–Geoff-Hart.com:–Editing, Writing, and Translation

—Home —Services —Books —Articles —Resources —Fiction —Contact me —Français

You are here: Services --> Workshops and other training

Workshops and other training

I currently offer three options for workshops and other training:

I've included a list of standard contract terms for my workshops at the end of this page.

The following workshops or training are currently available:

If you'd like to propose a customized workshop, please have a look at the complete list of my publications, and contact me to discuss details.

Effective onscreen editing

Onscreen editing offers tremendous efficiency advantages over traditional on-paper editing. In addition to eliminating the need to retype corrections (and the subsequent risk of introducing new errors), onscreen editing harnesses the computer's power to make editing more efficient. In this course, which is based on my quarterly "Onscreen editing" column for Intercom magazine, you'll learn:

Want to develop a customized version of this workshop? Examine the table of contents of my book, Effective Onscreen Editing, and pick the topics that are most relevant to your needs.

Effective review and revision workflows

Many workplace processes arise from historical conditions that no longer apply, and may no longer reflect the current work situation: the organizational structures or workplace technologies that shaped these processes have changed. Alternatively, current processes may indeed reflect the current work situation, but pose barriers to efficiency. This course is based on a "Kaizen" exercise conducted at a nonprofit research institute that reduced time to publication by more than 50%. You'll learn:

Editing 101

Many organizations can no longer afford a full-time editor to perform quality control on their printed and online publications, and instead perform peer review. Peer reviewers often have no training in how to edit work produced by their colleagues. This course provides the necessary training. You'll learn:

Information design

Over the past few decades, a substantial body of research has begun to provide deep insights into how people understand visual images, including both the text and the graphics that represent the majority of the work produced by technical communicators. Many "rules of thumb" have been proposed to describe our profession's "best practices", but blindly applying these rules leads to reflexive designs that may fail to meet the audience's needs. Understanding the basis for these rules lets you determine when they apply—and more importantly, what to do when they don't. In this course, you'll learn:

Read a review of the workshop given for STC Phoenix. (Republished with permission from the author and STC Phoenix. Originally published in the December 2008 issue of Rough Draft, which is available via the chapter's home page.)

Online help: the five W's

Many modern help systems emphasize "cool" technologies and flashy images. Others eschew these techniques in favor of a complete and accurate description of the software interface. Both approaches often fail to provide the information readers really need. But using an approach based on the "five W's" taught to journalists can help you provide the information your audience really needs. In this course, you'll learn:

Practical audience analysis

Many technical communicators collect substantial amounts of demographic information on their audience, such as the proportions of men and women in the audience and their educational backgrounds. Although this information can inform your design decisions, the information is often at least one level removed from more important concerns: what your audience needs to know to get their work done. In this course, you'll learn:

Using Microsoft Word effectively: templates, customization, and dynamic style guides

Many writers use word processors such as Microsoft Word as nothing more than a glorified typewriter. Others know many of the "ins and outs" of Word, but don't use its powerful tools to help them write more effectively. And many corporate environments enforce the use of a printed or online style guide that is used only by editors, long after it's too late for writers to benefit from the use of the style guide. In this course, you'll learn:

Standard contract terms for my presentations and workshops

For a typical 1- to 2-hour presentation and a "reasonable" amount of travel time to reach you, there's no cost other than my expenses. I'm willing to donate my time and lose part of a day of paid work, but I can't afford to donate my expenses too. Thus, you'll need to cover my travel and accommodation costs:

For half-day or full-day workshops, much more preparation is involved, more travel time is required (I can't generally travel to another city and still have time to give a full-day workshop on the same day), and the work is often exhausting. Thus, in addition to expenses, I ask for a speaker's fee:

©2004–2024 Geoffrey Hart. All rights reserved.