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Which Course is Right
for You?


 


Too Finer Point?

 

Reduce Your
Rewrite Workload
Choose a course that is right for your staff
and register them.

Make sure you get them to download our free ebooklets Decision, Windfall Recall,  Punc. and
The New Old-Fashioned English Text Book.
 

Managing Writing for the
Australian Public Sector
'Managing Writing' helps you to write and manage various documents that meet high standards and achieve excellent outcomes. More ...

Office Writing for the
 Australian Public Sector
 'Office Writing' gives you increased confidence to write letters, simple reports and submissions. You will polish your skills in grammar, punctuation and stylistic conventions. More ...
 

  
Office or Managing:
not sure which?
If you are unsure whether you should attend
'Office Writing' or 'Managing Writing', try our
self-testing exercise.

It will help you make the right choice.
 


Evaluation Comments

'Thought it would be dull and boring. It was fun and interesting.'

'Fantastic. Much more informative, fun and engaging than I expected it to be.'

'Great interaction. Francis is courageous.'

'Brilliant presentation.'

'Best course I have attended ever.'

'Well structured. Very useful.
A truly caring presenter.'

'I could do another week of this.'

'Francis is passionate.'

'Great guy. Great personality. Very funny.'

'Excellent. Really beneficial.'

'Amazing. Brilliant. Enlightening.'

'An inspiring two days.'

'Thank you so much. '
 

Check the statistical summary of evaluations.


 

 

 

 
  
Dear Minister

'Dear Minister' shows you how to avoid the pitfalls and to achieve excellence in ministerial correspondence, question time briefs and ministerial 'For Action' briefings. More ...
 



 

  
 Public Sector Editing and Proofreading 
(Red Pen)

'Editing and Proofreading' shows you the classic, three-level editing technique used by professionals. You will also practise proofreading using the Commonwealth Style Manual and other key editing resources. More ...

E-writing: from web pages to emails
'E-writing' allows you to develop high-level skills in the three key electronic writing styles for Internet and intranet publications. You will learn how to refine your email writing skills to achieve improved results. More ...
From Musters To Meetings
'From Musters To Meetings' gives you the opportunity to identify various types of meetings and to practise the appropriate skills to ensure your point of view is heard. More ...


British Politicians
at Election Time

Here are the statistics relating to speeches delivered by Gordon Brown (Labour) and David Cameron (Conservative). No doubt these speeches were written by others but massaged or influenced by the person delivering it. They are not, contextually, the equivalent speech, but they do provide an insight into the two political 'camps' and their leaders.

Gordon Brown

Words: 773
Sentences per paragraph: 1.9
Words per sentence: 25.2
Characters per word: 4.3
Flesch Reading Ease: 60.8

 Read the speech.

David Cameron

Words: 3061
Sentences per paragraph: 1.1
Words per sentence: 12.4
Characters per word: 4.5
Flesch Reading Ease: 67.6

 Read the speech.
 
Too Finer Point?

I sometimes get cranky about colons at the end of introductory text to dot points. See this example.

    We should consider the issues of
    greatest importance:

  • whether people will understand

  • whether they can be educated

  • whether the matters are sufficiently significant.

In this case, the colon could be replaced by a full stop. That makes the introductory text a clause, so the full stop is faultless.

However, The Chicago Manual of Style and other good references state clearly that if the introduction to the dot points ends with ‘as follows’, a colon can be used.

I am willing to accept that. It helps the reader to make sense of the message.

But, a colon is not always appropriate at the end of introductory text. In some circumstances, a full stop is best.

See the following example.

A list of the issues we should consider follows. Note that not all of the less significant issues have been included.

  • Whether people will understand.

  • Whether they can be educated.

  • Whether the matters are sufficiently significant.

You will have noticed that, in this case, I started each dot point with an upper case letter and finished each with a full stop.

It's all about clarity: helping the reader to understand.

Do you have a question you need answered?

Ask Francis.