Online plain language courses

These intermediate level online plain language courses are for competent writers wanting to lift their capability.

  • Craft text people want to read
  • Get to the point fast
  • Produce documents that have an impact

The material in these courses is consistent with ISO 24495-1:2023 Plain language – Part 1: Governing principles and guidelines, but not constrained by it.

Online plain language courses are for people who write:

  • correspondence, memos and support materials
  • business cases or proposals
  • ministerial briefs, policy & procedure
  • general advice
  • web text
  • reviews and assessments
  • technical reports.

Writing well at work

A content rich and refreshing course – equivalent to a full day of training.

Covers the principles and techniques of writing in plain language.

Learn the foundations and a simple 5 step approach to crafting effective documents. (or learn each step separately – see below)


Writing foundations

A short course covering the underlying principles of writing in plain language.


Preparing to write

A short course about the thinking required before starting any writing project.


Generating content

A short course about thinking approaches and tools to determine the content to include in your document.


Organising content

A short course exploring approaches to structuring a document in a way that is helpful for readers.


Plain language writing techniques

A short course suggesting 5 writing techniques to make text easy to read and understand.


Refining your document

A short course covering some things you can do before it leaves your desk, the internal review process, and testing the effectiveness of your document.