Writing workshops
Mix and match these modules to meet your team’s needs
“A semester’s worth of knowledge in a few hours.”
— Amy Kappler,
communications specialist, Burgess and Niple
Find out what others say about Ann’s writing workshops
- Plan your program.
- Build the foundation.
- Develop additional skills.
- Polish your skills.
- Keep improving.
1. Plan your program.
Bring Ann in for a:
- Three- or four-day communicators’ university (12 to 16 modules)
- Two-day graduate course (eight modules)
- Full-day (six-hour) seminar (four modules)
- Half-day (three-hour) workshop (two modules)
- Short (1.5-hour) session (one module)
2. Build the foundation.
We strongly recommend that you begin with Ann’s foundation class, Catch Your Readers. In this class, experienced pro’s and beginners alike will learn current best practices for writing clear, well-organized, persuasive copy that reaches skimmers as well as readers.
Catch Your Readers
Write more persuasive, engaging, accessible copy with Ann’s most popular one-day workshop:
- Think Like a Reader: Move audience members to act
- Go Beyond the Inverted Pyramid: Master the feature-style story structure
- Cut Through the Clutter: Make every piece you write easier to read and understand
- Rev Up Readership: Lift your ideas off the screen or page with display copy
Only have three hours? Choose Ann’s most popular half-day workshop: Think Like a Reader and Cut Through the Clutter.
3. Develop additional skills.
Once your team members have taken Ann’s foundation workshop, develop new skills with these programs:
Web writing
Reach readers online with this one-day workshop:
- Web Writing Boot Camp: Overcome the obstacles of reading on the screen OR Social Media Writing Boot Camp: Write blog posts and status updates that get the word out on the Web
- Cut Through the Clutter Online: Make every Web piece you write easier to read and understand
- Get clicked: Lift your ideas off the screen with links, subject lines & other online display copy
Only have three hours? Choose from Ann’s most popular half-day Web writing workshops: Write for the Web OR Write for Social Media.
PR writing
Get the word out through media and blogger relations with this half-day workshop:
- Think Like a Reporter: Make your copy relevant to bloggers, reporters & readers
- NOT Your Father’s News Release: Best practices in PR writing
Creative writing
Bring your copy to life with analogy, anecdote, wordplay and other creative techniques with this one-day workshop:
- Play With Your Words: Spice up your headlines, leads and sound bites with wordplay
- Create Snappy Sound Bites: Write compelling quotes and memorable quips
- Master the Art of the Storyteller: ‘The single most powerful form of human communication’
- Make It Meaningful With Metaphor: Clarify complex concepts with analogy
Only have three hours? Choose Ann’s most popular half-day creative writing workshop:
- Make Your Copy More Creative: Paint pictures in your readers’ minds
Have more time? Practice your skills by adding this half-day workshop:
- New! Creative Writing Workout: Practice writing like NPR, The Wall Street Journal or your favorite author
Creative story ideas
Come up with a new slant on an old story with this half-day workshop:
- Rewrap the Banana: Tackle tired topics with fresh story approaches
- New! Now They SEE It: Communicate with Comics
Tip: Add one or both of these modules to the half-day Make Your Copy More Creative workshop for a new twist on creative communications.
Tight writing
Reach all your readers with these three 75-minute modules:
- Cut Through the Clutter: Make every piece you write easier to read and understand
- New! Write for Readability: Craft messages that get read, understood & remembered
- Start Making Sense: Get the gobbledygook, jargon and gibberish out of your copy
- Take the ‘Numb’ Out of Numbers: Make statistics interesting and accessible
Brand voice
In this highly customized, one-day program, Ann will turn your brand voice guidelines into actionable, how-to tips and techniques.
- New! Voice Lessons: How to write in your organization’s brand voice
4. Polish your skills.
Once you’ve taken the class, get Ann’s feedback with these writing reviews. NOTE: These workshops requires prerequisites and are only available for in-house programs.
- Business communication writing review: Analyze and improve your own copy. Prerequisite: Catch Your Readers
- Web-writing review: Analyze and improve your own Web copy. Prerequisite: Reach Readers Online
- Creative writing review: Analyze and improve your own copy. Prerequisite: Make Your Copy More Creative
- PR writing review: Analyze and improve your own PR copy. Prerequisite: PR Writing Best Practices
5. Keep improving.
After a writing workshop, continue to polish your communications with:
- One-on-one writing coaching: Make Ann your team members’ personal trainer
- Communication reviews: Get feedback & tips on your communication vehicles
- Writing and editing: Bring Ann’s team in to lighten the load
- Consulting services: How else may we help you?
Take the next step.
Need to sell your training program to management? Check out our white paper, “Why Invest in Training?”
Ready to bring Ann in for a workshop? Contact Ann for details.
