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Register to receive exclusive access to this event experience, streaming directly on Apolitical — no Zoom required.
On Jun 17 at 3pm in your local timezone, we’ll send you a link to stream the masterclass from anywhere in the world. Plus, join discussions and polls with members of the global Apolitical network, as perspectives build across regions.
One of the first rules of effective writing is ‘know your audience’. This seems simple at first glance, but who is the audience for you as public servants? Politicians? Journalists? The public? The complex nature of your work means that the answer is all of the above, and more.
Hear from Elana Aptowitzer, Head of Speechwriting at Canada's Department of National Defence, and Leontine Vreeke, a politician in the Provincie Zuid-Holland and senior government consultant, as they unpack techniques to adapt your writing style to the needs of different readers so that your work gets the attention it deserves.
Leontine Vreeke, a politician in the Provincie Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands. Her areas of responsibility as a committee member include Culture and Heritage, Human Capital, Digitalization and Innovation, amongst others. She is also a Senior Government Consultant with a focus on the Social Domain next to being a freelance journalist and creative consultant and has worked on developing new television formats to tap into audience interests. In her spare time she writes poetry, sings, and performs.
Elana Aptowitzer, Head of Speechwriting at Canada’s Department of National Defence. She and her team of speechwriters write between 250 and 360 speeches per year for the Minister, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and other political and military leaders. She is the Founder and Chair of the Government of Canada's Speechwriters' Community of Practice and recently served as the Federal Public Servant In-Residence at Carleton University, where she developed and taught a professional speechwriting course. Elana graduated from McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, with an Honours Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Sociology. She earned a Masters in Strategic Public Communications from American University in Washington, DC.
