communicate / writing policy submissions and briefings with clarity and impact
TLDR
For policy teams writing submissions and briefings for senior decision-makers. Helps you get to the point fast, writing with clarity, precision and authority, and adapting to your reader’s preferred style and format so your advice lands and drives action.
Policy teams are under constant pressure to present complex issues in a way that busy decision-makers can act on quickly. Whether the audience is a minister, senior leader or cross-departmental committee, submissions and briefings need to be precise, accessible and consistent. This programme is designed for policy officers, analysts and advisers in government departments, agencies or arms-length bodies who prepare written materials for leaders under tight deadlines and high scrutiny.
This applied programme focuses on how to get the key point across immediately, support it with just enough detail, and write in a style that gives confidence to the reader. Using your team's own submissions and briefings, participants leave the workshop with a redrafted version of one of their own real submissions.
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Strengthen your team’s ability to write with clarity, brevity and impact.
Shape writing around what the reader needs to know, not just what the team wants to say.
Structure submissions so the main point and recommendation are impossible to miss.
Adapt content to match the communication and presentation style preferred in your department.
Build shared standards for tone, structure and professional language across the team.
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Faster and sharper submissions that support confident decision-making.
A unified style and voice across documents, improving credibility and saving leaders’ time.
Greater confidence in handling word and time constraints without losing substance.
A shared drafting-and-review process - the same one built in the workshop - that the team can run on every submission.
A structured review habit, checking that every submission's recommendation, timing and evidence line up before it goes to a decision-maker.
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Half-day core workshop (in-person or virtual)
Follow-up virtual drop-in (OPTIONAL) (2 hours, 1 month later)
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09:30 – 09:45
Welcome, introductions and review of pre-course questionnaire. Participants share expectations and team goals.09:45 – 10:30
Knowing your reader – writing for decision-making
Identifying the priorities of a minister, senior leader or cross-departmental committee - and writing so the critical message is understood and trusted on first read.10:30 – 11:15
Structuring submissions for impact
Techniques for putting the key point up front, using the same shape as a ministerial submission - purpose in one line, brief background, up to three clearly-appraised options, a recommendation with its rationale, and the next decision point - sequencing evidence and guiding the reader towards action.11:15 – 11:30
Break11:30 – 12:15
Balancing brevity with depth
Practical editing exercises on cutting unnecessary text while keeping substance - background long enough to give context, short enough to be read in one pass. Writing to tight word and character limits under time pressure.12:15 – 12:45
Team standards and adapting to departmental style
Agreeing shared tone, structure and processes, and building a QA checklist to confirm every submission's recommendation actually matches its options and evidence. Adapting content to reflect the communication and presentation style your department prefers.12:45 – 13:00
Commitments and close
Review key takeaways and set team commitments.
