Writing Essentials course

Courses | Full day |  Public from NZ$895 per person | In-house from NZ$5200 per group | Clear Concise Compelling

Kāpuhiphui Wellington Uni ProfessionalNote: This course is open to individuals through Wellington Uni-Professional. A condensed version of this course is also available as part of the Skills Essentials course.

Why is this course essential?

Join the thousands who have taken the Writing Essentials course since 2008, and be perfectly equipped to meet the requirements of the Plain Language Act 2022.

If you write for your work, you are a professional writer. This means your writing should always be clear, concise, well-organised, and of value to readers. Do you know how to write in this manner, no matter the task?

Based on Simon Hertnon’s popular writing guidebook, Clear Concise Compelling: How to write less to achieve more, this course teaches the process and essential skills of professional writing – skills that are not typically taught at New Zealand schools, or universities.

Simon Hertnon teaching Writing Essentials

What does this course cover?

Part one: Thinking (before drafting)

  • The system (the principles of successful communication)
  • The principles of persuasion
  • Writing to deliver value
  • The process of optimal information design
    • Clear briefs
    • Organised outlines
    • Confident first drafts
    • Polished final drafts

Part two: Designing information (drafting)

  • The tools of written communication
    • The impacts of style
    • Familiar tone
    • Adhering to a plain language standard
    • Meeting the requirements of the Plain Language Act 2022
    • Document structure and design
    • Headings and paragraphs
    • Sentence structure
    • Word choice
    • Grammar
    • Punctuation
    • Numbers
  • Tips to elevate your performance from competent to excellent

All attendees receive a copy of the new (2021) second edition of Clear Concise Compelling writing guidebook by Nakedize founder, Simon Hertnon.

Clear Concise Compelling (2ed) open

What will you learn?

The morning session of this course is focussed on being clear about why you should communicate, when you should choose the written medium, and what process you should follow to ensure your writing is worthwhile. In the afternoon session you will learn about making wise choices as you write-up your draft document from your outline. Specifically, you will learn:

  • How to write more effectively and efficiently by confirming briefs and creating outlines
  • Effective document structure and design for any document
  • Why we overwrite and how to avoid the verbosity trap
  • The purpose and effective usage of all punctuation marks
  • How to critique and edit any document

Please note, in-house courses can be customised to focus on particular types of documents (emails, reports, business cases, etc) and particular business areas (customer service, finance, IT, etc).

How do you book this course?

You will find everything you need to know (course dates, booking instructions, and booking conditions) on our courses page.

For individuals: you can attend a public course in Wellington or Auckland organised through our colleagues at Wellington Uni-Professional.

Writing Essentials course on Wellington Uni-Professional web site

For groups: if you have already checked out the booking conditions for in-house courses, please contact us and we will give you a call to confirm your requirements.