Our Advocacy Work
April 2nd, 2015A year ago, when veteran journalist and host of TVO’s The Agenda blogged, “Where, oh where, are all the women?” he ignited a firestorm of protest. Ironically, Steve Paikin’s show already had a much higher percentage of female guests than any other broadcast program studied by Informed Opinions over the past five years. (When we monitored the […]
read more...The Agenda producers prove gender parity is possibleIncrease Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
February 15th, 2015How often are you rendered comatose by a presenter at the front of the room who commits one or more of these completely avoidable offences: 1. Failing to have curated content that would fit into the time allotted? 2. Failing to have considered the interests of the audience in selecting material to present? 3. Failing to […]
read more...Do you Engage Audiences (or Render Them Comatose)?Our Advocacy Work
December 31st, 2014EXPLOITING CELEBRITIES How do you draw public attention to rampant discrimination against women restaurant workers? I played the celebrity card, and heightened the drama by contrasting the red carpet behaviour of Hollywood A-listers, Sandra Bullock (rooted to the spot by her heels) and Hugh Jackman (bounding down Yonge Street posing for selfies with fans). […]
read more...Mandatory High Heels and Facebook FeedbackOur Advocacy Work
December 6th, 2014You know you’ve done your job as a conference planner when delegates depart complaining of not having slept since they arrived, thanks to an excess of intellectual stimulation provided by the presenters and programming you’ve so expertly curated. But I’m guessing that conveners Christl Verduyn (Mount Allison) and Aritha van Herk (University of Calgary) both […]
read more...Should Smart Women Strive to be Public Intellectuals?Our 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?Better Writing
September 20th, 2014I first learned this lesson from the Miss Canada beauty pageant, but on Thursday three Informed Opinions’ “grads” reminded me of it… If a reporter calls or emails to solicit your informed opinion about an current controversy or topical story, that’s an opportunity for you to provide additional analysis — that you have more control over — […]
read more...What’s the easiest news hook for your next op ed?Our Advocacy Work
August 1st, 2014by Jasmine Ball Are you tired of seeing colleagues receive accolades while you toil away unnoticed? This book can boost your earning power and advance your career – seriously! The Confidence Code, co-written by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay, explores confidence by delving into the fields of neuroscience and psychology in an effort to understand […]
read more...Cracking the Confidence CodeOur Advocacy Work
June 6th, 2014It’s often seen as a dirty word, and I usually avoid using it. So when Lisa Kimmel, the general manager of Edelman PR agency recently invited me to debate the merits of imposing a gender “quota” on journalists as a means of increasing the number of women quoted in the news, I balked. Even though […]
read more...Why Journalists Should Be Forced to Quote More WomenImprove your Writing
May 12th, 2014Informed Opinions’ Writing Compelling Commentary workshop is chock-full of concrete suggestions designed to help you write a timely and persuasive op ed and get it published in an influential media forum. And previous blog posts have offered lots of content that expands on the hand-outs we supply and the examples we offer in the session. […]
read more...3 Tricks to Improve Readership of your Op EdOur Advocacy Work
April 5th, 2014The moment was both painful and telling. As the MC introduced me to the 250 teenagers assembled to engage in a discussion about the importance of media literacy in an image-dominated age, I watched every kid’s eyes glaze-over. It wasn’t the reference to my two award-winning books for youth, or my ten years as president […]
read more...When age is a valued credential