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Plain Language Writing for Public and Client Audiences

Policies, notices and client letters often fail because they were written for the department that produced them. Rewriting that work in language a reader can act on is a learnable skill. Delegates practise on real documents, including notices that must be understood by people reading in a second or third language.

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What you will be able to do

  • Identify the words, sentence patterns and structures that make official writing hard to follow.
  • Rewrite a policy or notice so the required action is obvious in the first paragraph.
  • Replace legal and technical phrasing with everyday wording while keeping meaning intact.
  • Design documents with headings, spacing and lists that guide a scanning reader.
  • Adapt written material for readers using English as a second or third language.
  • Test a draft with real readers and act on what the test shows.

Course outline

  1. 01Why official documents lose their readers
  2. 02Sentence length, voice and vocabulary
  3. 03Leading with the action required
  4. 04Layout, headings and visual structure
  5. 05Writing for multilingual readerships
  6. 06Forms, notices and application material
  7. 07Reader testing and revision

Who should attend

Communications officers, policy writers, customer service managers, municipal and departmental administrators, and marketing staff responsible for public notices, client letters or service information.

Dates, venues and fees

DatesVenueDaysFeeCalendarRegister
21 to 22 Oct 2026Johannesburg2R10,000Register
22 to 23 Oct 2026Cape Town2R10,000Register
26 to 27 Oct 2026Durban2R10,000Register
27 to 28 Oct 2026Pretoria2R10,000Register
28 to 29 Oct 2026Windhoek2US$1,100Register
29 to 30 Oct 2026Gaborone2US$1,100Register
2 to 3 Nov 2026Maseru2US$1,100Register
3 to 4 Nov 2026Mbabane2US$1,100Register
4 to 5 Nov 2026Lusaka2US$1,100Register
5 to 6 Nov 2026Harare2US$1,100Register
9 to 10 Nov 2026Lilongwe2US$1,100Register
10 to 11 Nov 2026Blantyre2US$1,100Register
11 to 12 Nov 2026Mozambique2US$1,100Register
12 to 13 Nov 2026Nairobi2US$1,100Register
16 to 17 Nov 2026Dar es Salaam2US$1,100Register
17 to 18 Nov 2026Kigali2US$1,100Register
18 to 19 Nov 2026Kampala2US$1,100Register
19 to 20 Nov 2026Accra2US$1,100Register
23 to 24 Nov 2026Lagos2US$1,100Register
24 to 25 Nov 2026Cairo2US$1,100Register
25 to 26 Nov 2026Mauritius2US$1,100Register
26 to 27 Nov 2026Dubai2US$1,100Register
30 Nov to 1 Dec 2026Online2US$900Register

Fees are per delegate. South African venues are priced in rand; other locations and online in US dollars. Fees exclude 15% VAT where applicable. Group bookings of three or more delegates from the same organisation qualify for a reduced rate; contact us for a quotation.

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