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Category Archives: Scholarly Concerns
When they get it wrong
It’s one of the most commonly-cited deterrents to doing media interviews: not having control over how the words you speak will be used in the resulting story, whether it’s in a newspaper, on the radio or on TV. But just … Continue reading
The Motivational Power of Guilt
Guilt didn’t play a big role in my upbringing: I was never discouraged from having sex in order to prevent my mother from having a heart attack, nor was I warned to do well in school to compensate for any … Continue reading
Posted in Media Interviews, Op Eds by IO Grads, Reach and Impact, Scholarly Concerns, Uncategorized, Workshop Insights
Tagged CBC, CTV, guilt, heart attack, how to be effective in media interviews, impact, interviews, Kelly Grindrod, media, motivation, overprescribing antibiotics, pharmacy, radio, resources, sex, Toronto Star, TV, University of Waterloo
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New Year’s Resolution: How to disregard criticism by applying the “reasonable man” test
Celebrated American poet and critic, Ezra Pound, in his considered advice to beginning poets offered the following advice: “Pay no attention to the criticism of men who have never themselves written a notable work.” But he could have been speaking to … Continue reading
WTF???
The confession made by the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies doubled as both a great tip and the best laugh of the day. Last week during one of three Informed Opinions workshops I delivered in Winnipeg (thank you, Jane Ursel, … Continue reading
Most common errors made by aspiring op ed writers – part 2
Far too much research has already documented that when something goes wrong, women are highly inclined to blame the problem or setback on their own deficiencies. This tendency operates in stark contrast to men, who are more likely to blame … Continue reading
Posted in Better Writing, Effective Commentary Strategies, Reach and Impact, Scholarly Concerns, Uncategorized, Valuing Women
Tagged assumptions, bias, care, cartoon, commentary, conceptual, families, hard-to-visualize, new, op ed, readers, refute, research, resonance, social justice, sports, women, writing
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Don’t Bury the Lede!
If you saw the following sentence at the start of a piece in your daily newspaper, would you keep reading? “You don’t see a lot of naked men in advertising.” Lots of people did — no thanks to me. The … Continue reading
Posted in Better Writing, Scholarly Concerns, Uncategorized
Tagged academics, ad, Adidas, advertising, bury, commentary, Daniel Woolf, engage readers, Globe and Mail, lede, naked men, op ed, opening sentence, President, Queen's University, scholars, writing
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Most Common Errors Made by Aspiring Op Ed Writers – part 1
Whether you’re picked last for the ball team, get rebuffed on the first date, or fail to elicit a positive response from an editor, rejection stinks. That’s why Informed Opinions offers online editing feedback (free to our workshop participants, but … Continue reading
Ideas about knowledge mobilization from Queen’s University’s “death and grief girl”
When Jill Scott, a professor in Queen’s German department, participated in an Informed Opinions workshop last year, I had no idea she was the self-proclaimed “death and grief girl”… Until a few months later, she wrote a thoughtful op ed … Continue reading
“It’s not about you”
Will Dena McMartin’s recent op ed in the Regina Leader-Post help prevent a flooding disaster and save lives? It just might. And even if it doesn’t, the informed analysis of the University of Regina professor of environmental systems engineering offered … Continue reading →