Making technical information clear and useful for non-expert audiences can be challenging. We helped a specialist team at the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) build the skills and confidence to communicate complex information in plain English.
TGA staff need to provide clear information and instructions to applicants, often about highly technical subjects. This can be even more difficult if English isn’t your most fluent language. We worked with the team’s manager to develop a workshop tailored to these specific challenges.
Using our successful Writing and editing complex content workshop as a starting point, we created a custom learning experience to help participants tackle the challenges they face in their work. Rather than focusing on writing rules alone, the workshop encouraged participants to approach their work from the reader’s perspective.
Participants were guided through the essentials of effective plain English writing, from understanding their readers to making intentional editing choices for every sentence.
Participants explored how to:
- identify the purpose of their communication and what readers need to know
- select and organise information so the most important messages come first
- replace complex words and lengthy sentences with clearer alternatives
- write sentences that flow logically and communicate a coherent message
- improve grammar and expression to make their writing easier to understand.
Feedback highlighted the workshop’s practical value.
Everyone who responded to the post-workshop survey said the training was useful and relevant to their work.
See other custom workshops.