2. Andrew Manasseh PR and media
• 25 years training, business development, staff
management and training
• British Council 15 years in Thailand, Czech
Republic, Italy and Brussels
• 9 years EU communications and PR training
• Experience with governments in central Europe
and W. Balkans
• Extensive work with the European
Commission, European Parliament, EU agencies
3. Objectives - expected results
• Adopt an appropriately balanced and professional style and tone that
suits internal and external communications
• Tailor written language for different audiences and purposes
• Understand many forms and formats of writing – such as mission reports,
correspondence
• Plan and structure writing for your business impact and clear structure to
make it easier for the reader to comprehend
• Write condensed, targeted, precise texts such as emails, reports, updates,
that convey messages in clear and simple language.
4. Course overview
The aim of this training is to provide you input and
practice in modern writing skills
• Modern writing style
• Readers – who you are writing for
• Messages – what you are trying to say
• Writing style –tips and techniques
• Paragraphs and sentence building
• Proof reading and editing
6. Effective Writing
• What precisely is the central issue?
• To what degree does the audience understand
the issues and terminology?
• What are the main ideas that need to be
expressed and which ideas can be left out?
• How are you going to structure your text so
that they are consistent and clear?
8. Texts should be clear
1. The reader should be able to understand precisely what you
are saying.
2. The language should be adapted to the reader.
3. This means you should write in a matter-of-
fact, conversational tone.
4. Use specific examples that the reader can relate to.
5. Don’t assume that your reader understands the jargon of
your trade.
6. Remember that what you write can be read by people other
than the recipient.
7. Your writing shouldn’t be a collection of random ideas.
8. It should be single-minded in its purpose.
10. • I have been working in Brussels and across
Europe for over nine years and I see the same
problems with writing over and over again
• Here are six tips to help you improve your
writing skills
11. Use short and simple words instead of
complex ones
• I will endeavour to find a solution.
• I will try to solve this for you.
12. Put important information at the beginning
• In view of the fact that we have been delayed
we will start the partner meeting tomorrow
• We will start the meeting tomorrow as we
have been delayed......
13. Use verbs that carry meaning instead
of grammar verb phrases
• Next week, we will have to have a meeting to
solve the issues.
• Next week we should meet to solve the issues.
• Please do an invoice and send it to our lead
partner.
• Please invoice our lead partner.
14. Use active sentences instead of the
passive voice
• Research into the process of innovation is
carried out here by students and experienced
professors.
• A group of students and professors are
researching innovation processes.
15. Avoid redundant words or phrases
• The basic core principle of the problem is a
lack of resource
• There is hotel accommodation for 400 people
16. Beware of jargon, acronyms and
institutional language
• This is a capitalisation project
• The aim is to mainstream these ideas into
regional policy initiatives
• The project priorities have been agreed by
regional actors
17. Six important principles
1. Use shorter simple words
2. Put important information at the beginning
3. Use verbs that carry meaning
4. Use active verbs and sentences
5. Avoid redundant words and phrases
6. Avoid jargon and institutional language
19. For more information
Andrew Manasseh
• www.linkedin.com/A Manasseh
• twitter.com/andimanas
• communicatingeu.wordpress.com/
Notes de l'éditeur
The methodological approach that we draw on is known as the three Es: Experience, Evaluate, Experiment.Participants experience a piece of communication in context either by reading or watching a communication task or are put into simulations in which they have to perform as work-based task, for example delivering a presentation, organising a meeting or drafting a document.The participants then evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the experience against criteria that have been established or input by the trainer. For example: is the presentation logically organised and delivered with clarity. What aspect worked well and which could be improved. Language points such as grammar and vocabulary are dealt with on a guided discovery basis. They then experiment with the language and skills in a different context or with a different example to demonstrate they are able to use the language effectively in different contexts.