Science communication training for researchers:

Writing opinion articles

Person typing on a laptop keyboard with an open document on the screen.

An opinion piece can be an ideal way of communicating research to non-academic audiences. The format has many advantages, allowing researchers to position their specialist knowledge in a readable and dynamic format.

In this highly practical session, we’ll show you how to use opinion pieces to communicate your research and raise your profile with key audiences. We’ll look at how to find and shape your topic and messages, how to research the best outlets for your purposes, and how to approach commissioning editors.  

We’ll look at real approaches that worked, and those that didn’t, and will walk you through crafting your own approach or ‘pitch’. We’ll also cover language, structure and what will be expected of you once your article is commissioned

COURSE LENGTH

3 hours

GROUP SIZE

1 - 8

FORMAT

Online / in-person

Who should attend?

This workshop is suitable for early career researchers upwards who would like to raise their profile in the media.

What to expect

  • Guidance on general principles

  • Practical exercises

  • Analysis of good and bad writing examples

  • Group discussions and hand-outs

  • Advice and information to put the skills learned into practice

What you’ll learn

  • How to identify the audiences for your research to achieve the greatest impact

  • How to translate academic findings into an article of interest to a lay audience

  • Where to start and which outlets to target

  • How to write a ‘pitch’ to interest a media outlet in your article

  • The commissioning process and what will be expected of you

  • Approaches to writing an opinion article or blogpost

  • I thought these sessions were excellent and the attendees got a lot out of them. Being given the opportunity to put the presentation information into practice and receive informed feedback from people who know what they’re talking about is invaluable.

    DR ALYX MATTISON
    RESEARCH AND IMPACT SUPPORT OFFICER, UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD

  • Very practical and challenging advice on how to start off in this game of writing for non-academics.

    DELEGATE ON OUR WRITING FOR LAY AUDIENCES WORKSHOP

  • Inspiring as directly relevant. Very hands on and delivered by professionals who shared their expertise and gave specific and practical advice to every delegate.

    DELEGATE ON OUR WRITING FOR LAY AUDIENCES WORKSHOP

  • Campus PR has vast experience of working with many institutions to achieve the best coverage for their research and this experience shone through with our one to one training sessions. I felt engaged immediately and could feel my confidence growing as each session developed.

    MARK THOMPSON, MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER
    UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD

  • Being able to spend time with individuals who have so much experience and success in higher education communications is a great opportunity for anyone starting out in the sector and I would thoroughly recommend they take up the opportunity.

    JENNY WATKINSON, MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICER
    UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD

  • The training really helped me to think about better techniques to aid in producing the best story. Definitely worthwhile!

    LAUREN ASHTON, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
    UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

  • The training was very helpful and I’ve been using the concepts to rewrite some of my work (funding applications, articles, presentations, even emails). This workshop was far more engaging than similar sessions that I’ve attended.

    DELEGATE ON OUR WRITING FOR LAY AUDIENCES WORKSHOP

Book this course

Enquire about individual or group training.

Say hello!

Email us: hello@campuspr.co.uk
Or give us a bell: +44 (0)1267 888901

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