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Workshop Overview
We all assume everyone else is better and has more knowledge of written communication skills.
This is a very practical session with lawyers working on typical documents from their practice area whilst discussing key principles and gaining a lot of knowledge.
This written communication skills workshop is highly informative and is run in an engaging and fun style. Rules and guidelines are introduced using examples from actual emails and the content can be based on specific examples from your firm.
The workshop is developed to suit the needs of your firm and the needs of the participants.
The planning section typically looks at what happens when we don’t plan before we write and considers structure and the form of the communication. The grammar section looks at the choice of words, phraseology and sentence structure. The punctuation section looks at common mistakes and pitfalls. In using actual examples the subject is very relevant to the participants’ daily work.
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Pre workshop activity
- Meeting to discuss the participant’s needs and those of the organisation
- Draft workshop outline tailored to your needs
- Agreement of agenda
- Participants complete a short questionnaire and read the ITD Work Style Model in preparation for the workshop.
Duration
- Half a day.
Typical Agenda
Introduction
- Effective written communication defined
- What are the key qualities?
- The risks of getting it wrong
Reader Assessment
- Who is going to read this document?
- Adjusting the structure, content and language based on an assessment of the reader
- Building rapport with the reader
Clear Aims
- Why am I writing this document?
- The purpose statement
Planning
- The best way to achieve the objective
- Structure and content
Building Blocks: Paragraphs, Sentences, Words and Phrases
- An explanation of the basics
- Making it clear & concise
- Writing shorter sentences
- Choice of words
- Getting the tone right
- Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Punctuation Guide
- How are punctuation marks used?
- Avoiding the common mistakes
Hints on Writing to Persuade
- How do I get people to do what I want?
- Simple ways to make documents persuasive
Review & Personal Actions
Post workshop activity
- Participants leave with individual actions
- Email follow up of personal action plans
- Suggested conversation with their line manager on their actions
- Optional WebEx conference call follow up on these actions
- Optional 121 coaching
- ITD blog with further tips and suggestions
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Client feedback
- “The feedback from this session is always outstanding.”
Participant comments
- “Gives me clear guidelines on what to do.”
- “Very practical and relevant training”
Call or email ITD to explore how we can help your lawyers can improve their legal drafting and written communication skills.
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Legal drafting training – Case Study
Regional law firm in UK.
Background
Trainees, junior lawyers and others benefit from this workshop which we have been running for a number of years. These are trainees or lawyers whoa have or who are developing their knowledge of the law but who need a consistent and accurate way of expressing this in documents.
Need
Simply to be able to write coherent and accurate documents whether they be letters or clauses.
Activity
We developed a half day workshop with an agenda similar to that above. Time is focussed on the key areas and based on the participants needs. The trainees complete a short pre course task which means they are in a better position to learn straight away in the session.
The workshop allows for discussion and typically we get asked the following questions;
- Is there a good way to start constructing a letter or formal email?
- How do we make sure we say what we need to without going into too much detail?
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Outcome
“The training courses is run regularly in the year and has a permanent place in the training calendar.”
What the participants said
- “We all found it incredibly useful.”
- “It was a practical session where we could practice our skills.”
- “All the case studies used were from our firm so they were very practical.”
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