Instructor Guide for Writing Workshop

7/25/2019 Instructor Guide for Writing Workshop

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Instructor Guide

Before the Workshop

Read through the instructor guide. This is intended as a guide and not a bible. Be guided by your

experience, the needs of the participants, and your own common sense, as well as the

information in here. Most of the suggestions and all of the information have been developed

through research and hands-on, classroom experience.

We recommend arriving at least one hour before the start of the session, particularly on ay !ne

of wor"ing with a client. We suggest you sha"e hands with each participant as they come into the

classroom and introduce yourself to them# it brea"s the ice and sets the type of friendly

atmosphere that is conducive to learning.

Many of the flip charts can be prepared ahead of time. The f rst page should be set up li"e this$

%ame of Wor"shop

&acilitated by '(our %ame)

(our !rgani*ation+s %ame

nclude in a different color, around the pe imeter of the room, the words ourtesy, articipation,

and onfidentiality. ( u might also want to add the words /xercises, Role lay, 0earning, and

&un.

Materials Required

&lip chart paper

Mar"ers

1upply of blan" paper

!ne anine 2ibit*ing card per participant

!ne 1ay it 1imply handout per participant

3 unctuation card per participant

3 set of romotions cards 'cut up) per four participants

3 finished romotions handout per participant

3 /dited and 4nedited article per participant

3 Bloc"buster handout per participant 3 set of arty Mix cards per 35 participants

%ote$ 6ll cards and handouts are located in the 7andouts folder.


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Agenda: Day One

8:30 8:45 1stSession: Introduction and Course Overview8:45 9:00 Icebreaker: Fact or Fiction9:00 9:15 2ndSession: !" rite#

9:15 9:30 3rdSession: $!e First C ritin% C&ear&"9:30 9:45 '(ercise9:45 10:00 4t!Session: $!e Second C ritin% Concise&"10:00 10:15 '(ercise 110:15 10:30 )reak10:30 10:45 '(ercise 210:45 11:00 '(ercise 311:00 11:15 5t!Session: $!e $!ird C ritin% Co*+&ete&"11:15 11:30 '(ercise11:30 11:45 ,t!Session: $!e Fourt! C ritin% Correct&"11:45 12:00 -ornin% ra+./+

12:00 1:00 unc! )reak1:00 1:15 'ner%ier: e&a" t!e -essa%e1:15 1:30 t!Session: $!e Fit! C ritin% Courteous&"1:30 1:45 8t!Session: ord %ree*ent1:45 2:00 '(ercise2:00 2:15 9t!Session: ctive and 6assive 7oice2:15 2:30 '(ercise2:30 2:45 10t!Session: Sentence and Sentence $"+es2:45 3:00 '(ercise3:00 3:15 )reak3:15 3:45 11t!Session: eadabi&it" Inde(3:45 4:00 12t!Session: 6ractica& an%ua%e

4:00 4:15 13t!Session: Inc&usive an%ua%e4:15 4:30 a" One ra+ /+


3/11

1stession: Introduction and !ourse O"er"ie#

(8:30-8:45)

ntroduce yourself. /stablish credibility by giving examples of training experience, and your own

experiences with writing, including some war stories if you have them.

6s" that participants respect confidentiality$ what we say in this room stays in this room. Remind

them that it was Mar" Twain who said, 8f two people have the same opinion, you don+t need one

of them,9 so we are at liberty to disagree with one another, and with the instructor.

7owever, respect other people+s opinions. We as" that you act courteously, to ma"e sure we give

other people their share of air time, and that we listen when other people are tal"ing. &inally, we

as" that you participate. (ou get out of a wor"shop :ust about what you put into it, and you will

learn as much from sharing with others as you will from the concepts we bring you.

;ive the participants a chance to introduce themselves to you. (ou will probably want to "now

their name, their department, their position title, and what sort of writing they do.

6ddress house"eeping items, li"e brea"s 'usually 3$3=) and noon hour '3> to 3, go to

lunch on their own). ;ive them info about washrooms, coffee, and cell phones.

Remind the group that his is a safe house, the place where they can learn from their mista"es in a

supportive atmosphere, rather than in the wor"place where it can harm their credibility or their

organi*ation.

!ourse O"er"ie#

6s" students to turn to their wor"boo"s and read the introduction with the overall ob:ectives of

the wor"shop '1ession !ne). Then as" them to identify their own learning ob:ectives.

resent the agenda 'as a handout, electronic presentation, or flip chart) and loo" at the topics you

plan to cover. ;o over these with the group and as" if there is anything there they didn+t expect

to see, or something not there that they had been hoping for.


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$or topics they don%t see:

? Reassure group if a topic will be covered although it doesn+t appear in the agenda.

? !pt to s@uee*e in something not covered if there is time, it+s appropriate, and if everybody is

interested.? &or those things they feel are not of interest to the group, you have the option of touching it

briefly and moving on. This doesn+t happen often, but these @uestions are your hip poc"et needs

assessment to ma"e sure participants get what they expect, if it is possible.

? ;enerally, topics not within the realm of this program must be dealt with at another time.

&earning O'(ecti"es

We all "now what good writing is. t+s the novel we can+t put down , the poem we never forgot, and the

speech that changes the way we loo" at the world. ;ood writing is the memo that gets action, the letter

that says what phone call can+t.

n business writing, the language is concrete, the point of view is clear, and the points are well expressed.

;ood writing is hard wor", and even the best writers get discouraged. 7owever, with practice you can

feel more confident about your own writing.

0earning !b:ectives$

? To learn the value of good written communication.

? To learn how to write and proofread your wor" so it is clear, concise, complete, and correct.

? To provide opportunities to apply these s"ills in real world situations.

? To understand the proper format for memos, reports, and letters.


5/11

Ice'reaker: $act or $iction

(8:45-9:00)

Acti"ity

6s" the participants to write on a piece of paper T7R// T7%;1 about themselves which may

be not "now to other participants. Two are true and one is not. Ta"ing turns they read out the

three Afacts+ about themselves and the rest of the group votes which are true and false. There arealways surprises. This simple activity is always fun, and helps the group and leaders get to "now

more about each other.

!nce they have prepared it, each one of the participants should introduce themselves and attach

in their names 6/TC/ that not only describes a dominant characteristic, but also starts with

the same letter of his name e.g. generous ;rahame, dynamic ave. Write them down and refer to

them by this for the rest of the evening.


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)nd ession: Why Write*

(9:00 9:15)

Whether we want to or not, most of us must write. We write to explain things, to smooth

relationships, to convince others of the value of some course of action. 1uch writing must beclear, concise, complete, and correct. t must also convey our message in a courteous tone. This

wor"shop will help you to identify the range of this "ind of writing, the forms it ta"es, and the

persuasive techni@ues it re@uires.

Many writers are defeated by the attitude that writing is an awesome tas". These people do not

trust themselves with the language. They go to the files to see what has been done in the past. To

overcome their insecurity, they try to write to impress. They hunt for big words to sound li"e anauthority on the sub:ect. They pad the r reports to indicate thoroughness.

!ur aim is to teach the habits of good writing. With the proper attitude, a respect for how words

wor" together and "nowledge of the conventions of usage, your writing can be clear, concise,

and easy to read.

Trust yourself. &ind out what you thin", and say what you mean in the simple language you

would use with a friend. Ma"e ad:ustments in your wording until you are sure you are saying

what you want to say.

f you want to be a better writer, there are four things you can do to help yourself.

3) (ou must R/6. f the only writing you ever read is your own, you will have no

standards to :udge your writing against. We learned to tal" by hearing others spea". f you spent

a year in /ngland, you would come bac" to the 4.1. with a British accent. Read li"e a spectator,

if you must, but try to read li"e an apprentice.

>) (ou must WRT/. %o matter how many rules you "now, it ta"es practice to write well.

(our tenth letter to a disgruntled client will be easier to write than the first one, and believe it ornot, the tenth report will be easier to write too.

D) (ou should W6%T to WRT/. &ind personal reasons for wanting to write well, forwanting to communicate with others, and then turn off the language cop and get writing.

E) (ou need a &//B62 system to tell you how youFre doing. (ou need to "now if thewriting wor"s. eople donFt learn to write well from being corrected. They learn not to write.

0oo" at feedbac" as an opportunity to find better solutions, not as an opportunity to correct

errors.


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(ou are already very familiar with the /nglish language. (ou already tal" easily and well. eople

generally understand you. 1o the leap from tal"ing to writing need not be difficult if we forget

the rules for a moment and write the way we tal".

7owever, before putting pen to paper, or turning on the computer, there are several things to

thin" about# things we thin" about whether we are tal"ing or writing. They are the five s ofcommunication.


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+rd ession: ,he $irst ! - Writing !learly

(9:15 9:45)

Writing Clearly

(9:15 9:30)

Writing is li"e other forms of communication. (ou want people who receive your letters, reports,memos, or proposals to understand what you are saying.

6s" everyone to loo" at the following paragraph, included in the wor"boo" and the slides.

The Pweor of the hmuan mnid

6occdrnig to rscheearch at mabrigde 4inervtisy, it deosn+t mttaern what oredr the ltteers in

a word are. The only iprmoetnt thing is that the first and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The

rset can be a total mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the human

mind deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe.

6m*anig huhG


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Exercise

(9:30 9:45)

.th ession: ,he econd ! - Writing !oncisely(9:45 10:00)

/0ercise 1

(10:00 10:15)

Break(10:15 10:30)

/0ercise )

(10:30 10:45)

/0ercise +(10:45 11:00)

th ession: ,he ,hird ! - Writing !o2pletely

(11:00 11:15)

/0ercise(11:15 11:30)

3th ession: ,he $ourth ! - Writing !orrectly


10/11

(11:30 11:45)

Morning Wrap45p

(11:45 12:00)

&unch Break(12:00 1:00)

/nergi6er: Relay the Message

(1:00 1:15)

7th ession: ,he $ifth ! - Writing !ourteously(1:15 1:30)

8th ession: Word Agree2ent

(1:30 1:45)

/0ercise(1:45 2:00)

9th ession: Acti"e and assi"e ;oice

(2:00 2:15)

/0ercise(2:15 2:30)

1


11/11

(3:00 3:15)

11th ession: Reada'ility Inde0

(3:15 3:45)

1)th ession: ractical &anguage(3:45 4:00)

1+th ession: Inclusi"e &anguage

(4:00 4:15)

Day One Wrap 5p

(4:15 4:30)

Documents

Instructor Guide for Writing Workshop