In 2001 I left a well paid job as the Client Services Director of an agency to become a freelance journalist. I had no contacts, no portfolio, and no professional writing experience. Within a year I was turning down commissions. Partly this was down to the fact that I can write well, but there are hundreds of freelance journalists who can write well.

The real reason I was able to build a successful career as a freelance journalist was that I know how to pitch ideas to an editor.

Every week newspaper and magazine editors are bombarded by hundreds of ideas from journalists and PRs. Only the very best pitches get accepted. In this half-day open course I share my secrets of devising, writing and delivering pitches that get results.

We cover:

• Clarifying your key messages
• Identifying your target media
• Working out what matters to them
• Deciding who to pitch to
• Writing a killer pitch: how to grab attention, what to say and what not to say, speaking their language
• How to follow it up
• Turning rejection into a relationship

However, this is not just a theory class. Throughout the afternoon you will put together a real pitch, and at the end of the day you'll e-mail it to an editor.

Following the course you will work with me on four pitches. We will hone them, applying the principles learnt in the training session. This will ensure that you really take on board the learning. The end result will be that more and more of your pitches are accepted by editor at the top publications.

Half day open course - £295 + VAT per delegate. Numbers on this course are strictly limited to just six.