Reviewing Writing

Is a big part of your work reviewing other people’s writing?

· Do you peer review for your team members?

· Do you sign off your team’s reports?

· Do you okay documents that go to the executive team, board, or minister?

This is the course for you.

You’ll learn what ‘good writing’ looks like

You’ll see how a reader-focused approach is different from traditional writing. Structure, language, and design can work together to make any text quicker and easier to read.

You’ll clarify your role in the document production process

You’ll make everyone’s lives easier by giving early feedback about coherence, accuracy, and ease of understanding.

This is not a course about proofreading!

Proofreading needs to be done, but probably not by you. Good reviewers don’t get sidetracked by missing commas.

You’ll practise giving useful, actionable feedback

You’ll give feedback that’s easy to act on and builds the confidence and ability of your writers.

Key audience

Senior team members, managers, or senior managers who review or sign off documents

Learning outcomes

· Understand why good writing is reader-focused writing

· Clarify the three pillars of reader-focused writing: structure, language, and layout

· Identify what is and isn’t your job in the document-production process

· Learn how to align your feedback with your organisation’s values

· Practise a method for assessing the quality of writing

· Practise a formula for giving useful, actionable feedback, verbally and in writing