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?
Our Advocacy Work
March 30th, 2017
J-Source by Michael Ott 30 March 2017 “We couldn’t find any expert women,” cannot be an excuse. That’s the mantra of a new website dedicated to amplifying women’s voices in Canadian news media. ExpertWomen seeks to create a database of women from across the country who are experts in their fields. Shari Graydon, the founder […]
read more...New database seeks to amplify women’s voices in the news media
Effective Communication and Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
July 12th, 2016
You can tell how old this Punch cartoon is by the honorific applied to the sidelined “Miss” Triggs. But sadly, even though it was first published more than half a century ago, including it in a slide deck in 2016 still elicits the laughter of recognition. What stops you from speaking up at meetings? Even […]
read more...7 Ways to Get Heard at Meetings
Master Media Engagement and Our Advocacy Work
June 28th, 2016
Most parents agree on at least one thing: they’d do almost anything for their children. For Steve Paikin, that means promoting a more gender-equitable media landscape. Many know Paikin as the host of The Agenda, TVO’s flagship current affairs program which airs in Ontario on weeknight evenings. Others may be familiar with his work moderating federal and […]
read more...“Where, oh where, are all the female guests?”
Master Media Engagement
February 4th, 2016
I’m sitting in a restaurant with my friend Frances. (Note that this blog post was originally published pre-pandemic.) A longtime print journalist and frequent guest on radio public affairs shows, she is knowledgeable, articulate and funny – in both of Canada’s official languages. At the moment, however, she’s on the verge of turning down an interview […]
read more...Are you uncomfortable calling yourself an expert?
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
Effective Communication
August 3rd, 2015
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve been battling my yoga teacher for months. She’s personally warm and professionally competent — but I can’t actually hear her. Especially at the start and end of every class, her soft-spoken voice is barely audible, even when I’m seated front row centre. (I would read her lips, but my […]
read more...Speaking While Female
Our Advocacy Work
April 2nd, 2015
A 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 possible
Our Advocacy Work
November 9th, 2014
You 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?
Our Advocacy Work
June 6th, 2014
It’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 Women
