• Training Room

    SPIRAL - Writing for The Conversation
    Provider   Organisational and Staff Development Unit

    The Conversation is a news website with content written by researchers and academics working with professional journalists. This session explores what The Conversation does, how you can become involved and what benefits writing for a more general audience can bring to your research.

Duration 2 hours

Course Type Webinar

Booking Status Waiting List

Is this course right for me?

Target Audience: Any staff members involved in research

This is a live online event. 

Are you an academic or researcher who would like to build a media profile and take your research to a global public audience by writing for The Conversation? 

The Conversation is a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics working with professional journalists. It is an open access, independent media charity funded by more than 80 UK and European universities (see more on its audience here). 

In this interactive session we'll take you through what The Conversation is - our origins and aims; what we do and why. 

We’ll look at why you should communicate your research to the public and take you through The Conversation’s unique, collaborative editorial process. 

We’ll give you tips on style, tone and structure (with examples), look at how to pitch (with examples) and look at different approaches and article types. 

In the second part of the session, you will also have the opportunity to discuss your research with a Conversation editor, pitch potential story ideas and receive feedback. 

Benefits of attending: 

  • Find out how to join a community of academic authors taking their expertise outside the institution; 
  • Understand what makes a good story and the types of articles your expertise could generate; 
  • Learn the skills of journalistic writing and how to make your writing accessible and engaging to a diverse general audience; 
  • Meet one of The Conversation’s editors and learn how we commission articles. 

 

Please note that there will be additional one-to-one sessions with The Conversation editors available in December, for anyone who would like to discuss translating their research into an article in more detail. You can find more information here:

for HaSS/SBS: https://bookings.strath.ac.uk/Home/Course/6186

for Science/Engineering: https://bookings.strath.ac.uk/Home/Course/6187

Accessibility;

For online activity: 

  • The session will take place on [software i.e. Zoom, Teams] [insert information about online provision]  
  • Auto-captions will be enabled  
  • There will / will not be audience participation  
  • You can keep your camera off / You are asked to keep your camera on  
  • You can drop into the session / You are asked to attend the whole session  
  • There will be a break / There will be several breaks throughout the session  
  • The session is relaxed – this means you can stretch, move around, stim etc.  
  • Digital copies of resources will be emailed to participants in advance of delivery as standard / upon request.  
  • [Any other access info, e.g. live captions available, BSL interpretation]  
  • Please contact osdu-equity@strath.ac.uk to discuss any further access requirements  

Cancellation Policy

When applying for a course, you should note that there will be a £50* charge to your Department / School if you do not attend your place on the course. There will be no charge as long as you cancel your booked place before the event or notify our staff at osdu@strath.ac.uk that you can no longer attend. 

A Department / School is welcome to send someone else in your place if they wish without incurring a charge, providing that person has the necessary prerequisites for the course. In the case of courses split over more than one day, you are expected to attend ALL parts of the course. 

*This is the standard charge for cancellation or non-attendance of a course of 1-day duration or less. For some courses, there may be a higher cancellation charge and if this is the case you will be advised of this at the time of booking.  

 

 

When applying for a course, you should note that there will be a £50* charge to your Department / School if you do not attend your place on the course. There will be no charge as long as you cancel your booked place before the event or notify our staff at osdu@strath.ac.uk that you can no longer attend. 

A Department / School is welcome to send someone else in your place if they wish without incurring a charge, providing that person has the necessary prerequisites for the course. In the case of courses split over more than one day, you are expected to attend ALL parts of the course. 

*This is the standard charge for cancellation or non-attendance of a course of 1-day duration or less. For some courses, there may be a higher cancellation charge and if this is the case you will be advised of this at the time of booking.  

 



Delivered By: The Conversation team

Prerequisites

You will get the most out of this session if, beforehand, you: Think about the sort of pieces you might potentially write, what aspects of your research might interest people, and come armed with ideas. Read some articles on The Conversation to get a sense of what we publish. Please make sure to read the pre-session briefing below: