In-house courses
( 9 Articles )
In-house courses
We offer our range of courses as an in-house course, where we come to your offices. The course can be run as a one-day or two-day event.
The course programme is flexible and can be adapted to your own specific needs. Some of the sessions cover plain-English techniques, and others concentrate on your own documents or practical case studies we provide. If possible, we like to use your own material to reinforce the techniques.
The course is designed to allow the delegates to contribute as much as possible. It uses a mixture of group and individual work. We actively encourage discussion and questions. We leave the size of the group to you, but the larger the group, the less opportunity there is for delegates to express their views. We do not try to produce ‘clones’ who will slavishly follow a perception of correct language. That is exactly what we are trying to escape from. Our aim is to make the language we use in public life as clear as possible.
The first half of most courses teaches plain-English techniques. The rest of the course can then be structured however you prefer.
A typical timetable of a one-day plain English course is as follows.
Morning
9.30 Introduction to the course
10.10 Is the information as clear as possible?
10.30 Is the style appropriate for the audience?
10.45 Coffee
11.00 Shortening sentences
11.20 Writing style - what do readers think?
11.45 Suggestions for clear writing
12.00 Being active about passives
12.45 Lunch
Afternoon
1.45 Righting some writing wrongs
2.35 Revealing hidden verbs
3.00 Tea
3.15 Setting out and organising good letters
3.30 Planning and drafting a complete letter
5.00 Summary and close
If you would like more information, please e-mail us and we will send you details and a booking form.
Online courses
( 5 Articles )
Online courses
If you want to learn the basics of writing plain English, and you prefer to work at your own pace, then one of our online courses may be suitable for you. There are five different courses to choose from.
Once you have ordered and paid for your course, we will send you your login details and password, which give you access to your course from this website. Your course will be active for two weeks. If for some reason you cannot complete the course in this time, phone Peter Maher on 01663 744409 to arrange an extension.
For more information, contact Peter Maher on 01663 744409 or email him at peter.maher@plainenglish.co.uk.
Open courses
( 7 Articles )
Open courses
Our range of one day open courses are held at various hotels in the UK and Ireland.
Most of our open courses focus on plain-English techniques in the morning, followed by an afternoon looking at how to use them in a specific area (for example, writing reports).
The courses are designed to allow the delegates to contribute as much as possible. They use a mixture of group and individual work. We actively encourage discussion and questions, and keep the number of delegates to a level that makes this possible.
A course will normally begin at 9.30am and finish at 5pm. There will be breaks for tea and coffee at 11am and 3pm, with lunch at 12.30pm.
Below is the timetable for our Plain English and forms design course.
The morning session focuses on the principles of plain English, including the following.
- Shortening sentences
- Is the style appropriate for the audience?
- Suggestions for clear writing
- Being active about passives
- Revealing hidden verbs
(If you have been on the Plain English course, you will have covered these recommendations already.)
The afternoon session focuses on the principles of clear layout, including typography and design. These principles, along with plain-English techniques, will make forms:
- easier to read;
- easier to understand;
- easier to fill in; and
- more user-friendly.
The afternoon session will also include a form-designing exercise.
Open courses are designed to give delegates the skills they need to:
- recognise some of the traps a writer can fall into;
- understand the features of a plain-English style; and
- use a clear and concise style of writing to avoid wasting their reader's time.
If you would like more information, please e-mail Terri-Louise Schabel or call her on 01663 744409. We will then send you details and a booking form.
Some comments from our delegates
"Very good, excellent trainer, would recommend it to others."
"The trainer was great. He was funny and personal which made me take things in easier."
"Great course. Makes me realise how out of touch I am with English grammar."
"Excellent course content, dynamic engagement, learnt a lot."
"Very informative, fun and interactive."
"I really enjoyed the course. It was very informative and will be useful in my day to day job."
"Interesting, informative and friendly."
"Very useful tips and advice."
Training
Welcome to the Plain English training pages. These pages contain details about all our courses, as well as a selection of free guides and glossaries for your use. Our experienced trainers have been running plain English training courses for many years, and have worked all over the world helping organisations and individuals improve their communication skills. A huge number of people have found our online courses very useful.
