About this course

If you want to work on your visibility inside and outside academia, starting a blog proves to be the most accessible medium. You decide what you write and when you publish it. Within your own boundaries you can experiment with form and content. Blogging can be a means of improving your ideas and writing skills. It will also help you to expand your network.

Contents

During this course you learn how to write a blog post, but also how you start a blog in a way that contributes to your development as a researcher. The first online group session follows the path from strategy to thinking up topics to write about. We start with the blogging strategy. What are your goals? Who do you write for and what niche in the blogosphere do you want to claim? You learn to think up good topics to write about and select one to continue working on.

After this session you set up, write, and publish your first blog post as a homework assignment. The trainer will give you feedback on your setup and first draft. Then you explore the backend of WordPress by placing and publishing your post on this website. This blog is only accessible with a login and thus provides a safe learning environment in which you can experiment.

The second online meeting is about finalizing your blog post and being read. You will learn how to find a main photo that stands out on the Twitter timeline. Also we discuss the enrichment of your post with video, images, links, and tags. Finally deal with findability via Google (SEO) and distribution via social media.

Practical

Trainer: Hermen Visser | Language: English or Dutch | Duration: two group sessions of two hours, eight hours individual assignments | Maximum number of participants: 8 | PhD students of Leiden University and LUMC can follow this training as part of the PhD training programme.

Trainer

Private: Hermen Visser

Hermen Visser (1985) studied Biology at Leiden University. Already during his studies he developed a passion for science communication and took his first steps as a trainer. He taught students in layout skills and the graphic software Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. Since his graduation in 2011 he works as a freelance science journalist and trainer. He was radio and web editor at the editorial offices of the Dutch broadcasting agencies. VPRO and NTR. Currently he writes as a freelancer for VPRO Gids and Trouw.