Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
December 2nd, 2020
“I’m trying to sound smart.” These words broke my heart when I heard them from a workshop participant last week. The young woman who uttered them is so accomplished that she earned a coveted academic research grant usually awarded to PhD students even though she’d just completed a bachelor’s degree. She also speaks three languages. […]
read more...4 incentives to liberate you from reading your speaking notes
Our Advocacy Work
February 14th, 2020
I’m embarrassed to confess how long it’s taken me to wake up to this revelation. I ask women every day to step out of their comfort zones and speak up about things they know to be important — to share their insights, challenge ignorance, and make change. But recently it occurred to me that I […]
read more...The upside of getting outside (of your comfort zone)
Blog Post and Our Advocacy Work
April 27th, 2018
We recently surveyed hundreds of women who’ve participated in our workshops and remained on our mailing list. Email overflow and work-life demands being what they are, we were happy to log 57 responses from women in 16 cities across the country. They gave us insight into what use they’ve made of the training we deliver, […]
read more...What Impact are We Having? What More Can We Do?
Improve your Writing
April 12th, 2017
Gloria 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?
Improve 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
January 25th, 2016
Want to know what journalists think? Ask them. That’s what we did last fall by hosting a series of roundtable luncheons in cities right across the country. Our goal was simple: to pick their brains about ExpertWomen.ca, the new, improved and expanded database we’re starting to build. We’re now incorporating their valuable ideas and insights […]
read more...7 Things Journalists Want Women To Know
Improve your Writing
November 10th, 2015
Is 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 impact
Improve your Writing
April 2nd, 2013
Will Dena McMartin’s recent op ed in the Regina Leader-Post help prevent a flooding disaster and save lives? It just might. And even if it doesn’t, the informed analysis of the University of Regina professor of environmental systems engineering offered citizens valuable and timely information about her city’s pending spring thaw. At the same time, its […]
read more...“It’s not about you”
Master Media Engagement
January 31st, 2013
Guilt didn’t play a big role in my upbringing: I was never discouraged from having sex in order to prevent my mother from having a heart attack, nor was I warned to do well in school to compensate for any sacrifices my parents suffered in raising me. So it comes as a surprise to me […]
read more...The Motivational Power of Guilt
Master Media Engagement
February 18th, 2011
At 3:18 pm Wednesday, University of Victoria law prof Rebecca Johnson sent a three-sentence email to Dave Obee, op ed page editor of the Times Colonist, expressing her interest in writing a commentary about a news story that had appeared in that day’s paper. He responded almost immediately, asked her what angle she was interested […]
read more...How to have impact in under 24 hours
