clear written communication

A half-day practical workshop that turns your organisation's tone guide into a working standard for how you write to the public.

Working on real examples, including AI-assisted drafts, to build the habits that keep every piece of writing consistent with that standard.

    • Apply your organisation's tone guide consistently to real, everyday writing

    • Write in plain English so messages are easy to understand and act on

    • Structure content so readers can quickly find what they need

    • Use everyday language, short sentences and active voice to improve clarity

    • Adapt writing for people with different levels of literacy and English proficiency

    • Use AI drafting tools where helpful, while keeping judgement, accuracy and sign-off with you

  • 09:30 – 09:45
    Introduction and context
    What clear written communication means for this organisation, and how it connects to the tone guide

    09:45 – 10:15
    What makes writing easy to understand
    The ‘find, understand, act’ test - using readers' own words, short sentences, active voice and clear structure

    10:15 – 10:45
    Seeing communication from the reader's perspective
    Experiencing the barriers faced by readers with lower literacy, English as an additional language, or processing difficulties

    10:45 – 11:15
    Rewriting for clarity, in your organisation's voice
    Rewriting real examples against the tone guide, aiming for a reading age around nine

    11:15 – 11:30
    Break

    11:30 – 12:00
    Structure, layout and readability
    Layering information so readers get what they need first, and using headings that help a reader scan the page

    12:00 – 12:20
    Writing with AI, checked against the standard
    Prompting AI tools for purpose, audience, tone and format to get a strong first draft, then checking it against the tone guide and plain-English standard

    12:20 – 12:45
    Improving real examples and applying checks
    Applying readability checks and building a personal QA checklist against the tone guide

    12:45 – 13:00
    Key takeaways and application
    Agreeing what you will do differently from tomorrow, and how it connects to the shared standards set at pathway kickoff.

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