Recently we’ve been working with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust as text-writing consultants, delivering two bespoke TextWorkshops and a summary report. We’ve done the same for Jersey Heritage Trust, with a commission to look at both text-writing and design.

For National Museums Liverpool we developed a bespoke workshop on writing for marketing and fundraising, as well as training dozens of staff in text-writing for exhibitions.

The Science Museum has commissioned various bespoke workshops, and we’ve worked with them over several years after delivering our very first TextWorkshop there, back in 2007.

We’ve also done in-house courses for York Heritage Trust, Imperial War Museum North, Stoke Museums, Preston Museum, The Tank Museum, and many more – so if you’re interested in what we can offer you, just drop us a line.

Design and research by Greg Mileham. Image credits, thanks to Creative Commons and the following photographers:

T – Oldest known map of the world, Mesopotamia, photographed by Cea

E – Berkeley Botanic Garden by ingridtaylar

X – Pez Dispenser Museum in Burlingame, by ingridtaylar

T – Giant Robot Biennale – Japanese American National Museum, by David Choe

W – Fish by fujikinoko

O – Roof of the Grade II listed Meeting House at Sussex University, photographed by mira66

R – Wright Brothers’ aeroplane displayed at the Air and Spce Museum, Washington DC, by roger4336

K – Trays of poster type at the Writer’s Museum, Edinburgh, by edinburghcityof print

S – Aztec double-headed serpent in the British Museum, by Neil_Henderson

H – Old South American map, photo by thejourney1972

O – Lighthouse lens at Glen Haven Museum, by kretyen

P – Design Museum mousemat, by psd

Feedback included the following:

“My main learning outcome was – just give it a go! Go outside your comfort zone to meet your visitors where they are.”

“It has been really useful, very focused and lots of practical examples.”

“All very good. I really understand what I need to be doing and how to do it.”

“The workshop more than met expectations. The challenge of writing a label under pressure was cathartic and made a good point.”

“The whole day engaged participants in rethinking, reviewing and revising their approach to writing.”

“A really enjoyable workshop. Clear, interesting and memorable for the fun and content of the day.”

Date: Thursday 10th November 2011

Time: 10.30am – 4.30pm

Cost: £75-£165 including lunch and refreshments

Our unique TextWorkshop course brings together expertise from the worlds of museums and journalism to give you a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of good writing – and how to apply them to great text-writing. In a day packed with tips, examples and exercises, you’ll feel challenged and motivated, and you’ll take away lots of new and practical ideas.

To see more about what goes on at a TextWorkshop, watch our video.

To book a place, please fill in the following form. We will confirm your place and issue an invoice.

With the autumn sun shining on the beach just outside, it was great to see so many people crowding into our seminar in Brighton on 3rd October. Better text-writing is firmly on the agenda for so many people – and we are here to help!

We shared our new postcards in the session, and tried out some of our top tips for text-writing – but there’s much more to say than we could manage in an hour, so we’d love to see you at one of our forthcoming TextWorkshops at the London Transport Museum in November or at the Design Museum in February.

The courses are filling up, so do book a place here on the website, or get in touch if you’d like to discuss an in-house workshop with your team.

“The best part of the day for me was absorbing loads of ideas for making writing more entertaining to read.”

“So many good tips! Very useful workshop and lots to take on board.”

“I really liked seeing my writing progress through the day.”

“I feel encouraged to write more interactive and involving text in future.”

On Monday 3rd October, join Dea and Rebecca for a creative writing seminar in the exhibition area, for new ways to make great writing feel like a breeze. The exhibition and seminar are free, and you can register here.

Then on Tuesday 4th October, Rebecca is speaking in a session on Youth Participation, looking at her experience of enabling a diverse group of young people write text for a Science Museum exhibition project. Book a place for this day of the conference here or see more about the project here.

We’d love to see you there! Full details are below.

Seminar: How to write great museum text, on 3rd October 2011, 14.30-15.15 in Room 2. Practical tips, brain games and creative tricks will make great writing feel like a breeze in this interactive text-writing seminar from TextWorkshop. Writing coaches will share and demonstrate techniques for museums wanting to banish boring text and promote great writing.

Session: Participation or alienation: working with young people, on 4th October 2011, 12.05-13.05 in Syndicate Room 1. Join a panel of museum professionals and young people to challenge current practice in youth participation. This session examines the successes and failings of museums when it comes to youth engagement.

“The Twitter and blogging exercises were really useful. Just what I needed.”

“How to structure my writing was a big lesson.”

“Great location, good and clear directions, excellent facilities.”

“My main learning outcome is the development of ‘my own voice’ in a blog – plus tips for making information interesting.”

Delegates give their feedback on our latest Digital TextWorkshop at the Natural History Museum

In a day full of tips and ideas for how to make digital text-writing work for you, delegates noted down the ‘super six’ of digital text-writing from tutor Rebecca Mileham, wrote and polished on-screen text, and took a tour of the shiny Darwin Centre to see how the Natural History Museum is using digital interactives.

Simon Tait of Arts Industry magazine came to share his wisdom on blogging. Delegates said they really appreciated hearing from a regular blogger, and felt he’d given them ‘the secrets of a good blog’. Catch up with Simon here.

Other comments from the day included those who valued the practicality of the ‘top tips’ we’d shared, and enjoyed ‘getting hands-on experience with writing and getting feedback’. For many, this was the first opportunity to really try out Twitter and see its power. Many thanks to the Natural History Museum for making it possible for everyone to have internet access. ‘It was great to be able to call up websites and blogs instantly and use them as examples,’ said a delegate. See further comments in the Latest Feedback section.

We’ve got a TextWorkshop in November and a Trails TextWorkshop in February 2012, but watch out for another Digital TextWorkshop and drop us a line if you’ve new ideas for workshop topics that you’d find useful. We’d love to stay in touch – so do follow us on twitter @TextWorkshop, and we’ll follow you back.

Date: Thursday 16th June 2011

Time: 10.30am – 4.30pm

Cost: £75-£165 including lunch and refreshments

From the web to twitter, it’s never been more important to get your digital text-writing up to scratch. Digital TextWorkshop will cover all the tips and tricks of effective digital communication, with input from journalist Dea Birkett – a genuine member of the twitterati – and museum consultant Rebecca Mileham – a true advocate of the power of on-screen writing. We’ll cover writing for screen-based interactives and websites – as well as how and why you should tweet.

To see more about what goes on at a TextWorkshop, watch our video.

To book a place, please fill in the following form. We will confirm your place and issue an invoice.