Influential Writing for Government (Online)

Area of Interest: Public Sector Management

Course Summary

Learn why influential writing matters and how it generates positive outcomes for government, improving productivity, lowering costs, enhancing reputation, and making better decisions.

This course equips government employees at all levels with proven techniques to maximise benefits for self, team, organisation, and the broader community. Course materials draw upon the collective experience of what works for senior professionals — including current and former senior executives from the public service and private sector — combined with expertise from within UNSW.

This course will run online.

Course Content

This course will cover:

• Best practice for writing in a government context
• Using writing to make an impact and maximise benefit
• Practical frameworks for understanding audience and engaging with stakeholders
• Planning and drafting pieces of written work
• Types of government writing and how to communicate across your organisation
• Adopting a growth mindset and engaging in deliberate practice

Course schedule:

• Onboarding: 30 June - 3 July
• Welcome Webinar: 4 July
• Virtual Workshop 1 - Writing in a Government Context: 11 July
• Virtual Workshop 2 - Best Practice and Frameworks: 18 July
• Virtual Workshop 3 - Writing Analysis: 25 July
• Final Submission/Evaluation: 1 August
• Feedback due: 8 August

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the importance of effective writing in the Australian government context
• Understand and apply the core skills required to write influentially and impactfully for government
• Explain the role of neuroscience and the principles of persuasion in attaining optimal audience impact
• Outline frameworks for understanding one’s government audience and techniques for planning and delivering influential written work
• Identify the key types of government writing and how to apply the core skills to each type of document
• Understand the importance of adopting a learning mindset and principles of deliberative practice, and apply the core skills of effective government writing in a range of contexts
• Implement the benefit of practical experiences gained during the workshops, including a highly practical experiential learning opportunity, reflective practice frameworks and peer-to-peer learning activities.

Prerequisites

None

Who should attend

The course is designed primarily for people that are in the early stages of their career in the public service, are new to the public sector, or are working in organisations that interact with the government and government adjacent organisations.

Presenter

Kathleen Brenner

Kathleen’s public sector experience spans both the Commonwealth and state levels of government, and includes: Indigenous Affairs, the Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, Disability, Housing, Homelessness, Immigration and Agriculture, as well as Resources, Agriculture, Animal Welfare, Regional Development, Racing, Small Business, the Creative Industries, Major Events and Sports and Local Government. She brings recent senior public sector experience as a Principal Lawyer in the Victorian public service.

Kathleen is an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation, and has trained with Erickson International, in Vancouver, Canada - one of the world’s most reputable coaching training organisations.

Kathleen is a professional positive psychology informed and solutions focused coaching practitioner with a particular focus on public servants and lawyers who seek to thrive in all aspects of their lives and be change-makers in their workplaces and communities.