Weekly training to write for The Conversation
If you’ve ever fancied writing for The Conversation – actually getting your voice over to thousands of interested readers – then read on!
The Conversation, which partners LJMU in getting evidence-based knowledge into the public domain, is making it easier for you to get trained up to write articles.
From mid May, the new model allows you to access training at a time that suits you. You can now sign up to sessions running weekly on Wednesdays and alternate Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Sessions are a 60-minute presentation + Q&A online, with no attendee limit.
Recent ‘winners’ from LJMU who raised their profile and that of their expert area, with articles on the internationally-renowned platform, include:
- Professor Pooja Saini: ‘The mental toll of menopause’
- Dr Mark Grabowski: ‘Why don’t humans have tails?’
- Professor David Oxborough: ‘How performance-enhancing drugs can damage the heart’.
The sessions cover:
- why writing for non-academic audiences is worthwhile,
- what it involves, and
- how to effectively pitch ideas and write articles well for our audience.
The only prerequisite to undertake training is that you are an academic or research student at the university, while it is also strongly recommended that attendees first complete introductory online course, The Conversation: who we are and how we work with academics, roughly 25-30 minutes.
Editor visits
There will still be opportunities to meet the editors from The conversation in person, as group director of operations Michael Parker explains: “Having spent years on Zoom calls, we want to get back on the road and meet staff in person to get deeper insights into members’ research and priorities.
“We’d particularly like to meet academics whom we have identified as having potential stories to offer.”
And Emily Walker-Williams, Impact Officer in RIS, says the university will offer a warm welcome: “We are looking to strengthen our relationships with the editors by inviting them to events such as the RKE Conference and launches of new centres and institutes.”
Accessing the weekly sessions
The sessions will be held twice weekly: every Wednesday at 2pm, and Tuesday or Thursday at 10.30am or 2pm, on rotation. Attendees just need to register and select their chosen date and time. They then receive an email with a link to the live session. See the summary document for links and details.
You can access the online introductory course.
