From Ideas to Impact: Hands-On Workshop To Hone Writing Skills

Do you want your voice to reach 2.4 crore Indians? That's just the number who read English newspapers daily. Writing for the media is one of the most powerful ways to raise public awareness for causes and catalyse change. Persuasive pieces can help translate insights and vision into compelling content that can amplify impact and influence opinion makers. However, translating ideas and thoughts into a publishable article that media houses would carry is a skill set that needs to be honed.

Ideas To Impact

Hands-on article writing is an immersive writing workshop organised by Vision India Foundation. Swarajya is the media partner for this workshop. The idea is simple: apply with an idea, leave the workshop with a finished article. Through interaction with stalwarts and an engaging teaching methodology, the programme aims to empower change agents to write precise, effective pieces that contribute to the broader discourse. The workshop will have leading media personalities and 50 delegates from premier institutes and change agents working in the private sector, public policy, government and social sector as participants. The event will be held on 15 and 16 December, New Delhi.

Vision India Foundation is a nation-building movement that aims to train and mentor future public leaders. Founded by faculty and alumni of various IITs in 2014, the organisation is also committed to systemic, long term reforms by working on public policy, governance and institutional frameworks of the nation. In the last four years, the organisation worked with state governments and elected representatives and has mentored over 1,000 young professionals from 29 states of India and 14 countries.

Ideas to impact will have 50 delegates from premier institutes and change agents working in the social sector participating in the workshop. Participants will explore key insights and techniques needed at every stage of writing – from brainstorming ideas to identifying target platforms.

The programme will be facilitated by Shyam Krishnakumar of Vision India Foundation, Kamal Madishetty from the Economist and Apula Singh from Janaagraha who writes for The BBC, The Hindu, The Indian Express, Swarajya, Huffington Post, The Diplomat etc.

Keynote speakers include: Vamsee Juluri, professor of media studies at the University of San Francisco and the author of Rearming Hinduism, K G Suresh, director general of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, India’s premier media training institute. He is also a senior journalist and political commentator with three decades of media experience writing for The Times, The Hindu, Times of India etc, Samarth Bansal, assistant editor and data journalist with the Hindustan Times. He is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and has been an Alfred Friendly Fellow at the Wall Street Journal.

Jyotindra Dubey is a data journalist at CNBC TV 18. He is an alumnus of Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad.

Vishnu Padmababhan, data Journalist at The Mint. He was formerly a policy manger with Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

What You Will Learn

• Participants will be able to identify the appropriate mode, domain and audience for writing articles to amplify the impact.
• Understand why articles are written and what makes a good article.
• Follow a step-by-step process to envision, research, write, proofread and fact-check articles.
• Identify appropriate mediums for publishing articles - blogs, print, digital media platforms etc.

Who Should Attend

The programme would be ideal for:

• Aspiring writers who seek a hands-on understanding of how to translate ideas into articles.
• Policy professionals engaged with corporate and consulting firms, government organisations, political organisations, civil society, media, and social development organisations who want to take their unique insights to the general public.
• Change agents in the development sector who wish to raise awareness for causes and amplify the impact of their work through writing.
• Young professionals and students exploring careers in media, corporate communications and public affairs in particular.
• Undergraduate and graduate students who are eager to pick up the ability to articulate their vision to a larger audience.
• Enthusiasts who are passionate about honing their ability to write pieces with clarity and precision.

Applications for the 2018 workshop is open! Apply here.