Write Better at Work is for anyone who needs to write for work – emails, presentations, product descriptions, online content, blog or social posts.

It is designed both for those new to the workplace and anyone who wants to give their writing a boost. Whatever your level of skill, you’ll gain fresh perspectives on how you write and discover new ways to write better.

The training is suitable if you:

• Write regularly at work, whether internally or to customers
• Would like to improve your writing skills
• Want to be more influential and effective in the workplace
• Would like to learn a set of techniques and frameworks to apply in your day to day role
• Need templates for emails, presentations and blog posts
• Work remotely and would like to communicate more effectively with a scattered team
• Are looking to grow your creative skills
• Enjoy the discipline of deadlines and peer feedback
• Want to join a friendly and supportive small group of learners
• Can dedicate 2 hours per week to the learning (at a time to suit you).

This professional development training allows you to:

• Learn how to write clearly, confidently and effectively
• Dismantle the habits that make your writing hard to read
• Untangle complicated sentences and paragraphs
• Learn a set of simple new techniques for clear, persuasive communication
• Benefit from templates for effective emails, presentations, product descriptions and online content
• Feel confident in ‘what to say’ when you start writing
• Refresh your knowledge of the ‘rules’ of business communication
• Build confidence in the quality of your writing
• Nurture your creativity
• Develop transferable professional skills (discipline, attention to detail, ability to work to deadlines)
• Increase professionalism in working with others and in networking
• Feel more confident in giving feedback to peers and receiving critical notes
• Build greater independence, autonomy and critical judgment as you self-direct, self-manage and realise a final project to the course brief.

Each course is divided into sessions. These sessions are released one by one (weekly or fortnightly, depending on the course). 

There’s no need to log on at a set time. You can work through the learning materials whenever suits you, day or night, wherever you are in the world. Just complete the assignments and join forum discussions by the session deadline. 

Our teaching method is based on the science of active learning: you read/listen/watch, try out, share and reflect. It’s a social experience – you become part of a small group, feeding back on each other’s writing to build a supportive bunch of readers you trust. Find out more here.

Session 1: Clear Language – The nuts and bolts of language – word choice, quantity of words vs quantity of information, simplicity – and how to strip back your writing to unclog, cut the clutter and write shorter and clearer. We’ll tackle jargon, clichés and the passive voice, and you’ll rework a very short piece of your own writing.

Session 2: Effortless Sentences – A guide to the simplest structure you can build out of words – the sentence – and how to sequence information in a way that is easy to read using paragraphs. We’ll introduce the concept of ‘The News’, and how to use it to construct a clear argument or story. You’ll find an example of writing at work to re-engineer.

Session 3: It’s About People – Why you need to take your reader’s perspective to get your message across. Who to address when writing, speaking to a single reader, and the single most important word in your writing: ‘You’. You’ll rewrite a corporate announcement to speak directly to the reader.

Session 4: Strong Sentences – We’ll look at a basic structure you can use for all kinds of writing at work – the inverted pyramid – then zoom in with a pocket practical guide to writing four key types of communication: email, presentation, blog post and production description/social post. There are handy templates to takeaway. You’ll plan and write two key pieces of writing you use most often at work using the News–Problem–Solution–What Next structure.

At the end of the training you will submit two from the following, for individual written feedback from your tutor:

1. An email to a team member, customer or manager.
2. A short presentation.
3. A very short piece of writing eg product description or social post.
4. A short blog post.

If you are a writer based in North of Tyne, you may be eligible for a bursary discount through New Writing North. 

You can submit your application through the New Writing North site. 

This course is open to writers all over the globe. If you are based anywhere else in the world, you can buy the course now.

Join our alumni community 

After your course, you can join our online alumni community – a friendly group of writers supporting each other as they continue to explore and develop their writing. There’s no cost for this. It’s easy to access via the online classroom, where you can:

• Revisit all your courses materials, including tutor notes, feedback, videos, podcasts and forum posts
• Rejoin your classmates, and continue working together in a private space
• Meet alumni from other courses to find beta-readers and share work on our critiquing forum
• Network with other writers working in your genre or area of interest
• Take part in regular ‘sit and write’ Zoom sessions, to push forward with your work-in progress
• Join our monthly live alumni events with our expert tutors and industry guests, including agents, editors, publishers, competition and festival organisers, and prizewinning writers

Commission a report on your work
If you’d like to receive a personalised, detailed report on your final piece of writing from your course tutor, this is available at an extra cost. You’ll receive detailed written feedback assessing your ideas and writing, plus advice on what steps to take next.

Taking things further
If you’d like to continue on to another Professional Writing Academy course, please get in touch for more details.