Virtual event
Write Smarter, Not Harder
Exclusively for public servants and policymakers
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2025
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Speakers
What to Do Next
- Catch up via the 7-minute highlights video above, or dive into the full recording. Click here for the full transcript.
- Join the Writing Effectively in Government Community
- Join our next event, Reimagining Public Institutions
Join the Writing Effectively in Government Community
The Writing Effectively in Government Community is a community of practice where you can share advice, insights and resources on government writing with peers across the global public service.
Event Description:
Clear, effective communication is at the core of any job in government. Writing smarter — whether it’s policies, briefings or citizen-facing messages — means delivering clarity, efficiency and impact in everything you craft.
Public servants often juggle competing priorities and tight deadlines, making streamlined and purposeful writing a vital skill. This event is designed to help you navigate these challenges by sharing practical techniques for improving your writing processes and outcomes. From refining your messaging to leveraging tools that save time and boost consistency, you’ll gain the skills you need to produce high-quality work with less effort.
Watch this event to unlock strategies for more efficient writing and learn how to overcome the unique writing challenges faced by government professionals.
Interested in how Apolitical can support you and your organisation? Learn about collaborating with us.
Image credit: pexels
Speakers
Louise Stait
Founder of Pushing the Pen
Chris Brown
Continuous Learning Products Manager, Department for Work and Pensions
Scotland
Lorna Brown
Senior Strategy and Policy Advisor
Canada
Louise Stait, is Head of Corporate Affairs for one of England’s 42 statutory NHS (National Health Service) Integrated Care Boards. She sees Plain Language as integral to good governance and effective service delivery. Louise is currently studying an MSc in Systems Thinking. Her specific research interest is in ways to improve the quality of corporate documents such as board papers, risk registers, policies and so on, within large, complex public sector organisations. Louise also holds masters degrees in Literature, Culture and Modernity; and Public Administration. Pushing the Pen is Louise’s “passion project” outside of work, focusing on ideas and approaches to drive up the standards of writing within public sector organisations.
Chris Brown, Continuous Learning Products Manager and part time wizard with words. Based in Scotland, Chris is a keen student of learning design, delivery and communication. When he’s not leading his small team of smart designers, he’s often invited to improve written communications while sharing how it’s done with colleagues who believe it’s “black magic”. And he’s accidentally gaining a track record helping people achieve their dream job across the Civil Service.
Lorna Brown, writer and editor, is Senior Strategy and Policy Advisor in the Government of New Brunswick’s Office of the CIO. She has co-organized “open” events since 2001 including the Second International Digital Earth conference, four GovMakers, and a Canadian Open Data Summit. As an activist she cofounded and was inaugural Vice Chair of the Canadian Open Data Society; co-founded her local Civic Tech; and for the past four years has been Editor of the Saint John, New Brunswick community newspaper, the voice of those living in the circumstance of poverty. She has a Diversity Management Certificate from Cornell. Most recently she wrote the Digital New Brunswick (gnb.ca) strategy, with the help of 86 colleagues and 2600 surveyed New Brunswickers.
