Each of my report-writing workshops is unique, but their set-up is essentially the same. During the intake, participants reflect on their current writing practices and identify their main challenges and what they want to improve. They also send me one or two samples of recent reports they have written. After reviewing those texts, I tailor the workshop programme to align with their level of experience and type of reports they (will) normally need to write.

Using examples from their own texts, we look at how they can structure their information more effectively, making key messages more accessible to the reader. They learn to distil key messages from a large amount of information and use those as their starting point when setting up a report. Alongside relevant theory, there are plenty of opportunities to put the various techniques into practice during the workshop. The standard length of a report-writing workshop is two full days, although condensed versions are also possible.

Several weeks after the workshop, I meet with each of the participants again (via Teams) for a one-to-one feedback session on a new text they have written using the techniques they learned. The participants often find this final part especially useful. It also helps to embed the outcome of the workshop within the organisation.