The thinking has to be right before the words can be.

I come in before the text

 I work with researchers, research institutes, innovative companies and development NGOs. Organisations doing complex, consequential work where the ideas are serious but the communication can struggle.

The gap is rarely about writing ability. A proposal that goes in circles usually reflects an argument that has not yet been settled. A strategy document that fails to land usually reflects a direction that has not yet been agreed. A funding narrative that describes activity without conveying urgency usually reflects an organisation that has not yet decided what it most needs to say, and to whom.

These are thinking problems. They cannot be fixed at the level of the text. I come in before the text, and I stay until the text is right.

How I work

I travel with you as you distil and refine your ideas. I am an objective sparring partner. I listen intuitively, sharpen your thoughts, facilitate consensus-forming and help establish common ground. I know when to challenge a sacred cow and when to give it a wide berth.

Once the content is agreed upon, I write or edit the required document with you. Whether you take the lead with an initial draft or I write the first draft for you, we create the final document together through an iterative process of writing, discussing and reviewing. Throughout, I help you capture the consensus achieved while ensuring the final document engages and motivates the people it needs to reach.

Listening, structuring and crafting are not separate stages. They happen together, and the strands intertwine as your thinking develops.

How I think about the communication challenges you face

I do not arrive as a blank slate. Whatever the context, I bring frameworks for thinking about how the required communication works and where it tends to go wrong. Every document has an architecture. Every section has a job. When those jobs are not being done, the document does not do its job, regardless of how well it is written.

My role is to identify where thinking and consensus are strong, where gaps exist, and how to apply the necessary structure to both so that the people who need to receive the information you convey can take it on board and act.

What we produce together

Grant proposals, specialist reports, strategic plans, briefings or donor communications. Or whatever other documents you need.

These are not the starting point. They are what becomes possible when the thinking is right.

 How can I help you to get your thinking right?

For new clients, the first hour of writing is free. I look forward to thinking with you.

Testimonial