Growing up in Soweto in the 1970s, Dr Maria Phalime often found solace in the pages of a book. Against the backdrop of a country rocked by anti-apartheid riots and a tense home life with an alcoholic father, she turned to a love of reading to find inner peace in the midst of turmoil.

Dr Phalime’s thirst for knowledge drove her to set her sights on becoming a doctor, a dream she realised in 1999 – completing  her MBChB in Medicine at the University of Cape Town.

“I worked really hard to get into medical school, and throughout my time there I studied hard and did well. There really is no substitute for hard work.”

A Bold Change

For the next four years, Dr Phalime practised medicine in South Africa and the United Kingdom. But after what she describes as a “hellish” experience in the South African public healthcare system, she made a bold decision to leave medicine.

Her decision came as a surprise to many.

“People wanted to know why I left, and the voice in my own head was getting louder.”

Out of this search for answers, Dr Phalime turned to her love of literature.

Telling Her Story

“I knew I had a story in me, but I didn’t know how to tell it. I saw the GetSmarter Non-Fiction online short course, and I decided to enroll. At first I didn’t know what I would write about, but the course helped to coax my memoir out of me”

^{Dr Maria Phalime shares her experience on the GetSmarter Write a Non-Fiction Story online short course}

The resulting book, Postmortem: The Doctor Who Walked Away, is a personal account of the pressures and traumas that come with being a doctor in South Africa – and her decision to walk away. The memoir won the City Press Non-fiction Award in 2012, and was shortlisted for the Alan Paton Award in 2015. Her first fiction novel, Second Chances, published in 2013  received the Maskew Miller Longman Literature Award.

“I had a lot of raw material, but at first I didn’t know how to turn it into a narrative. The course – and the guidance of Mike Nicol – helped me to develop a narrative that would engage readers.”

An Opportunity To Inspire Others

Following the release of her memoir, messages started rolling in from other doctors and professionals, eager to share with Dr Phalime how much her story resonated with theirs. When she was invited to share her story at TEDx in Johannesburg, “I realised that I could tell my story and the lessons I learned on multiple platforms through public speaking.”

^{The doctor who walked away – Maria Phalime’s TEDx talk}

Her public speaking opportunities grew into a personal coaching business, and now she guides others through the familiar territory of reaching for their dreams, despite the odds.

“My primary quest in life is to be the very best version of myself I can be. That’s part of the reason I walked away from medicine, and it is the driver of everything I do in my professional and personal life.”

Dr Phalime continues to write, and she hasn’t ruled out another memoir in the future. She facilitates leadership development courses with UCT, and continues to travel for speaking engagements, but she’s not ready to consider her education complete.

“We are all so busy, but that shouldn’t stop us from learning and growing. I think online education addresses the need for continuing professional and personal development in a world where few people have the luxury of being able to take time off work to attend lectures at university or college. The Creative Writing course is on my wish-list. I just need to find the time for it”

Dr. Maria Phalime made a bold choice to leave her career and pursue self-development.

What skills do you need to pursue your next big opportunity?

TAKE THE LEAP

The post Meet The Doctor Who Made a Major Career Change To Motivate Others appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.

Lee-Ann Mpofu is a young sports journalist on the rise. Her adaptability, and forward-thinking nature ensures she stays up-to-date with the relevant skills for her career path, a characteristic she shares with other New Professionals. Following a car accident that ended her sporting aspirations, Lee-Ann transferred her passion for playing sports into writing.

Lee-Ann’s eagerness to stay ahead led her to pursue the University of Cape Town  Feature Journalism online short course. Aiming to polish up on her existing writing skills, Lee-Ann found that she gained a new set of storytelling techniques altogether. “Writing can do so much for a person, I feel I have become a better person since I discovered that I could put words together and create stories out of nothing.”

Finally registered for my Feature Journalism course with UCT and @getsmarter . Starting in March. Super stoked #AcademicExcellence

— It’s Lee-Ann M (@TheeMissLee) January 5, 2017

As a working Journalist Lee-Ann has to write in ways that consistently capture the interest of her publication’s readers, skills she’s learnt to harness through the Feature Journalism online short course.

And just like that UCT @getsmarter is done and dusted . Wow it’s been a hectic past few months & the final was handed in today. Wow! pic.twitter.com/81dZ39AHTY

— It’s Lee-Ann M (@TheeMissLee) May 16, 2017

Constantly upskilling herself has given Lee-Ann the opportunity to stand out from the crowd in the male-dominated field of sports journalism. She believes that her success comes down to her resolve to setting and achieving her goals.

“It can be tough for women in sports reporting as it’s a male-dominated industry, but women are increasingly stepping up to the plate.”

Lee-Ann describes receiving her certificate from leading university, UCT, as a proud moment in her life and encourages other journalists to pursue this online short course.

Thank you @getsmarter for this opportunity. All those hours and hard work now look like this. One in the bag pic.twitter.com/PJ0P1zYSxX

— It’s Lee-Ann M (@TheeMissLee) July 4, 2017

In July 2019 this courses’s name was changed to Feature Journalism to better optimise and align the course content to industry demand.

“It was a great feeling when I received my certificate. It was an achievement I could tick off on my list.” Regarding her experience with GetSmarter, Lee-Ann says the online learning platform gave her the opportunity to “have it all”. She was able to work, complete her studies, and still have time for her personal life.

“It’s important for a person to equip themselves with every possible skill they can acquire when given the opportunity.”

Ever the New Professional, Lee-Ann is seeking to transfer her skills into radio and TV journalism and looks forward to taking another online short course with GetSmarter in the near future.

Here is a timeline of Lee-Ann’s key career moments:

Want to perfect your feature journalism skills like Lee-Ann?

Download a course prospectus to find out more.

The post Writing Her Way To Success: Meet Lee-Ann Mpofu appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.

If you’re looking to land a job as a Copy Editor, you’ll need to have a way with words, a knack for paying attention to detail and, of course, the confidence that your editing and proofreading skills are up to scratch.

As a Copy Editor, you’ll be in charge of everything from adjusting phrasing and keeping the tone of writing on-brand, to correcting spelling, and grammar errors. Some people naturally have “the gift of the gab”, but any aspiring editor will, at some point, consider taking a copy-editing course to up their game.

Whether you’re just interested in copy proofing and editing; you’ve recently moved into the role; or you’re looking to head in that direction eventually, test your proofing skills—just for fun—with this quick quiz:

Want your editing and proofreading skills backed by the top university in Africa?

Find out more about the Copy-Editing online short course from the University of Cape Town.

GET AHEAD

The post Do You Have What It Takes To Get A Copy-Editing Job? appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.

According to a report by technology market research firm, The Radicati Group, over a third of the world’s population will be using email by the end of 2019.

With so many people using email, especially for business communication, ensuring you’re writing professional emails not only makes for more effective communication, but is an important addition to your leadership skill set. Emails have the ability to do anything from creating a strong (or weak) first impression, to acting as a tool for efficient (or annoying) internal communication in the workplace.

Enhance your communication skills by learning how to use a professional email format and write a professional email. Read on to discover how to craft powerful and polished emails.

1) Customise your email address

Don’t use a personal account for a business email. Show people that you’re serious about your business by using a company address.

Example: Jane Smith has a catering company called Catered Cuisine. Instead of using jane.smith@gmail.com in her email signature, and accompanying it with a picture of her, it would be better to use jane@cateredcuisine.com, accompanied by her company logo.

How to register your custom domain:

1. Choose an email hosting service. Examples include GoDaddy, 1&1 and Siteground, but take a look around to see which one suits you best
2. Find an available domain name
3. Register your domain and use the email address associated with it

Email Hack #1: Work Backwards
Instead of starting with addresses in the To: line, write your email first and only enter recipients at the end. You’ll avoid the mistaken send.

2) Would you open that email?

If the subject line doesn’t give people a reason to open your mail, it may never get read – and that doesn’t lead to effective communication.

Here are some examples you can adapt for your everyday communication:

Email Hack #2: The 2-2-2 Rule
To ensure you remember to reply to the various forms of communication, give yourself time limits: 2 seconds to answer a phone call, 2 minutes to answer a text, and two hours to respond to an email.

3) Is your email writing costing you clear communication?

Nobody wants to search through a lengthy mail to find what’s relevant to them. If you can’t keep it short, make it scannable.

Every email you send is just one of many that your colleagues or other professional connections will receive in a day. In fact, every person receives around 121 business emails per day, and this number is set to rise to 140 in 2018.

To make yours stand out, follow some simple guidelines and exploit cognitive biases.

Guidelines:

1. Keep your emails as short as possible
2. Use spacing, bullets and formatting
3. Avoid long sentences
4. Provide clear outcomes

Exploit these 5 cognitive biases:

Email Hack #3: Take Back the Send
Most email platforms have a “recall” or”undo” function that offers you the option to cancel an email within a limited timeframe of sending it. Enable it in your settings.

4) Make your email signature stand out

Including a memorable email signature is a great way to build your brand, as well as an opportunity to provide essential info.

Use your company logo, contact details and links to social profiles.

TIP
You don’t have to hire a graphic designer to create your logo or signature. Use a drag-and-drop graphic design tool like Canva to do it yourself.

Email Hack #4: Keep People Out the Loop
If you’re emailing people who don’t know each other, use the BCC: line – no one will be able to reply or see anyone else’s address.

5) Read, re-read and read again

If you’re looking to communicate with impact, it’s essential to triple-check for mistakes so that you don’t come across as unprofessional.

Here are 3 common mistakes that can be avoided with a thorough proofread:

1) Spelling and grammar
A strong impression is not made with spelling and grammar mistakes. Use spell-check before sending, and get someone else to give it a quick once-over.

2) Incorrect tone
Are there jokes or sarcasm that might be misinterpreted? Read your email from the perspective of recipients, or ask someone to sense-check it for you.

3) No attachment
In the body of your email, did you say you would attach a document? Some email platforms (Gmail) give you an automatic reminder before you send, while others (Outlook) give you the option to turn it on in your settings.

Note: You still need to include words like “attach, attachment, I have included, attached” for your email platform to send you the reminder.

Email Hack #5: Large Attachments
There are various types of multimedia too large to include as an attachment in an email. The answer? File sharing. Upload your files to the cloud (e.g. Google Drive or Dropbox) and share them with a link.

Whether you’re looking to make a change in your career or aiming to have more impact in your current role, a professional approach to email will make you more marketable— through the practice of effective communication and the establishment of a powerful presence—and act as proof that you are what you say you are: a successful professional.

Want more insights on career strategy?

Have a look through this collection on how to navigate career growth in an organisation.

TAKE ME THERE

The post How to write a professional email appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.

The process is simple in theory: 

Step 1: Come up with an idea, or several ideas mixed together

Step 2: Develop a topic proposal or story pitch

Step 3: Work out a practical plan of action. This should include where to go, who to speak to, and your research and preparation for the actual writing stage

Step 4: Draft and redraft your article until its ready to send off

In this short video, Andre Wiesner, Head Tutor of the UCT Feature Journalism online short course, takes you through this process in more detail: from the inception of initial ideas and the preparation required before writing, to sending your finished piece off to an editor.

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Transcription

The process you follow in writing a feature article will differ from one situation to the next, but in general it’s follows a logical production sequence. Your feature article begins with an idea, or several of them mixed in together: something you saw on the news, something you overheard, whatever. Those initial ideas could be small and vague or big and clear. If you think there’s saleable story in them, you find out some more information and develop a topic proposal, or story pitch, to give to an editor. Or, sometimes, the editor comes to you with the idea. The next step is work out a practical plan of action. Speaking personally, the big questions in my own mind at this stage are, Who to speak to, and Where to go? In feature Journalism, you have to interview any number of people, from one to a dozen or more, and you also have to get out to where the action of your story to be able to see things first-hand as far as possible. At some point you begin to prepare for the actual writing: transcribing recorded interviews, digesting field notes and other research, plotting out the article roughly as it will play on the page. Then the real work begins: drafting and redrafting the work until it’s right and ready for you to hit the send button on your email. The story’s off the editor for more work and revision, and after a while, hey, what do you know? The story’s been published. That, my friends, is when you craft the most important thing any writer can produce: your invoice for goods delivered.

The post How To Write A Feature Article | FAQs appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.

Transcription

There are several major differences between journalism and creative writing; at the same
time, there can also be major overlaps between them. One of the key differences is that creative writing is usually understood to mean the writing of fictional novels. By contrast, journalism is centred on reportage – reporting on actual people and events. As a journalist, you don’t, or shouldn’t, make things up; as a fictional novelist, inventing alternative versions of reality is essential to the art. Another difference is that creative writing is usually about your self-expression, in one way or another. By contrast, journalism is other-directed – concerned with other people’s views, perspectives and lived realities. There are also overlaps. There are such things as creative nonfiction, narrative journalism, and indeed feature journalism. In these forms of writing, basically speaking, the content you work with is factual – but the way in which you write it (the form) is literary and creative. In other words, you use the tools of “fictional” creative writing to tell accurate, true-life narratives.

Looking for an industry that bridges the gap between journalism and creative writing?

Consider feature writing, or “creative journalism”, and get ahead with the UCT Feature Journalism online short course.

Whether you enjoy reading the news or getting lost in a work of fiction, there’s something to love about both journalism and creative writing. There are also a number of similarities between them: Both are mediums of writing stemming from a writer and his/ her stream of consciousness, for the reception of a more or less active audience.

But what are the key differences between journalism and creative writing?

As Andre Wiesner, Head Tutor of the UCT Feature Journalism online short course, points out in this short video, the difference between journalism and creative writing goes beyond the fiction versus non-fiction distinction.

The post What’s The Difference Between Journalism And Creative Writing? | FAQs appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.

If you’re a creative writer yourself you’ll know that the answer goes far beyond an audience’s entertainment or a feature writer’s next pay check.

In this short video, Andre Wiesner, Head Tutor of the University of Cape Town Feature Journalism online short course, explains the deeper purpose behind creative writing and points out that the question “Why is feature journalism important?” is far more complex than it sounds.

Does creative writing speak to your soulful needs?

Make your writing your career with skills and recognition from the UCT Feature Journalism online short course.

TELL ME MORE

Transcription

Is creative writing important? That’s a very difficult question to answer because it’s so huge. You could just as well be asking: Why is literature important – or art, or at an even higher level, culture? There have been, and will be, an innumerable, an infinite, range of views on these questions. But, for laughs, here’s one considered philosophical answer: creative writing is important because it gives you something to do – and, hey, it’s a lot of fun. It’s fun to read, and, often, in an anguished, agonised kind of way, it’s fun to do. Man – or woman, for that matter – can’t live on bread alone. Creative writing offers pleasure of a many-hued kind. It speaks to our more soulful needs – our deeper, higher, even nocturnal needs. It’s a kind of ecstasy, ultimately.

The post Why Is Creative Writing Important? | FAQs appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.

Given the rapid growth of the internet in the past twenty years, the creative writing and publishing game is taking new forms and directions. With this comes new and increasing numbers of opportunities.

Andre Wiesner, Head Tutor of the UCT Feature Journalism online short course, explains how the application of creative writing skills in the job market has shifted. Where once your skills would’ve forced you into traditional journalism or advertising, you can now apply your creative writing skills across a much broader range of jobs.

The post What Jobs Can I Do With Creative Writing Skills? | FAQs appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.

Watch to find out more about this exciting industry and the experts within it, and learn about the creative writing skills required to write a killer feature article.

Wondering what Feature Journalism is? Feature Journalism is creative journalism. It escapes the hard-news format allowing the creative writers among us to write feature articles in an inventive and compelling way.

Unlike short and to-the-point news articles, feature articles deal with a subject in greater depth and, usually, at greater length.

Ready to bridge the gap between journalism and creative writing?

Up your innovation and get your feature Journalism skills recognised with the UCT Feature Journalism online short course.

University of Cape Town (UCT)
Feature Journalism online short course

Transcription

You’ve heard perhaps of Hunter S. Thompson, the madman of American letters? He was a feature writer. Feature Journalism is a branch of journalism. If you look at a newspaper or magazine, you’ll see that it’s made up of many different kinds of writing – short pieces, long pieces, reviews, opinion and analysis, list, snippets, Garfield cartoons … news reports are a major element in this mix. In a short, crisp and matter-of-fact of way, they keep you up to date and tell you what you need to know. Feature articles tell you what you want to know. They take you behind the headlines, behind the scenes, and deal with a subject in greater depth and, usually, at greater length. Where the news report gives you a snapshot, the feature aims to give a fuller portrait – often an immersive one that speaks to your head, heart and senses to give you a sense that you’re right there where the action is, experiencing it for yourself and also getting a bird’s-eye- view understanding of things.

The post What Is Feature Journalism? | FAQs appeared first on GetSmarter Blog.