Why we don't do in-house, face-to-face training in writing for the web

Do we provide in-house training in writing for the web? Not any more.

Recently an email arrived from a large non-profit organisation in Colorado Springs. That's a long way from Wellington, New Zealand. Could we provide 2 days of in-house training for their staff, on readability and plain language? Hm, let me think about that for about 10 seconds...

Accidentally I wrote rather a long email in reply. Let me share the pertinent bits.

I used to do in-house training in several countries including China, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. However, I came to realise there was a better way. Face-to-face training internationally is very expensive and the administration is also a burden. Getting all the appropriate staff to one venue at a specific time is difficult. These factors mean that fewer staff can be trained, and therefore often the training is wasted.

So Alice and I developed the CONTENTED Diploma in Web Content -- a model that isn't just cheaper for training large numbers of scattered staff: it's also more effective. This is what we recommend in your situation.

Many large organisations such as the Asian Development Bank have seized the opportunity to train 100 staff for the same price as a one day face-to-face in-house course. Like your organisation, the Bank has employees working all over the world: our online training brings huge advantages when the workforce is scattered.

The Diploma (as you know) includes training both in readability and plain language. This is reinforced by every module, especially the editing module. The standard of general business writing improves -- not just web content writing.

If you want training to be more personal, we can suggest some fun, easy ways for you to do this in-house. Then staff can get a buzz from doing something communally (as they do from a conventional in-house course.)

So my answer to your questions: my face-to-face training -- if I went to Colorado -- would be prohibitively expensive -- but we can provide a much better alternative! Alice and I strongly recommend that you enrol a group in the Diploma. This will solve your training problems -- time, cost, content, convenience, logistics and results. It's not just different from face-to-face training: in many circumstances, it can be better.

I hope you take the plunge: we make online training easy, fun and rewarding, and you'll be in good company.

Alice and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best wishes

Rachel

Photo: Rachel training staff at the Buddhist Institute, Phnom Penh, in 2004. Those days are gone.