Make good writing second nature

A question for the drivers: how much of the drive to work this morning do you remember? The answer, probably, is not much, because you’re so used to the process that you no longer need to consciously think about it.

It’s the same for learning any new skill, including writing. With sustained effort and attention, the skill becomes second nature. This is why we recommend to clients that they follow up their training day with a Coaching clinic, to reinforce the progress made on the course and follow up on any continuing concerns.

There are four stages to learning a new skill, according to a model developed by Gordon Training International, and you have to go through each to reach the point where you can perform the skill well, seemingly without thinking.

1. Unconscious incompetence
You don’t know what you don’t know

2. Conscious incompetence
You know what you don’t know

3. Conscious competence
You know how to do it, but you have to think about it

4. Unconscious competence
You’re practised enough to do it automatically.

Mistakes are common at the conscious competence stage, even though you know by then what you need to do and how to do it. This is why we offer one-to-one follow-up coaching on all our courses.

Before training, we gather writing samples from each participant and analyse them in detail, producing a graph that identifies and quantifies your individual problem areas. We go through this process again after the initial course to see where you have improved and what you still need to work on, so that in the follow-up coaching the trainer can work with you to iron out lingering errors.

If you or your staff have been trained by us and would like to arrange follow-up coaching, or you would like to talk about arranging both, email us or call us on +44 (0)1273 732 888.

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Author: Catie Holdridge

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Catie joined Emphasis with an English literature and creative writing degree and a keen interest in what makes language work. Having researched, written, commissioned and edited dozens of articles for the Emphasis blog, she now knows more about the intricacies of effective professional writing than she ever thought possible.

She produced and co-wrote our online training programme, The Complete Business Writer, and these days oversees all the Emphasis marketing efforts. And she keeps office repartee at a suitably literary level.