Developing Your Editing Skills

Content

• Editing for structure – hooks and eye-catching openings
• Editing for strategy – calls to action that drive a response
• Editing for style – the nuts and bolts of grammar and punctuation
• Editing different formats – reports, stakeholder communication
• Balancing the templates and the right message
• Time management for editors
• Handling the comments and changes process
• Managing other people, including the fragile ego of the writer
• Editing the work of subject matter experts
• Editing the work of managers and leaders
• Editing according to someone else’s voice
• Considering the right way to use AI to help in your editing

Outcomes

By the end of this course you will have:

• A depth of understanding of the various ways to edit according to the strategic nature of your communication
• A depth of understanding of how to edit according to best practice structure and readership
• Applied the editing approach to style using the direction given in a governmental style guide
• Considered the various ways to engage with writers both above and around you to manage the editing or change process
• Considered the various elements of writing for someone else’s voice and tone

Who Should Attend

• Government workers with responsibility for editing or providing feedback on other people’s writing
• Government workers – in a communications role or not – who are looking to better manage or streamline the flow of information in the approval process
• People in communications roles looking for advice or tips on managing the content flow in and out of their team

Benefits to You and Your Organisation

Your staff will learn the processes and principles of editing in a way that will help to streamline the feedback and editing process within your department or agency. This will free up time at both end of the writing process, from the person writing drafts through to the person approving them.