Write to Communicate
Writing Services
Writing Reports, Letters, Newsletters
Austral aids organisations who struggle to find the time to write professional and effective reports, letters, newsletters and other business documents that will satisfy clients and stakeholders.
Writing Proposals, Tenders, Grants
Austral brings an outside strategic view to complement the content knowledge and abilities of writing teams to produce tenders, grants or proposals that are understandable, persuasive, professional and authoritative.
Presentations on Writing Topics
Diane Robertson offers presentations on writing and communication topics, including the oral presentation of reports and tenders.
Here are some past topics that she has presented:
- Write Right: Writing Persuasively
- Write Right: Recording Knowledge in Written Documents
- Thinking Differently About Writing: How Leaders Can Encourage Teams to Avoid Minefields and Change Perceptions
- Did your Audience Get Your Message?
- How to Talk Others into Adopting your Proposal or Proposition
Coaching and Mentoring Writing Teams
Rather than take staff away from work on projects, Austral works with teams on their projects, applying knowledge and skills to the writing of their reports, tenders, proposals or other documents.
Face-to-Face Writing Workshops
Half-day, One-day and Two-day Courses
Overview
The Write to Communicate Two-Day Learning Journey Workshop includes the following:
- Pre-Workshop Activities
- Discussions on tailoring the writing training program
- Collection of writing samples (one to three pages) from participants for personal feedback on writing style
- Review of sample documents to identify key writing problems.
Features
These courses are for engineering organisations, research organisations, government agencies and other organisations where the written word is critical to success and have these features:
- About The Power of Words to Illuminate, Impress, Influence and Connect with Readers
- In Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and other cities or place
- Tailored (time, place, date and content) for individual organisations and incorporating documents from the workplace
- Emphasis on the communication aspect of writing
- Recognised by Engineers Australia for Continuing Professional Development purposes.
Course Profile
The course includes the following:
- Four half-day face-to-face sessions (or two one-day sessions)
- PowerPoint presentation of key messages
- Course booklets containing key messages
- Exercises (problem-solving scenarios, analysing writing, writing exercises, short answer quizzes)
- Feedback on writing samples supplied by participants
- Post-Workshop Activities
- Interactive online grammar crossword puzzles
- Post-course online revision exercises (clarity, convince, grammar, image, punctuation, rapport)
- Two optional post-course conference calls (1 hour each)
- Post-course email feedback on writing samples
- An optional review to identify the ongoing educational or coaching needs of the participants
- Scenarios related to the workplace
- Group and individual exercises to analyse writing
- Short answer quizzes and brief writing exercises.
Course Aims
The course aims to develop these skills:
- Writing convincing proposals with clearly framed arguments
- Writing clear reports that present or re-present key messages and focus on readers
- Writing concise emails, letters, reports and proposals that present a clearly understood and defined organisational message
- Writing more sensitive, relevant letters and emails that encourage rapport rather than disharmony.
Course Benefits
The projected benefits of the course include the following:
- With more consistent and convincing arguments, the organisation will experience greater acceptance of the message;
- With more succinct and targeted writing the organisation will create more effective letters, reports and proposals;
- With more positive and more carefully selected words the organisation will generate more powerful communication with colleagues and clients.
Course Characteristics
Austral’s programs include these elements:
- Mutual respect: Acknowledging that both participants and presenters bring knowledge that can be shared
- Relevance: Linking theory and general knowledge to the workplace of audience members makes it more relevant
- Reinforcement: Presenting the same concept in different ways to suit different learning styles reinforces those concepts
- Practicality: Using practical exercises to make theory and concepts more relevant and memorable
- Challenge and variety: Using audio and visual effects along with practical writing tasks to add challenge and variety.
Course Program Overview
Day 1 |
|
8.30 am to 12.30 am (15 minute break for morning tea) |
Write Reports, Letters and Emails That Convey Clear Messages Plan the documents: on time, on task, on message |
12.30 am |
Lunch Break (45 minutes) |
1.15 am to 5.00 pm (15 minute break for afternoon tea) |
Write Proposals and Requests That Convince Convey credibility |
Day 2 |
|
8.30 am to 12.30 am (15 minute break for morning tea) |
Project a Professional Image Use correct grammar and punctuation |
12.30 am |
Lunch Break (45 minutes) |
1.15 am to 5.00 pm (15 minute break for afternoon tea) |
Encourage Rapport with Clients and Colleagues Keep legal and political issues in mind |
5.00 pm |
Finish |
Evaluation
The workshop includes these mechanisms to ensure relevance and monitor the progress of the participants:
- Pre-consultation to ensure the training material is relevant
- Continuous questioning during the workshop to gauge understanding
- Workshop exercises to monitor the absorption of information
- A feedback form at the end of the workshop
- Follow up online exercises to practice workshop concepts.
Clients
To see a list of clients for whom Austral has conducted internal writing workshops, go to this page.
