Working with Government departments such as the Ministry of Justice and the Government Digital Service, I have developed three courses to help non-journalists take on blogging duties, improve their blogging and enjoy it…

1. Blogging for team leaders (three days). This course is aimed at those managing Government blogs. The format is short presentations, followed by practical workshops. It covers:

– Purposes of blogging, honing your strategy

– Effective commissioning: how to get staff to contribute regularly and on time

– Editing. Top tips for speeding up copy editing

– Writing headlines that work (for SEO and readers)

– Setting and policing styles

– Maximising SEO without ruining readability

– Using social media to increase blog effectiveness

– Improving your own writing, leading by example

2. Blogging for civil servants (1 day). This course is aimed at non-journalists who need to blog about their work, to either publicise or explain what they have been doing. It concentrates on the writing element, rather than strategy, SEO etc. The format is short presentations, followed by practical workshops. It covers:

– Determining who the reader is and what they want

– Making a blog as interesting as possible

– Structuring your blog

– Making your blog faster and easier to read

– The easy way to write strong headlines and introductory paragraphs

– Writing to style

3. Blogging for civil servants – improvers course (0.5 day). This is aimed at non-journalists who are already blogging and want hints, tips and guidance on how to improve. The format is short presentations, followed by practical workshops. It covers the same subjects as 2), but with less time allocated to practical workshops. Please contact John on 07957 701639 if you want to discuss which of the two courses would suit your team best.