Our Advocacy Work
July 22nd, 2020This article was originally published by University Affairs I’ve failed more often than I’ve succeeded, but you wouldn’t know that from reading my CV. Last year, I failed to get a postdoctoral grant from the Social Science Humanities and Research Council. Two years in a row, I failed to get a postdoctoral fellowship from the […]
read more...Redefining success and failure in academiaMaster Media Engagement
January 9th, 2019Are you a media whore? Or do you worry you might be labeled one by your colleagues – if not to your face, then behind your back? In the process of delivering hundreds of media engagement workshops, I’ve heard dozens and dozens of you express this fear, using precisely this language. You’ve made it clear […]
read more...In praise of academic media sluts – a New Year’s resolutionMaster Media Engagement
October 30th, 2018Nancy Worth is a rock star in our world. After participating in one of our Writing Compelling Commentary workshops a little over a year ago, the University of Waterloo professor asked us if we’d be interested in collaborating on some research about our work. Then she developed the proposal, successfully applied to the Social Sciences […]
read more...How journalists and universities can make it easier for experts to say “yes” to media interviewsIncrease Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
May 25th, 2018Why 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)Improve 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?Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
September 29th, 2016Power pointers everywhere, can we talk? The time has long passed for you to be creating slides featuring 79 word-paragraphs. It’s not a good idea to share detailed graphs with data that’s indecipherable from even the first row. And no one wants to see your meticulously footnoted sources during a stand-up presentation. That’s what handouts are for […]
read more...How to Avoid Power Point CrimesIncrease Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
June 11th, 2016It’s a challenge that has defeated many experts with decades of professional experience. But in Calgary recently, at Congress 2016, 21 grad students from universities across the country managed to describe complex scientific research in engaging and accessible ways, and to do so in under three minutes each. Lots of speakers – academics included […]
read more...Storytellers demonstrate the engagement power of passionIncrease 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 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
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 Code