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What's in a name?

Highlights

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We usually create bespoke training-materials for our clients – the workbooks and hints-and-tips sheets that we produce use examples from your firm’s updates or pitches. Most clients opt for half-day training sessions with 6-8 attendees.

We can run shorter or longer courses with more or fewer attendees, or use our generic training materials. We also do one-to-one coaching, and reviews of pitches and publications.

We work with a talented and tough-minded copywriter, Paddy O’Connor, (an ex management consultant) on many writing-training projects. Our writing training combines Paddy’s passion for persuasive writing and our steely determination to get you to front-load your documents with clear summaries.

First – here’s what our writing training will do (there’s a short list of what it won’t do at the bottom of this page):

We’ll show you how to write for the reader, write persuasively,
substantiate claims, and spell out benefits

We’ll take you back to first principles. We’ll get you into the habit of thinking about who the reader is, what they want to know (as opposed to what you want to write about), and the order that they need, or want, to know it in.

Substantiate your claims, and spell out the benefits for clients

You’ll also learn how to break the business-writing habit of making unsubstantiated claims (‘the team has extensive experience’). You’ll evolve into a writer who backs up claims with facts, and spells out the benefits of your firm’s experience and skills.
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You’ll learn to use clear structure, and clear language

Let’s look at these two building blocks one at a time:

a) Clear structure: main message first – no ‘conclusion’ at the end
We emphasise a ‘front loaded’, or conclusion-first, structure in our training. When you start with the main ideas, your readers know what you think and where you’re going. And you’ll make it easy for them to take a conscious decision to read on.

We’re all trained at school, university (and often at work), to put the conclusion at the end. Our writing training will show you how to break out of the traditional essay structure (introduction, facts and pros-and-cons, conclusion). You’ll see how much clearer your writing is when you put the most important points first (the ‘front loaded’ approach).

b) Clear language: short and direct sentences,  fewer abstract nouns
The language part of the training is all about being clear and direct – making it clear who’ll do what by when.

If you come on one of our courses you’ll never write a sentence like this again:
‘The report will be delivered at the end of the primary stage.’
(Who will deliver the report? When is the end of the primary stage?)

You’ll get you into the habit of writing:
‘We will deliver the report by 31 August. The report will sum up everything we’ve learnt in the first project stage, and make it clear what needs to happen next.’
(Yes, sometimes you do need to use more words to make things clear.)

Our training will also show you how to:

• Use active verbs to bring your writing to life, and shorten your sentences.
• Get into the habit of using bold-text subheadings that are a whole thought. They show clients where you’re going and help people skim-read your documents.
• Convince clients that your team has the right experience and processes for the job.

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What our writing training won’t do

Here’s the bad news. Well, only if you’re planning to get started on that novel… Our writing training will not:

• Help you develop a beautiful writing style that’ll make the literati swoon, and have publishers beating a path to your door.
• Kit you out with expert knowledge on grammatical exotica like gerunds and case-triggered declensions.
• Fix your problems with spelling and punctuation.