Machines compute.
Humans ponder.
A course in critical thinking and writing.
If AI disappeared, this course would still exist
Why? Critical thinking and communication skills have always been important in the working world.
The ability to assess and evaluate ideas. Synthesise, prioritise and distil information. Make decisions.
Communicate our thinking effectively.
None of that’s new.
AI is just showing us how vital those skills are.
The irony of automation
It's true that the use of AI can cause our critical thinking skills to decay.
MIT Media Lab found that people who used AI to write, showed reduced neural activity and weaker recall of their own ideas. (AKA: the brain does less when the bot does more.)
Gartner predicts that the loss of critical thinking due to AI will see 50% of organisations require AI-free skills assessments from 2026.
But, if AI doesn’t play a big part in your working world, critical thinking and communication skills still do.
The World Economic Forum ranks critical thinking as the most in-demand skill in the next five years.
Why critical thinking skills and writing?
Writing is thinking made visible.
And when we sharpen our writing skills, our critical thinking skills follow.
That’s what this course is about
Critical thinking skills taught through writing. Critical thinking skills for writing.
Using our PONDER framework: Pause. Observe. Nail down. Direct. Edit. Relate.
Who this course is for
Curious folks who want to stay curious.
People who want to:
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communicate more clearly and with impact
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judge and improve on writing, whether it's their own, someone else's or AI's
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build a shared language for evaluating and improving writing.
And in the process, hone their critical thinking skills.
It’s all grounded in cognitive and behavioural psychology. And it’s built for the reality of work today.
Perfect for:
HR, L&D, internal comms, corporate comms, marketing and brand teams, and leadership teams.
And managers who have spotted a drop in quality, a lack of thinking, or a feeling of 'sameness' in their team's writing.
What your team will learn
Pause
Critical thinking skill:
Goal clarification, independent judgement, intent setting.
Writing skill:
Defining purpose and focusing on the reader.
Observe
Critical thinking skill:
Objective analysis, pattern recognition, separating fact from assumption.
Writing skill:
Assessing the content, structure and tone of a piece of writing.
Nail down
Critical thinking skill:
Distillation, prioritisation, identifying
the core idea.
Writing skill:
Crafting a concise, clear message with a reason for the reader to care.
Direct
Critical thinking skill:
Logical structuring, coherence building.
Writing skill:
Reordering ideas, front-loading information and creating a clear structure.
Edit
Critical thinking skill:
Cognitive empathy, clarity of expression, mental-model alignment.
Writing skill:
Making writing human, clear and
easy to read.
Relate
Critical thinking skill:
Reflective judgement, emotional intelligence, creative insight.
Writing skill:
Using lived experience to make writing relate and resonate with the reader.
Where to start
Which PONDER session is right for your team? Choose based on how much time you have and what level of practice you need.
Most teams start with a shorter session to introduce the framework and build a shared language, then either go on to the fuller sessions or move on to a small group coaching programme.
PONDER introduced
Virtual. 2hrs.
(Up to 20 people)
Teams go through the framework, try out a core technique from each part of PONDER and start to explore how it all applies to their day-to-day work.
PONDER applied
In-person. 3 hours.
(Up to 15 people)
An introduction to the PONDER framework, with more time for teams to work through the practical techniques and apply them to their own writing.
Where to go next
For teams who want more time to apply the framework to real work and build stronger habits.
2 x 2hr virtual course
(up to 20 people)
We work through the PONDER framework in more depth.
Teams try out techniques, and apply them to their own writing.
Includes 2 x 60-min group coaching sessions and a pre and post-course writing assessment.
1-day in-person course
(up to 15 people)
More hands-on. More techniques tried and tested. More time to apply them to live writing examples. Plus live feedback.
Includes 2 x 60-min group coaching sessions and a pre and post-course writing assessment.
2-day in-person course
(up to 15 people)
The full PONDER method taught, practised and embedded over the two days. With deeper discussion, and 1-2-1 feedback and advice.
Includes 2 x 60-min group coaching sessions and a pre and post-course writing assessment.
In-house or out and about
We can run the in-person sessions at your offices, or we'll host you at a rather unique, East London location – Hoxton Street Monster Supplies.
A convenience store for monsters of every kind. It's a fabulously weird and wonderful shop, run by The Ministry of Stories. A charity that helps young people "discover their confidence, imagination and potential through the power of their writing".
All the proceeds from the shop and the venue hire goes to the charity,
Let's find the right format for your team
If you’re not sure which session is the best fit, or you want to check availability, just complete this quick form.
We’ll follow up to book a call or send more details.
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