Master 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 resolutionIncrease Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
April 19th, 2016For five long minutes, the graphic recorder’s raised right hand was stalled over the paper in front of her, a stunning demonstration of the speaker’s failure to deliver useful content. Although knowledgeable and articulate, the woman at the microphone had already used up half of her allotted time – and she had said absolutely nothing […]
read more...Avoid graphic humiliation: deliver value from your presentation’s first sentenceImprove your Writing
April 5th, 2015It could be a stressful exercise. But by the time we force our commentary writing workshop participants into allowing others in the room to vote on the engagement capacity of their opening sentences, they’ve already laughed and commiserated enough that the “thumbs down” votes don’t feel personal. And the collective intelligence of the colleagues present invariably serves up a […]
read more...How to engage readers from the first sentence — and repurpose your content, tooImprove your Writing
October 11th, 2011Posting content to a blog may have gotten Julie Powell a book deal that in turn lead to an international best seller and a blockbuster movie (starring Meryl Streep, no less), but updating a personally maintained website with random thoughts isn’t generally perceived as a fast track to academic tenure. So if you’re a scholar […]
read more...To blog or not to blog…Improve your Writing
December 7th, 2010Partnering with universities is one of the main strategies Informed Opinions is pursuing to support knowledgeable women in contributing their ideas and analysis to the media. So last summer, I pitched an op ed to the editor of University Affairs magazine, published by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, which reaches close to […]
read more...The Pros and Cons of Timeliness