Better analysis, fewer revisions, faster approvals
The returns on our training are exponentially greater when you offer it to the entire organization.
Staff write more clearly, quickly, and confidently.
Reviewers get stronger drafts so spend less time reviewing.
Decision makers receive reliable, readable content.
This training allows you to do better work for less time, money, and frustration.
Training for whole organizations
Writers and reviewers find that writing is faster and easier overall. Our quality assessment measures show that writing quality is improving. Our staff are engaged and driving a plain-language culture through the organization.
- Sarah Bradley, Ombudsman at the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments
What clients have achieved with our training
The power of training whole organizations
Our clients who trained staff more broadly have:
cut time to produce documents by 50% (from start to final approval)
reduced quarterly reporting by hundreds of pages
turned 41% readability scores to 98%
received drastically fewer appeals on decisions
improved employee engagement scores
won plain language awards
Same training, even deeper customization
We learn about your documents, vocabulary, and culture. We take a step into your world to help you draft more purposefully and efficiently.
Training program details
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We meet with your leaders to discuss your goals, challenges, and practices.
You send us a series of representative documents—both early drafts and final versions—as well as templates, style guides, and other guidance.
We analyze your documents carefully, collect questions, and create before-and-after examples.
We meet with you to discuss what we found and how we plan to approach the training.
Based on your input, we deliver a plan for the training program.
Note we can customize content to specific teams, document types, and needs.
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If you’re interested to know your return on investment, we recommend auditing your documents and process before the program begins.
We can work with you to collect data such as:
readability scores of documents
time from initiation of a document to completion
cost calculations to produce documents
number of reviews
number and type of edits
staff feedback on and satisfaction with the drafting process
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We recommend offering a pilot training for leadership. In that session, we collect their input and update content as needed.
We train all staff—writers, managers, and reviewers. We can deliver different sessions based on work area or level of responsibility.
We continue to update and refine our curriculum as we get to know your work.
Optional process consulting
As we learn more about your organization and work, we can gather common difficulties from writers and reviewers and recommend ways to overcome them.
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Wordsmith writes a final report summarizing the program results. This includes:
statistics about the workshops, participant numbers, and participant feedback
our observations and recommendations
results of the program (compared to the original data if you tracked this)
At this point, you can consider next steps such as:
updating templates
offering “train the trainer” workshops
creating a writing standard
How does it work?
What our training delivers
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Shorter drafting times—from writers to final approval
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Better analysis, rationale, and recommendations
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Tools for clear, concise text
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Before-and-after examples using your own documents
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Written products that need much less editing
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Skills to translate legal and technical language
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The skill to flex to different audiences
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International best practices in plain-language drafting
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Applied, active learning that builds confidence
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A reference manual and desk-side reminder card
What our clients say about their tailored writing programs
Wordsmith has become a one-word metaphor for better writing. Staff are motivated and inspired, with an understanding of the writing process and practical tips they started to put into place immediately. I hear them talk with pride about their writing.
Overall there is greater efficiency, simply because the first drafts I am reading are better—so my time, and staff time, is better used.
- Leader in a government ministry
Wordsmith has helped our organization tremendously. We broadly trained our staff in writing reports and I’ve seen an improvement in the quality of our writing. The reports are clearer, better organized and simply easier to read. The more staff that we can get this training, the better.
—Ray MacIntosh, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Red Deer
Specific highlights from my Executive Team included:
“I saw an immediate and lasting improvement in my branch and the PSC as a whole. Products became much more conversational and concise. The biggest benefit was that it gave people a sense of permission to leave extraneous details out. It definitely reduced the amount of time spent on reviews and revisions.”
—Lana Lougheed, Deputy Minister of the Public Service Commission
Maximize training results by also streamlining the process
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Audit documents and review processes
Identify inefficiencies and unnecessary rework, gaps, and areas of confusion.
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Create strong templates
Revise your templates so they follow best practices for readability and ease of drafting.
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Articulate clear standards
Give writers clear guidelines for document quality. This removes wasted time, chronic changes, and guessing at organizational preferences.
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Define roles and responsibilities
Make levels of review fit together in a logical, efficient way. Eliminate problems from all reviewers working on the same issues from slightly different angles.
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Create excellent model documents
Model what excellent documents look like, so writers can refer to and be inspired by them.
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