Improve your Writing
January 27th, 2021Be honest: if you sent me a piece of your writing, and I sent it back marked up like the page at the right, would you feel insulted? I know it’s sobering to see words you’ve carefully committed to paper marked up in red ink by a critic who deems your prose something short of […]
read more...6 tips for editing your own work — and why you should solicit feedback from othersImprove your Writing
July 7th, 2020Don’t stop me, even if you have heard this one before: It’s 1992. I’ve just joined the board of MediaWatch, Informed Opinions’ predecessor. A TV reporter calls to say the Miss Canada pageant has just been cancelled and he needs someone who is not a beauty contestant to come on TV to talk about it. […]
read more...My first op ed… on the Miss Canada beauty pageantImprove your Writing
October 19th, 2018You may not recognize her name, but chances are high that you’ve been influenced – if only indirectly – by her informed opinions. Nobina Robinson attended one of our Writing Compelling Commentary workshops in 2012. Since then, she’s authored or co-authored more than three dozen op eds. Her commentary has been published in a wide […]
read more...Relentless change-maker Nobina Robinson: more than 3 dozen op eds in 6 yearsImprove your Writing
July 18th, 2018In the dog days of summer 2017, when many people were at the beach, or glued to the media coverage of Charlottesville’s neo-Nazi march and the shocking response from the leader of the free world, a small posse of women with informed opinions were speaking up to make change. University of Ottawa law prof, Liz […]
read more...9 tips to improve the chances of getting your op ed publishedImprove your Writing
April 12th, 2017Gloria Steinem… senior bureaucrats… somebody who funds the kind of work you do? Whose attention would you most like to attract? In recent years, Canadian women writing timely, engaging and persuasive commentary have elicited responses from all of the above. Others have sparked international conversations, investigative journalism, and a reversal of government policy. And […]
read more...Whose attention would you most like to attract?Effective Communication, Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter and Master Media Engagement
August 18th, 2016As professional communicators who advise others on how to improve their ability to connect with audiences, colleague Sarah Neville and I have watched the astonishing ascension of political neophyte and insult-machine Donald Trump with dropped jaws. Here’s our conversation about the lessons to be learned from his fearless communication style, originally published on Huffington Post. SARAH: […]
read more...Trump’s Terrifying Communication EffectivenessImprove your Writing
August 9th, 2016“I nearly fell out of my chair,” laughs Janet McLaughlin, recalling her shock upon hearing the Leader of the Opposition publicly quote her in the Ontario legislature. The House was embroiled in a critical debate about funding for autism programs, an issue McLaughlin cares about deeply. That’s when the Assistant Professor of Health Studies at […]
read more...“They read my entire op-ed in the debate!”Master Media Engagement
February 4th, 2016I’m sitting in a restaurant with my friend Frances. (Note that this blog post was originally published pre-pandemic.) A longtime print journalist and frequent guest on radio public affairs shows, she is knowledgeable, articulate and funny – in both of Canada’s official languages. At the moment, however, she’s on the verge of turning down an interview […]
read more...Are you uncomfortable calling yourself an expert?Improve your Writing
November 10th, 2015Is it possible to draw attention to egregious sexism, make clear the consequences of rape myths, and place a judge under review in a single op ed? Yes on all counts — as two university law professors demonstrated yesterday. Monday’s Globe and Mail ran a commentary by Elaine Craig (above left, Dalhousie University) and Alice Woolley (above […]
read more...How to leverage 700 words for maximum impactOur Advocacy Work
November 9th, 2014You know that old saying, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re probably in the wrong room”? I looked up its origins today, and couldn’t find an attribution (which, as Virginia Woolf pointed out years ago, likely means the observation was first articulated by a woman!) Although I’m pretty clear about the value of my skill […]
read more...What difference do women’s voices make?