Plain english
Course overview
This course is for those new to writing for an online audience or anyone who’d like to be more concise in their written communication.
You’ll explore how people read online and why getting to the point is critical, and look at techniques to keep your writing short, understandable and useful. Writing and editing exercises will put what you’ve learnt into practice and help improve your writing skills and confidence.
Delivery: in person or online
Class size: up to 12 people
Duration: 3 hours
Cost: from £1,250 plus VAT per course
What the course covers
In this course you’ll look at:
how people read online and how that affects the way we write
why short sentences and paragraphs make it easier for people to find and understand information
the difference between the active and passive voice and when to use which
how avoiding jargon by using simpler words gets your message across more effectively
what nominalisation is and why it’s best to avoid it
using formatting techniques to help readers find important information quickly
tools and resources to help you put your new writing skills into practice
What you’ll learn
After completing this course, you will:
understand the main principles of plain English and how to apply them
be able to identify what makes a piece of writing difficult to read and digest
feel confident in your ability to write more clearly and concisely
We tailor all exercises in the course to make them relevant to you and your organisation.
If you’d like to focus on a particular area, we can adjust the course content to suit your needs. Or we can add elements from other courses, or create something completely bespoke for you. See how our training works.
Your trainer
Christine Cawthorne is an experienced trainer who has been teaching people to write for the web since 2009.
She joined Government Digital Service in 2013 and trained thousands of people how to understand user needs, write in clearer language and use the GOV.UK style guide.
As well as giving training, Christine works as a content strategist helping public sector and non-profits with their content. She mentors content designers at all stages of their careers and runs the Crocstar content community.
Feedback for this course
I enjoyed Christine's session, she was very informative and at this level didn't use too much jargon. I would highly recommend any of Christine's sessions.