Two presidential speech writers reveal their top tips for crafting a really memorable speech. Sarada Peri is Special Assistant and Senior Speechwriter to President Obama. She says a good speech writer is like a ghost, and that her job is really to inhabit the President's mind on any given topic. When the first female President of the Republic of Kosovo came into office in 2011, it was Garentina Kraja who she turned to for her speech writing prowess, as well as her policy expertise.

From a Bolero concert to a cancer ward, and from the apartment of a guy who helps Cubans get foreign visas to an Afro-Cuban Santeria ceremony, reporter Deepa Fernandes finds out how ordinary Cuban women have lived, loved and invented their way through dwindling resources and political isolation.

Bouncer, mechanic, taxi driver and firefighter - just some of the jobs being done by women in India today. Divya Arya meets some of the women who are challenging gender stereotypes and breaking down social taboos in order to find work in areas traditionally the preserve of men.

In 2002, the French Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt became perhaps one of the best-known hostages in the world when she was kidnapped and held for over six years, deep in the Colombian jungle, by the Farc. Watching Ingrid's emotional release on TV in 2008, was a young Canadian journalist called Amanda Lindhout. A month later she herself was taken hostage at gun-point, on a work trip to Somalia. For the 460 days of Amanda's captivity, she thought about Ingrid nearly every day, inspired by the thought that she too could one day end her ordeal. This is the first time they have spoken to each other.

Akwasi Sarpong visits Uganda’s thriving coding scene, to find out if home-grown, technology-based solutions can help tackle some of the country’s big development challenges.

Bola Mosuro travels to Ghana to meet the women who are making their mark in the male dominated world of technology, and inspiring young girls to follow in their footsteps.

The Syrian province of Deir Ezzor was taken over by Islamic State militants a year ago. A former teacher explains how she's expected to behave under the control of militants.

American high school student, Delaney Osborne explains the pressure she feels to behave in a certain way. Delaney is 17 years old, pregnant, and living with her mother.

22-year-old Lubov Russkina from the nomadic Khanty tribe in western Siberia explains to Olga Ivshina from the BBC Russian service what it means to be a good girl in her community

Is a relationship more or less likely to fail when a woman is successful? When is it right to put career aspirations on the back burner - to bring up a family? Live debate.