Being ‘good with words’ or ‘fond of reading’ won’t cut it in today’s business communications environment. To stand out, you need to be able to tear a document apart and rebuild it, know what to change and what to leave (and why), and have the confidence to drive communications change in your organisation. This editing masterclass is supremely practical – your fingers will become stained with red ink as you work on real work examples from the presenter’s many years as a professional editor and proofreader.

Course Content

• Analysis of five core document types (report, book, brochure, website, instructional)
• Information architecture (pulling documents apart and rebuilding them better)
• Sentence structure advanced (‘trunks and branches’ in practice)
• Developing an editor’s ‘ear’ (general knowledge, gut feel vs. learned rules, sources of information)
• Punctuation (grammar rules and exceptions, changes over time)
• Proofreader decision-making (when to make changes and when to leave it be)
• Style guide design (understanding styles, making a practical guide that people will use)
• Developing a proofreader’s ‘eye’ (what to look for, improving your skills)

Course Delivery

Each theme will be examined, followed by an analysis using examples to consolidate learning. The course will focus heavily on hands-on editing and proofreading, using real examples from the freelance work of the presenter. Participants are also encouraged to bring in real examples of their own for the group to analyse and work on together.

Course Outcomes

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Analyse five typical document types encountered at work
• Improve document structure by applying a consistent step-by-step method
• Improve their confidence at making editing and proofreading decisions for business documents
• Develop ease at using standard mark-up symbols
• Apply theoretical knowledge gained in the introductory course to multiple worked examples

Suitable for

Those working in communications or similar who have a strong understanding of editing and proofreading and/or have completed Editing and Proofreading: An Introduction.