Effective Communication and Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
May 12th, 2021
Doug Ford’s mis-management of the COVID-19 crisis has put the Ontario premier in the crosshairs of parents, teachers, restaurant owners and frontline workers alike; it’s caused health care leaders to publicly weep in frustration. Governing effectively in uncharted pandemic territory is like leading a country in wartime: the challenges are legion and unpredictable. Addressing them […]
read more...Four communication lessons from Doug Ford and Jason Kenney
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
December 22nd, 2020
A woman once told me about having attended her thesis supervisor’s presentation at an academic conference. It took him almost 20 minutes to read his research paper aloud. When he looked up at the end, she was the only one remaining. Everyone else had bailed from sheer boredom — and he hadn’t even noticed. (She […]
read more...How to reduce your dependency on speaking notes
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
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
October 6th, 2020
“Find another profession.” That was the blunt assessment of one high school student who sat through a presentation I gave in Saskatoon 15 years ago. The youth-targeted media literacy book that had earned me the speaking invitation, In Your Face – The Culture of Beauty and You, was an award-winning Canadian best-seller. But my ability […]
read more...The value of candid criticism from reliable sources
Effective Communication
May 24th, 2019
These are just a few of the exchanges provoked by the Toronto Star’s recent publication of a commentary I wrote about the downside of filler phrases. Many of those who responded on Twitter took issue with my apparent ageism. (Although I referenced recent interaction with young people, I also mentioned that the habit isn’t confined to […]
read more...Clear speech advocate writes; Twitter sh*t storm erupts.
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
July 30th, 2018
Now that Russian interference in the US election has been clearly established, many are concerned about the implications for democracy. But universities and researchers should be paying attention to another contributing factor to Hillary Clinton’s loss. By all objective criteria, she was more experienced and more knowledgeable, less narcissistic and less impulsive. She was also […]
read more...Are students universities’ most effective means of mobilizing knowledge?
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
May 25th, 2018
Why would 80 women who spend most of their working hours talking to people from the front of a room be nervous enough about their speaking ability to sign up for a presentation skills workshop? I asked myself this the first time the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) hired me to deliver such workshops. […]
read more...Women need to let go of perfectionism: it’s the enemy of good (and of engagement)
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
April 18th, 2018
I’m speaking to a select group of rising star business women. In mid-sentence, I pause to pull off my suddenly too-warm jacket as I smile and murmur “hot flash”. At the end of my talk, the marketing VP of a major credit card company approaches. “You’re so authentic,” she exclaims. “That really works for your […]
read more...On Personal Branding, Being Authentic, and Avoiding Irrelevancy
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
August 1st, 2017
The 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 […]
read more...Two unexpected performance lessons and the power of the mic
Effective Communication, Improve your Writing and Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
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 […]
read more...Critical feedback is one key to success
