Québécoise singer-songwriter on stage at the beautifully renovated National Arts Centre is charming and talented. But she’s also distracted. The connection between her plugged-in guitar and the amp is not working. In the audience, we can hear her lovely vocals, and the music being played by her band, but not her own strumming. If […]
Critical feedback is one key to success
July 18th, 2017“Great lectures, bad hair.” Clearly, I’m no Einstein, but in the fight for my most memorable student evaluation as a university communications instructor, that comment from 1992 runs neck and neck with this one from 1998: “Puncuashun, and speling, to strick.” Translated, this means “Punctuation and spelling too strict.” (Which, I’m pretty sure, totally redeems […]
Storytelling and the power of visual feedback
May 15th, 2017I undermined the impact of my opening. I relied on my notes too much. I failed to advance my slides as intended. Those are just three of the critical observations I made after watching a video of myself delivering a conference keynote in Winnipeg. That’s the bad news. The good news is that 1. the […]
Five Steps to Overcoming Public Speaking Nerves
April 27th, 2017Brilliance, without the capacity to communicate it, is wasted. I learned this in grade 10 chemistry from the intellectually-gifted, but communicationally-impaired Mr. Philipps. Sadly, that’s about all I learned (and it wasn’t the lesson he was intending to teach). Although my parents may have been disappointed that I dropped sciences in grade 11, I’ve never […]