This course is next running on the 3rd September 2025.

Communicate to Persuade

This course is worth up to 15 CPD points

This online policy communications training course prepares you for a world where commentary and opinion are as valid as news, and human experience and emotion have become as valid as fact.

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What will I learn?

On completing this online policy communications course, you’ll know why persuasion is important in policy communications, and how to deploy persuasive techniques in your day-to-day role as a policy or research communications expert.

We’ve developed this course with experts and communicators in think tanks, NGOs, political institutions and university research centres. It draws on our experience of helping them solve communications challenges, including those specific to the worlds of research, policy, and public affairs.

The course covers:

What the pros and cons of research-based communications are
Why ‘policymaker’ is a terrible audience definition, and how to write a good one
Why values matter, and how you can use them to reframe an argument
Why narratives are more powerful than facts, and examples from our work
What bounded rationality is, why it matters, and in what order to use rationality and emotion in an argument

Online training on policy communications

Commitment: 2 hours per week	Duration: 5 weeks, starting 3rd September 2025
Price: £350 GBP (+VAT)	Study Mode: Tutor-guided, online learning

A module is opened each week on a Wednesday, including the study content and a homework exercise, to be completed at your own pace. There are three live sessions to join as part of this course, which will be run via Google Meets on the following dates:

Welcome Session – Wed 3rd September, 15:00 PM – 16:00 BST / 16:00 – 17:00 CEST / 10:00 – 11:00 EDT

Second live session – Wed 17th September, 14:00 PM – 15:00 BST / 15:00 – 16:00 CEST / 9:00 – 10:00 EDT

Graduation session – Wed 1st October June, 14:00 PM – 15:00 BST / 15:00 – 16:00 CEST / 9:00 – 10:00 EDT

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Why take this policy communications course?

You should take this course if you want to learn how to:

Deploy the three modes of rhetorical persuasion
Frame your messages based on audience insight
Cultivate your storytelling skills

By joining ‘Communicate to persuade’, you will be able to access The Craft, a global community of policy communicators, where you can share ideas or challenges you are facing with others to get their insight and thoughts.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions about this course.

Your instructor

Jamie Horton

Jamie is an experienced public affairs and communications consultant and has advised businesses, foundations and civil society organisations in the UK and internationally on strategic communications, advocacy and positioning. He currently leads Cast from Clay’s energy and climate work.

Previously, he worked at a boutique public affairs and strategic communications agency specialising in the energy transition, where he led client accounts across a range of renewable energy and Net Zero technology areas.

Jamie has advised clients including E3G, Ocean Energy Pathway, EAT Forum, the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, Thames Water Ventures, Drax Group, and the Centre for Future Generations. Jamie has a BA (Hons) in History from the University of Oxford and is a chess National Master.

Hear from previous Cast From Clay students

This course was really useful: I have already begun deploying the ideas.
Katherine Walla Associate director of  
editorial, Atlantic Council

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Accessibility statement

If you require additional accommodations or encounter any accessibility barriers, please contact us at [email protected].uk. We will address any accessibility concerns promptly to ensure an effective, enjoyable learning experience for everyone.