Effective Writing for Digital: Essentials  

How to write clearly and concisely for an online audience – without sacrificing style

This half-day Effective Writing for Digital course covers the fundamentals of story structure and writing clearly but with flair. We’ll help you work out who your audience is and develop a suitable tone of voice to speak to them.  

What you’ll learn: Figuring out your audience, story structure, establishing tone of voice

No matter how great your story is, readers will soon check out if your copy isn’t clear and concise. This course will recap the key principles of writing in an uncomplicated manner – without sacrificing style and impact.   

Practical exercises will show you how to simplify and decode complex language, offering straightforward alternatives to some commonly-used and over-complicated phrases. This course also covers story structure – from the inverted pyramid to the 5Ws and beyond – and you’ll leave with a checklist to keep things up day-to-day.  

You’ll also learn why being aware of who your audience is vitally important, and we’ll help you figure out a suitable tone of voice to address them with.  

How you’ll learn 

This two-module effective writing course will be led by an experienced editor, who will share their knowledge and expertise through presentations, discussion and practical exercises.  

Who the Effective Writing for Digital: Essentials course is for

This course is for writers, early career journalists and PR professionals who want to brush up on their writing skills and techniques. It can be followed by Effective Writing for Digital: Advanced.  

We also offer a full-day version, Effective Writing for Digital: Fundamentals, and you might also be interested in some of our other courses which cover similar topics. These are our full-day News Writing Fundamentals and our Features Masterclass: Writing with Flair and Focus.  

BOOK AS AN INDIVIDUAL: Check out the scheduled dates below and book your place now. This will be a remote course. 

BOOK FOR YOUR TEAM: The course will be tailored to your needs and can be delivered remotely or in your offices. Get in touch using the button below to discuss times and dates for bespoke training. 

Course Modules

Principles of Effective Writing

  1. Language and readability  
  2. Simplifying language  
  3. Clarity, style and impact  
  4. Decoding language  
  5. Further writing tips  

Fundamentals of Storytelling

  1. The inverted pyramid  
  2. The five 5Ws (and H)  
  3. Defining an audience  
  4. Establishing a tone of voice  
  5. Further writing tips  

Effective Writing for Digital: Essentials  

How to write clearly and concisely for an online audience – without sacrificing style

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What our students say

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My time at PA Training was a whirlwind of fun and excitement. The full-time NCTJ course in London is fast-paced and hard work but perfectly sets you up for what to expect in a reporter role.

Camilla Foster
, Reporter
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Being equipped with an NCTJ Diploma does massive favours for your future, and the skills the course taught me are ones I lean on every single day. The simple fact is, I wouldn’t be where I am without that course. 

Alex Barker
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, The Athletic

I was able to count on excellent teachers and professionals who helped me push my limits and achieve my goals. I was impressed by the quality of the course and the motivation teachers put into it. It was a great experience and I would definitely do it again!

Laure Poncet
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, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

PA Media Training were efficient, well organised and genuinely lovely people to deal with and, importantly for us, able to provide flexibility around our needs to create the bespoke training we required. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them for further training or to recommend them to other organisations.

Mayor of London’s Press Office
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The lifelike interview settings and tasks that PA Media Training deal in replicate perfectly the real-world feel of a tough media interview and help the delegates come out of the day feeling much more confident that they can play an active role in representing their organisation.

Transport for London
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Not only did I develop the necessary toolkit to become a journalist, but I also did so in an environment that fosters a real sense of community and personal career support.

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, Daily Mail

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