Return to courses

Effective Writing for Ministers

/5.00
info icon
This rating is calculated from participant feedback.

Understand the role of a policy professional in government decision-making processes, and the steps to delivering credible, compelling and high quality advice for Ministers.

26 Jun 2025
11 Nov 2025
Next date
Delivery
In-Person
Location
Wellington
Duration
1 day
CPD/PLD Hours
7.5

Course overview

This engaging and practical one-day workshop provides an overview of government processes and introduces the key skills required to produce well-written papers for Ministers: critical thinking, curating a compelling narrative, and how to produce a polished, error-free paper. This course is an excellent overview of multiple skill sets and is a perfect precursor to either ‘Crafting Great Policy Analysis’ or ‘Creating a Compelling Policy Narrative’, which deep dive into those specific components of the policy process.

This course is best suited for people who write papers for Ministers and Cabinet as part of their job especially those in policy, operational policy and advisory roles.

Facilitated by

Find out more

Emily Mason

Find out more

Joanne Dow

In partnership with

Picture of documents in a big pile

What you'll learn

  • How to choose appropriate advice products
  • How to integrate analysis into policy advice to support decision making
  • The basics of creating a compelling narrative
  • How to practice all of the above!

Course modules

Morning

  • Government: people, processes and policy products.
  • Be credible: crafting great analysis.

Afternoon

  • Be compelling: curating your narrative.
  • Be polished: writing in well-styled plain English.
  • Peer review and proofreading.

Further Information

Format

This course is limited to 12 participants.

All of the activities will be delivered in a workshop format, full participation is required to achieve the best possible outcomes from this course.

The following materials will be available for participants to takeaway:

  • Process checklist for Cabinet papers
  • Worked example with feedback
  • Collateral and outputs from all of the workshop exercises

Here's what others are saying

“Very professional, targeted yet broad enough to cover the skills I’ll require regardless of my future career path in the public sector.”

“I loved this course. It was very relevant. Every public servant should attend.”

“I will be recommending Emily to my former colleagues – she sets things out simply and clearly and has excellent policy knowledge”

Upcoming Courses & Delivery Options

26 Jun 2025 | Wellington

Duration: 1 day

$895

excl. GST

11 Nov 2025 | Wellington

Duration: 1 day

$895

excl. GST

Can’t make these dates or want a private course?

Get in Touch

Others also booked these courses

SPRING into Maths

NZD 1,695
Find out more
SPRING into Maths is a structured approach aimed at strengthening mathematical understanding for students who require additional support in number concepts.

Te Tauteka – Workplace Te Reo Māori 2

10 x 2hr Sessions
In-Person
NZD 595
Find out more
Further develop your te reo Māori. Extend your sentence structures, vocabulary, and phrases. Gain a richer knowledge of tikanga Māori.

Driving People Performance: Essential People Management Skills

1 day
In-Person
NZD 895
Find out more
Enable people to thrive and perform at their best

Systems Thinking

2 days
In-Person
NZD 1,495
Find out more
Elevate your strategic decisions with tools to understand the complex business, economic, environmental, political and social systems within which we operate.

Working Smarter With AI

1 Day
In-Person
NZD 895
Find out more
Learn how to think better, work smarter, and consistently perform at a higher level using Large Language Models like ChatGPT.

Project Coordination Skills for Administrators

1 day
In-Person
NZD 895
Find out more
Learn the five stages of project management and how you can implement them as a project coordinator.