
Article editing workshop:
Write and edit articles with greater
clarity for today’s busy readers
Bring our trainers in-house to teach your team how to use Smart Brevity to write articles that capture attention and drive action.
Smart Brevity: Built in a newsroom. Transforming comms around the world.
This workshop is designed for organizations looking to upskill teams.
The 2.5-hour workshop teaches your team the psychology of modern communication and how to maximize its impact. You will learn the Fundamentals of Smart Brevity and how to apply them when you write articles to better align your ideas with the needs of your readers.
What you'll learn:
- Fundamentals: A Smart Brevity trainer will guide you through the fundamentals of Smart Brevity, including the research behind the methodology.
- Execution: You will practice Smart Brevity through a group exercise of up to 15 attendees using communications from your day-to-day work.
- Advancement: An Axios HQ trainer will give your group live feedback, answer questions, and discuss where you can apply Smart Brevity in your broader workplace.
The workshop is customized to meet your unique business needs. We'll work with your team in advance to understand your organization, its goals, and your team's unique opportunities. The trainer will request samples of real articles from your organization, then them to fine-tune your program.
Meet your trainers: a former New York Post writer and a Presidential Briefer
Reed Tucker
Smart Brevity Trainer
Reed Tucker
Smart Brevity Trainer
Reed is an Editor and Trainer at Axios HQ and has helped hundreds of customers — like Takeda and UPS — learn Smart Brevity through customized strategy and training sessions.
- He builds a deep understanding of customers’ communication goals, then works with them to advise on and develop programming that addresses it.
- He leads hands-on, tailored workshops that connect the dots between unique customer communications — like emails, articles and narrative pieces — and the principles of Smart Brevity to help folks pave a strategic path forward.
- His insightful sessions and real-time feedback help customers quickly understand and apply the methodology so they can start to feel its benefits.
Prior to Axios HQ, Reed was a Google content editor and a senior features writer at the New York Post.
1 fun thing: Reed is the author of Slugfest, a 2017 book about the rivalry between Marvel and DC Comics.
Phil Dufresne
Smart Brevity Trainer
Phil Dufresne
Smart Brevity Trainer
Phil is an Editor and Trainer, teaching corporate leaders, communicators, and professionals at organizations of all sizes how to improve critical communications.
- He’s helped teams across industries, including major financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase and HSBC, reimagine how they inform stakeholders and engage staff.
- He has led engaging training for both new Smart Brevity adopters and those working to expand and operationalize it across their organization.
- His insightful sessions and real-time feedback help customers quickly understand the methodology so they can apply it, feel its benefits, and continue to improve their craft.
Prior to Axios HQ, he was a CIA analyst, writing and editing in a style not far from Smart Brevity. He also served as an editor for the President’s Daily Brief.
1 fun thing: Phil is an actor on the side. Most recently, he played Claudius in a production of Hamlet.
On the agenda
We’ll start with an introduction to Smart Brevity and how to apply it to articles
— then end with an exercise to practice applying it.

Intro to Smart Brevity
An Axios HQ trainer will share:
- The fundamentals of Smart Brevity, including the psychology, research, and proven techniques behind the methodology.
- Real examples of Smart Brevity in action and its impact.
- How to arrange, format, and style articles using Smart Brevity.
- A relevant before-and-after of an article, edited in Smart Brevity, prepared by our trainer.

Hands-on exercise
Participants break into groups of 3-4 and do a Smart Brevity edit of real content from your organization.
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Groups will edit the same article to see how they each apply Smart Brevity.
-
Each group will consider their audience, goals, and context when editing the article.
-
They'll consider what details are worthy of keeping and which to leave out.
-
They'll decide “what's new,” “why it matters,” and how to structure the article.

Expert feedback
Groups come back together to share their edits and get live feedback from our trainer and go into a Q&A session. In this segment, they'll cover:
- What was hard and what felt new and exciting?
- How did you decide on your "what's new"?
- What impact would this style have on your coverage?
- What barriers are there to writing this way?

Intro to Smart Brevity
An Axios HQ trainer will share:
- The fundamentals of Smart Brevity, including the psychology, research, and proven techniques behind the methodology.
- Real examples of Smart Brevity in action and its impact.
- How to arrange, format, and style articles using Smart Brevity.
- A relevant before-and-after of an article, edited in Smart Brevity, prepared by our trainer.

Hands-on exercise
Participants break into groups of 3-4 and do a Smart Brevity edit of real content from your organization.
-
Groups will edit the same article to see how they each apply Smart Brevity.
-
Each group will consider their audience, goals, and context when editing the article.
-
They'll consider what details are worthy of keeping and which to leave out.
-
They'll decide “what's new,” “why it matters,” and how to structure the article.

Expert feedback
Groups come back together to share their edits and get live feedback from our trainer and go into a Q&A session. In this segment, they'll cover:
- What was hard and what felt new and exciting?
- How did you decide on your "what's new"?
- What impact would this style have on your coverage?
- What barriers are there to writing this way?
After the workshop
You’ll receive a batch of resources to help you stick with Smart Brevity and apply it in other areas of your communications.

bp's network of
Smart Brevity “Ninjas”
Axios HQ built a Smart Brevity training and editing program to define a new style of communication, train the entire function on it, develop “Smart Brevity Ninjas” to expand the skillset beyond central comms.
How bp transformed its global communication
Takeda's bespoke storytelling training
Axios HQ developed and led a series of in-depth workshops for Takeda’s global communicators, aligning lesson plans, hands-on exercises and workshop cadence around its core goals.
How Takeda modernized its storytelling
USC's shift in style
Axios HQ’s team led in-depth Smart Brevity training sessions with USC communicators — helping them understand how the style works and ways it can be useful to any campus update.
How USC keeps its campus connectedArticle writing workshop FAQs
What is Smart Brevity?
Smart Brevity® is a communications methodology created in the Axios newsroom. The formula is based on years of research into brain science and data. It has played a pivotal role in the success of the Axios media organization.
Today, Smart Brevity is helping leaders and employees style and format their communications to be clearer and more effective.
- The Axios newsroom invented it.
- The world’s busiest readers embraced it.
- Then, Axios HQ productized it.
We are making the Smart Brevity framework available to professionals and organizations across the globe through highly customizable workshops and the Axios HQ software.
Organizations such as JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, bp, Calvin University, and Johnson & Johnson use Smart Brevity to maintain effective communications.
How does this training improve my article writing and editing skills?
The Axios HQ’s training will teach you how to style and format your articles to:
- prioritize what matters most
- avoid information overload
- make sure key insights stand out
The training focuses on Smart Brevity, a communication methodology that styles and formats information in a way that is shorter, clearer, and more memorable.
In addition to writing articles, our trainers will show you how the formula can be applied in other day-to-day workplace communications like emails, CEO updates, and presentations.
92% of organizations that use Smart Brevity have seen their internal processes improve, and 90% have seen staff engagement increase.
How long is the workshop?
The workshop is 2.5 hours long and built for organizations to bring in-house.
Our trainers will work with your team beforehand to understand your needs and prepare a tailored workshop delivered in three segments:
- Introduction to Smart Brevity
- Hands-on group exercise
- Live feedback and Q&A session
How many people at my company can join the training?
Each Axios HQ workshop is designed for up to 15 participants.
We keep these groups small, so every attendee can practice and receive personalized feedback.