Can I run writing training myself instead of hiring an external trainer?

You might be wondering: can I run writing training myself for my organisation, or is it better to pay for someone external? 

The truth is, you may already be better placed than any outside consultant to make a difference.

It’s easy to assume the answer must be “out there” – in the form of a specialist consultant or an expensive away-day. But often the real expertise is already inside the tent. If you already have the writing skills, you can learn to use your credibility, your context, and your day-to-day presence to nudge real change. That can be far more powerful than parachuting someone in for a one-off session.

Why you might not need an external trainer

• 🧡 You know the context. External trainers rarely understand your specific processes, pressures, and politics. You do, which makes your guidance immediately more relevant.
• 🧡 You’re still there tomorrow. A trainer leaves at 4pm. You’re around next week, next month, next year – able to reinforce, remind, and support in real time.
• 🧡 You can coach, not just “train.” Real improvement happens within the flow of work: sitting with someone on a live document, editing a draft, or giving “pop-up coaching” when they’re stuck.

Where external trainers can add value

• 🧡 Technical expertise. If you need deep knowledge of something like the ISO Plain Language Standard, or a new regulation, or best practice for specialist documents, an external expert can fill that gap.
• 🧡 Breaking down tacit skills. The ability to write well is often tacit; you “just do it” without consciously breaking down the steps. Explaining those steps clearly – and in a way that helps someone else replicate them – is a different and very specific skill. If you’ve ever shown a colleague your tracked changes only to watch them repeat the same mistakes next week, you’ll know how frustrating this can be. A strong internal writing champion sometimes needs extra support to turn their instinctive skill into something teachable.
• 🧡 Borrowed authority. Sometimes staff only take writing seriously when an outsider says the same thing you’ve been saying for months. That legitimacy can help.
• 🧡 Energy and fresh perspective. A charismatic trainer can shake people out of “we’ve always done it this way” thinking. But this can work best when they energise your internal change agents (see below) – not try to “fix” 15 sceptical managers in four hours.

How to approach it wisely

• 🧡 Think differently about your training budget. Instead of paying for 10 or 20 people to sit through generic training, ask whether the same money could fund a few hours of tailored coaching for you (and/or your fellow Penfluencers) in coaching skills, facilitation, or quality improvement methods,. That way you build your own ability to lead and sustain momentum, in a far deeper and more sustainable way.
  🧡 Put yourself at the centre. Use external trainers (if at all) to complement your role, not replace it.
  🧡 If you do bring someone in, let your internal change agents shadow them, so the learning stays in-house after they’ve gone.

• So, can you run the training yourself? Absolutely. But frame it less as “delivering a course” and more as “leading a change process.” You’ll need to:

• Model good writing consistently in your own work.
• Break down tacit skills into steps colleagues can follow.
• Offer coaching and feedback on live documents.
• Work on the systems (templates, processes, expectations) that make poor writing more likely.

If you approach it this way, you don’t just run a training session — you become a catalyst for raising the standard of writing across the organisation.