Beginning to turn your ideas into plans
Now that you’ve defined your learning objective and have a sense of your timeframe, the balance between presentation and interaction, and your potential audience, you can begin outlining the content of your workshop. While doing so, remember that every section and activity should serve a clear purpose and directly support your learning objective.
Identifying participant needs and expectations
At this stage, it’s helpful to consider the specific needs of your audience; what prior knowledge might they have? What will their learning needs be? Anticipate questions they may have about the topic in order to help you design more relevant content. Refer back to your Participant Profiles to keep your target audience in mind.
Think about how participants will absorb and comprehend the material.
- Will you send them your presentation slides before / following the session?
- Will you give them time to take notes?
- Will there be opportunities for small group discussion?
- Can you incorporate an activity that helps reinforce understanding?
Structuring your workshop
Depending on your available time and chosen structure, you may opt for one main presentation followed by one main activity, or break the session down into smaller chunks. Remember, nothing you plan at this stage needs to be set in stone; this exercise is simply about getting the planning process moving.
Once you have established a basic structure, you can begin developing each section in more detail.
Example Workshop Structures
| Beginner’s Guide to [Genre] Intended audience – writers new to the genre. Introduction – bio and background Main Presentation: Presentation – introduction to and brief history of [Genre]. Activity – Question: What is your favourite trope from [Genre]? Presentation – Tropes and how to use them Presentation – World Building Activity – Character traits bingo game Presentation – Characters Summary: Final Notes, Q&A Resources to send to participants: slides and reading list | Creating a Book from Start to Finish Intended audience – writers looking to publish their work (either through self-publishing or traditional publishing) Introduction – bio, overview Presentation Stage 1: ideas → first draft [activity – Question] Stage 2: Editing Stage 3: Pitching → Design [activity – comparing ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ covers] Stage 4: Publishing → Marketing Summary – Q&A |
| Self-Editing Workshop Intended audience – writers of all genres and stages Introduction – bio, agenda Presentation – Self-editing tip 1 Activity – practice using self-editing tip 1. Share successes in the chat. Presentation – Self-editing tip 2 Activity – practice using self-editing tip 2. Share successes in the chat. Presentation – Self-editing tip 3 Activity – practice using self-editing tip 3. Share successes in the chat. Summary: – Next steps for your self-editing journey – Pick out some good examples from the chat – Q&A Resources to send to participants: reading list | Story Structure Intended audience – writers of all genres and levels Introduction – bio and Jeopardy-style game Presentation – Introduction to well-known story structures – Why it is useful as a framework – The main steps of the structure – Critique of the structure – How participants can use the structure to help their stories [activity – questions for participants to ask themselves. Can answer in chat.] – Use answers in chat to open up a discussion Summary – Q&A Resources to send to participants: reading list |
You’ll find these sample workshop structures linked below and in the Lesson Materials section.