330 Courses delivered Online

Some fun with  mixed media, inks, masking fluid and black ink. Chill and enjoy.

Get inside my mind as I work out how to paint this unusual view  in colourful Vibrant acrylics.

Get inside my mind as I work out how to paint this magnificent  lion in colourful Vibrant acrylics.

Get inside my mind as I work out how to paint this magnificent  tiger in colourful Vibrant acrylics.

Get inside my mind as I work out how to paint this awesome memory in colourful Vibrant acrylics.

Get inside my mind as I work out how to paint this magnificent  Labrador in colourful Vibrant acrylics.

Get inside my mind as I work out how to paint this awesome memory in colourful Vibrant acrylics.

To drive actions and get decisions made, you need to be able to present effectively to customers, clients, senior managers or colleagues. The perfect presentation is a potent combination of content, design and delivery  You need to distill down complex concepts, large data sets, intricate processes and innovative ideas. You need to make the right design choices to ensure your slide decks communicate quickly (as well as looking great). And you need the confidence and storytelling techniques to lead your audience through the content.  This course is for anyone who regularly needs to create and deliver presentations for different stakeholders. It will cover how to plan, design and deliver brilliant presentations.  Sample learning content  Session 1: Planning a presentation  Assessing the needs and level of understanding of your audience. Frameworks for building a logical and compelling narrative. Emphasising key messages, while allowing for deep dives and questions. Session 2: Presenting data and processes Understand graphical perception and how people absorb visual information. Effective charts for different types of data stories. How to display processes, timelines and organisational structures. Session 3: Design tricks Using colours to add emphasis and meaning. Creating hierarchies of information to help your audience. Building templates and style guides. Session 4: Delivery techniques Perfecting your performance in-person or online. Dealing with difficult questions and hostile audiences. Refining the beginning, middle and end of your narrative. Delivery We deliver our courses over Zoom, to maximise flexibility. The training can be delivered in a single day, or across multiple sessions. All of our courses are live and interactive – every session includes a mix of formal tuition and hands-on exercises. To ensure this is possible, the number of attendees is capped at 16 people.  Tutor Alan Rutter is the founder of Fire Plus Algebra. He is a specialist in communicating complex subjects through data visualisation, writing and design. He teaches for General Assembly and runs in-house training for public sector clients including the Home Office, the Department of Transport, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Health Foundation, and numerous local government and emergency services teams. He previously worked with Guardian Masterclasses on curating and delivering new course strands, including developing and teaching their B2B data visualisation courses. He oversaw the iPad edition launches of Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair and Vogue in the UK, and has worked with Condé Nast International as product owner on a bespoke digital asset management system for their 11 global markets. Testimonial "We’ve now worked with Alan for almost 3 years, and during that time he has continued to deliver the highest quality training for our clients and delegates. Alan’s passionate delivery style has continued to deliver innovative training solutions to over 1500 delegates across the public, private and voluntary sector. Each of our courses with him has always delivered exceptional feedback and satisfaction levels." Joe Barlow | Head of Programme, Understanding ModernGov

Data dashboards provide key information to stakeholders so that they can make informed decisions. While there are plenty of software solutions for building these essential data products, there is much less guidance on how to design dashboards to meet the diverse needs of users.  This course is for anyone who is building or implementing dashboards, and wants to know more about design principles and best practice. You could be using business intelligence software (such as Power BI or Tableau), or implementing bespoke solutions.  The course will give your team the ability to evaluate user needs and levels of understanding, make informed decisions about chart selections, and make effective use of interactivity dynamic data.  We’ll work with you before the course to ensure that we understand your organisation and what you’re hoping to achieve.  Sample learning content  Session 1: Data with a purpose Understanding the different types of dashboard. Information overload and other common dashboard pitfalls. Assessing user needs and levels of data fluency. Session 2: Planning a dashboard Assessing diverse user needs and levels of data fluency. Taking a User Experience (UX) approach to design and navigation. Applying an interative and collaborative approach to onboarding. Session 3: Graphs, charts and dials  Understanding how graphical perception informs chart choices. Making intelligent design choices to help users explore. Design principles for layout and navigation. Session 4: Using interactivity  Making effective use of filters to slice and dice data sets. Using layers of information to enable drilldown data exploration. Complenting dashboards with automated alerts and queries. Delivery We deliver our courses over Zoom, to maximise flexibility. The training can be delivered in a single day, or across multiple sessions. All of our courses are live and interactive – every session includes a mix of formal tuition and hands-on exercises. To ensure this is possible, the number of attendees is capped at 16 people.  Tutor Alan Rutter is the founder of Fire Plus Algebra. He is a specialist in communicating complex subjects through data visualisation, writing and design. He teaches for General Assembly and runs in-house training for public sector clients including the Home Office, the Department of Transport, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Health Foundation, and numerous local government and emergency services teams. He previously worked with Guardian Masterclasses on curating and delivering new course strands, including developing and teaching their B2B data visualisation courses. He oversaw the iPad edition launches of Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair and Vogue in the UK, and has worked with Condé Nast International as product owner on a bespoke digital asset management system for their 11 global markets. Testimonial “Alan was great to work with, he took us through the concepts behind data visualisation which means our team is now equipped for the future. He has a wide range of experience across the topic that is delivered in a clear, concise and friendly manner. We look forward to working with Alan again in the future.” John Masterson | Chief Product Officer | ImproveWell

Successful communications are all about making the message as simple as possible – but this can be difficult when the subjects we're talking about are inherently complicated.  Academic institutions, tech companies, health organisations, charities and many others have complex ideas, processes and systems at the heart of what they do.  This course is for anybody who needs to distill information down into key messages for important stakeholders, funders and investors, decision makers and members of the public.  You’ll learn proven techniques for grabbing attention and changing minds through presentations and public speaking, infographics and data visualisations, and written reports and online posts.  We’ll work with you before the course to ensure that we understand your organisation and what you’re hoping to achieve. Sample learning content Session 1: Understanding your audience Matching your objectives to your audience's motivations. Identifying the right tone and language. Understanding how, where and when your audience wants to be spoken to. Session 2: Refining your objectives  Breaking down strategic aims into tactical steps Metrics and milestones: defining and measuring progress and success. Rapidly building a brief for your communications. Session 3: Telling the story  Using metaphors, visuals, comparisons to frame your narrative. From slide decks to online campaigns - choosing the right formats for delivering your message. Selecting communications channels to maximise reach and impact. Session 4: Keeping it going  Processes and systems for launching and maintaining communications campaigns. Building social proof – creating and curating content. Troubleshooting and preparing for common challenges. Delivery We deliver our courses over Zoom, to maximise flexibility. The training can be delivered in a single day, or across multiple sessions. All of our courses are live and interactive – every session includes a mix of formal tuition and hands-on exercises. To ensure this is possible, the number of attendees is capped at 16 people.  Tutor Alan Rutter is the founder of Fire Plus Algebra. He is a specialist in communicating complex subjects through data visualisation, writing and design. He teaches for General Assembly and runs in-house training for public sector clients including the Home Office, the Department of Transport, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Health Foundation, and numerous local government and emergency services teams. He previously worked with Guardian Masterclasses on curating and delivering new course strands, including developing and teaching their B2B data visualisation courses. He oversaw the iPad edition launches of Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair and Vogue in the UK, and has worked with Condé Nast International as product owner on a bespoke digital asset management system for their 11 global markets. Testimonial “We’ve now worked with Alan for almost 3 years, and during that time he has continued to deliver the highest quality training for our clients and delegates. Alan’s passionate delivery style has continued to deliver innovative training solutions to over 1500 delegates across the public, private and voluntary sector. Each of our courses with him has always delivered exceptional feedback and satisfaction levels.” Joe Barlow | Head of Programme, Understanding ModernGov