Effective Writing for Ministers
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.
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.
In partnership with
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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 delivered as a full-day in-person workshop at our Wellington venue. It includes a mix of facilitator-led sessions, small-group exercises, and whole-group discussion. Group size is limited to 12 participants to ensure meaningful interaction and personal feedback. Morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea are provided to support networking and collaboration.
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”
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