Thanks for asking.
Now, let me ask you a question.
Actually, two questions.
What are your objectives? And how do you want to learn?
Those questions matter more than any blanket comparison between teaching methods. So, before you spend any money – or time, which is, after all, money – it’s worth considering what you need, and the way you want to meet that need.
I’ll break this down, then, according to objectives and learning approach. I’ll compare training and coaching along four dimensions: goals and budget; learning style and timeline. Then I’ll suggest an option that might help you sidestep the decision altogether.
What are your objectives?
Let’s look at your goals and your budget. How has this need arisen? And what resources do you have to meet that need?
Goals: broad competence, or a specific deliverable?
This is probably the sharpest dividing line.
Training courses build broad competence. My writing courses present a set of principles and methods that you can apply to a wide range of writing assignments. We apply those principles and methods to mini-projects during the course, so that you can take them away and apply them to whatever you’re working on.
Training courses come in two colours: public and in-house. If you book onto a public course you’ll be working with a group of people from other organizations. If you book an in-house course, we can tailor it to your culture. Both kinds of course will deliver similar outputs: broad principles and practices will take priority over specific projects.
If your goal is to become a better all-round writer, or you want a team to develop their skills consistently, then a course is the way to go.
Coaching, by contrast, is built around a specific deliverable. You bring a document to the table and we work on that. Instead of a generic syllabus, the focus moves through stages: finding the core message you need to communicate, structuring your supporting points around it, and then refining the language, paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence. The principles and methods emerge from the conversation. They will be available only to you, of course; but you can then cascade your learning to your team or organization, at no extra cost.
If your goal is “I need this document to land well, by Thursday,” you need coaching.
Budget: what are you paying for?
Courses are usually priced per day or per person. That price is fixed. You’re paying for the curriculum, the materials, and my time. (And, of course, for my experience and expertise.) You’re also paying for the opportunity to work with colleagues, and you all share the cost.
Coaching is priced, typically, by the hour. We normally set a maximum number of hours and then set to work. At first glance, that might look expensive. But consider what you’re buying. One hour of coaching focused entirely on your report, your article or your website copy can save you days of solo redrafting. It can also avoid the opportunity cost of a document that goes out under-cooked or misses its target. And if you meet your goals within the time frame, you might come in happily under budget.
The question – course or coaching – isn’t “Which is cheaper?” but “Which gives me a better ROI?”
How do you want to learn?
Two questions to consider here: learning style; and timelines.
Learning style: do you thrive in a room, or one-to-one?
A training course is great if you enjoy learning with others. You’ll be in a room – physical or virtual – with people who have similar objectives. You’ll enjoy the stimulation of their ideas, watching and comparing, contributing and receiving feedback. There’s also a social dimension: courses create a shared vocabulary and shared reference points that can be useful back at work.
Coaching will suit you if you’d rather learn privately, or if you want close, undivided attention. Coaching suits people who already know, roughly, what ‘good’ looks like, but can’t quite see how that broader knowledge can be applied to a specific task. A coach will work with you uninterruptedly on your text and help you improve it.
Timeline: one-off event, or ongoing relationship?
Courses are typically one-off events: a day, a half-day, sometimes a short series of sessions, after which you’re expected to carry on independently. That suits a defined organizational objective: onboarding new starters or refreshing skills across a team. But the attention from the trainer is relatively light and short-term.
Coaching will be structured as an ongoing one-to-one relationship. Many clients come to value that relationship: coaching often becomes consultancy.
The answer that covers both options
Here’s the thing: you don’t actually have to choose.
There are specialists who both train and coach. I’m one of them.
- I run one-day and half-day workshops in-house that build the core competences of business writing, report writing, correspondence and copywriting. I insist on working with small groups, to make room for individual attention and feedback.
- And I offer one-to-one coaching, working directly on a client’s material with complete confidentiality. I’ve been doing both for about thirty years.
Here’s the benefit. You can move between training and coaching as your needs change. You could take a course to establish a working method for writing; then, when a specific writing project presents itself, call me in to work on it directly. I’ll already be familiar with your approach and writing style, and the coaching session will quickly become an exercise in collaboration.
Or, of course, you could begin with coaching and then open the work out into team training.
One last thought
Don’t think of ‘course or coach’ as a binary choice you have to make once. Your writing needs will change as your role changes, and as your career develops. Your audience, too, will change, and you will be faced with new writing challenges. So, the answer to these two questions – “What are my objectives?”; “How do I want to learn?” – will change.
Where are you right now? And where do you want to be?
If you’d like help working that out, get in touch. Tell me about the challenge you’re facing. We’ll talk through what fits: course, some coaching, or a mix of both. No obligation, and no pressure to book anything on the spot.
I’m at your service.
Take a look at my training course outlines. Feel free to contact me to discuss possibilities.