On track: Writing for non-academic audiences

Course outline

This workshop will be delivered in 2 parts. Staff can choose to attend both sessions or have the option of attending Part 1 or Part 2 if they cannot commit to the whole afternoon.

Part 1: Understanding How Government & Parliament Works: 13:30 – 15:00

This part of the workshop is designed to help you understand the different channels of influence that are available when trying to get your research noticed by government and Parliament. It will help you identify the right person to send a prospective policy briefing to (depending on what it is you want to achieve).

Refreshment Break

Part 2: Writing Policy Briefings: 15:00 – 17:00

The second part of the workshop is designed to demonstrate how to turn your academic research into targeted briefings that will attract the attention of policymakers. This part of the session will be more practical, using real life examples of academic papers converted into concise briefings to show what constitutes good practice. This part of the session will be interactive, allowing plenty of time for questions throughout.

Target audience

All Research Staff

Programme Facilitator

Luisa Porritt

Visiting Tutor at Royal Holloway, University of London

Luisa is an independent strategy, communications and policy adviser, with significant experience of policy analysis and working with government and Parliament. A former journalist who has written for The Economist, Reuters and The Financial Times, she now runs the UK arm of a pan-European financial communications agency. Luisa has also worked for the House of Commons, the British Chambers of Commerce, and two former government ministers in their advisory capacities. As a part-time tutor in economic history at Royal Holloway, she understands the academic world and the challenges that academics face in promoting their research to non-academic audiences."