Drive better, more efficient decision making at a much lower cost
Briefing notes are among the most important—and most time-consuming—documents government and policy professionals write. These courses are built from our four decades of briefing-note experience. We train drafters to:
create shorter, more focused briefing notes
deliver much stronger analysis
cut the time and cost to create briefings in half
significantly reduce review cycles
Briefing notes courses
Learn core skills
-
Briefing Notes for Beginners
Define what a briefing note is, why it matters, how to approach the writing, and how to use templates effectively.
In-house and live virtual training
-
Effective Briefing Note Writing
Develop the core skills all briefing note writers need. Learn a precise process to create strong, focused briefings make judgment calls more confidently.
Self-paced, in-house, and lvirtual options
-
Effective Briefing Note Writing and Reviewing for Leaders
Review briefing notes more efficiently, give stronger guidance to writers, and improve your team’s process time.
In-house and live virtual training
-
Effective Briefing Note Editing
Learn to identify and resolve issues, create strong briefing notes, and work faster. This course includes a takeaway checklist.
Self-paced, in-house, and live virtual options
-
Effective Briefing Note Proofreading
Put the final polish on strong briefing note content. This is practical, hands-on training to catch errors and improve consistency.
In-house and live virtual training
Go deeper: build on core skills
-
Use AI to Think More Deeply and Get Smarter
Get the right relationship with AI as an analysis tool. Use it to gather information, test assumptions, identify risks, and develop capacity for more thorough and refined thinking.
In-house and live virtual options
Self-paced online course **coming soon**
-
Advanced Briefing Note Writing
Deepen your skill by working with complex issues, multiple options, tricky messaging, and detailed data and evidence. Give decision makers the best possible information.
In-house and live virtual options
-
Streamline the Writing and Review Process
Analyze process steps and time for the briefing note drafting, reviewing, and finalizing cycle in your organization. We help you identify inefficiencies, cut time, resolve back-and-forth cycles, and create stronger end products.
In-house and live virtual training
-
Write Effectively as a Team
Learn best practices to manage the process to draft a document when multiple writers are involved. Use an orderly, efficient process to create clear content with less stress.
In-house and live virtual options
Other related courses
-
Deliver Negative Messages Skillfully
Write professional and respectful messages when readers may not want to hear what you have to say
-
Build Strong Rationale
Focus on creating strong, evidence-based analysis in any type of document
-
Effective Emails
Write emails that are task-focused, easy to read, and get the results you want
Start the conversation
What we teach your people to do
-
![]()
Before
30 words
-
![]()
After
17 words
-
![]()
Before
51 words
-
![]()
After
50 words
-
![]()
Before
26 words
-
![]()
After
11 words
-
![]()
Before
32 words
-
![]()
After
13 words
-
![]()
Before
48 words
-
![]()
After
33 words
-
![]()
“One of the best workshops I've attended. Inspiring and motivating to get better at writing."
Councillor for City of Medicine Hat
(5 star Google review) -
![]()
"Sessions were well led by presenters who were very aware of the briefing note process in government. This meant I was able to get maximum value from the information."
Manager at Alberta Education
(5 star Google review) -
![]()
"Wordsmith facilitators are as confident, clear and helpful as your writing aims to be. More to learn about effective writing than many might think."
Policy Analyst at Alberta Education
(5 star Google review) -
![]()
"This was the most immediately applicable training I have ever taken. Our whole team got excited. We went back and applied what we learned to our Proposal Guide and cut the page count by 50%."
Manager of the Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program
