I am pleased to detail our Autumn/Winter training courses. Further courses will be added as dates become available but, at present, scheduled sessions are as follows:
28 Oct (10:00 – 17:00) The Effective Freelance
The Effective Freelance is designed to cover not only the essentials of working as a freelance – organisation, negotiating, producing work, markets, law and financial record-keeping – but also living as a freelance, including personal finance, etc. It will include breaking into new markets, establishing terms, chasing payment, improving returns, specialist journalism, handling money, tax and deductible expenses, and copyright.
4 Nov (09:00 – 16:00) Rory Peck Public Order training
Stay Safe Reporting Civil Unrest
Learn to Protect yourself from violence, Foster better communications & understanding with police, Ensure you can carry out your public interest role & report freely
Experience Real-time, outdoor scenarios in a safe environment, DoNoHarm*, accessible, user-friendly, collaborative. Training delivered by experts recognised as world class in their field.
4 Nov (10:00 – 17:00) The Entrepreneurial Freelance
A follow on from the Effective Freelance, the Entrepreneurial Freelance is aimed at providing the knowledge to understand the dramatically changed business and technological environments in which we must work.
7 Nov (10:00 – 17:00) PR & Comms
A course aimed at building a coherent sense of how the news media works, how journalist and their editors make their decisions and how to maximise individual relationships with journalists. Crucial for all those wishing to improve, brush up or discover their PR skills, in particular journalists looking to move into PR and PR people looking to improve their knowledge and skill base.
18 Nov (10:00 – 17:00) Feature Writing & Pitching
This course is for anyone who would benefit from understanding the principles and actions behind successful features. It covers writing with style for professional publications and includes sessions on building a story, structure, interviewing and pitching. Every aspect of writing outstanding features will be covered, from understanding your audience, publication and subject, to research, writing and interview skills.
26 Nov (10:00-11:00) Planning for later life: Pensions and retirement
Whether you are approaching retirement or you have just started in your career, the
world of pensions can be incredibly complex. This workshop will cover the different types of pensions, the options available, budgeting for retirement and how to access
independent financial advice.
19 Nov & 26 Nov (9:30-13:00) Collaborative Leadership (2 part course)
This course looks at challenges within participants’ workplaces, the basic psychology of leadership, Other ways of leading: the Michigan Model, listening and communication skills, analysis of behavioural motivation and consideration of the Iceberg Model, confidence, self-care and mindfulness
21 Nov (11:00 – 13:00) All you need to know to be a news writer in 2 hours
The course will teach, in 120 minutes, all the skills required to write an accomplished and engaging news story. It will cover the intro, in detail, efficient language – and the other sort, vocabulary – journalese v plain English, structure – of sentence, paragraph and story, sitting a story on the page, quote handling, dealing with background, picking the line, building a long read, headlines – the good, the bad, and the unwitting comedy gems
22 & 23 Nov (10:00 – 13:00) Scriptwriting introduction (both days)
This one-day introductory course will help to demystify the process. You will learn how to shape and form compelling plots, dynamic characters and engaging dialogue. You will get experience working on the structure of scripts, understanding how they are put together, the format and software packages which are industry standard. You will learn what makes good drama and comedy and get the inside track on how TV drama is put together. By the end of the day, you should feel more confident in putting your ideas on to paper and seeing your characters come alive.
13 Jan 2026 (11:00-16:00) The Book Route
Short overview of the market, where to place it, how it fits into the market, how to take the work forward, self-publishing or traditional publishing, the pros and cons of having an agent and how to go about finding someone who fits your needs and profile, how to get your book noticed when the information highway is crammed with other writers? Branding, finding your Unique Selling Point, pitching ideas to editors, creating a website, using social media and your own social networks.
Places are being funded for members in Scotland by the Scottish Government and Scottish Union Learning and if you wish to book, please let me know. Student members are eligible if they have a part time income.
Joan Macdonald, Training Manager, NUJ Training Scotland
2nd Floor, 177 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 2LB
Direct Line: 0141 251 0363 Mob: 07730 513991
email: joanm@nuj.org.uk