ABOUT RUTH

Q: What does a great copy editor have in common with a Private Investigator, a Diamond Polisher, and Marie Kondo?

When I was first approached to write educational scripts and grants for films, I found myself in the midst of fascinating people. Renowned scientists and scholars presenting information that barely made sense to the layperson. My job was to elicit and interpret these swathes of information and to distill the detail, bringing it to life and making it crystal clear and convincing. I loved the work and discovered that I was talented in finding ways to help people’s thoughts appear on paper.

Working with immigrants whose first language is not English presented me with a different challenge, and one that I found equally exciting. Editing Doctoral and Masters theses for Non-Native English speakers allowed me to help the writer to present their ideas in crisp, clear writing.

My wildly diverse career has led me in many fascinating directions, and perhaps it’s no coincidence that all roads have brought me to writing.

I love a good challenge, so when a new project comes my way I get excited about the opportunity to dive deep and to work with a piece of writing to truly make it shine. Most of all I love the sense of satisfaction that my writing offers my clients as I bring their words to life. No project is too challenging.

If your writing is holding you back, my skills and experience can help to make your message strong, convincing and vibrant.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the answer to the riddle at the top of the page…

I share the following characteristics with a Private Investigator: Trustworthiness, Curiosity, Persistence, Passion and Creativity, and a desire to reveal the truth via the most direct possible route.

I work like a Diamond Polisher who is responsible for removing all the flaws from the stone, a process requiring intense concentration and a great deal of experience. In the same way that even the smallest of errors could reduce the value of a diamond considerably, when I copy edit your writing the value of your message increases.

I approach writing as organising consultant Marie Kondo approaches her missions, clearing out word clutter so that your writing can spark joy.

I have experience in a number of sectors:

•Business: correspondence and reports

•Education + Academia – Doctoral and Masters theses, all academic papers

•Film – production and Festivals

•Museums

•Not for Profit sector

•Arts and humanities, including psychology

•Wellbeing industries

•Resumes and accompanying documentation

•Website content

My Niche expertise: Working with non-native English speakers

 to bring clarity and impact to their writing. This includes reports, documents, business correspondence, academic papers and more.

 

What I can offer you: Whether English is your native tongue or second language

 I can strengthen your corporate message, your academic writing, your business correspondence and reports and much more.

My Background

 

Taught English to refugees and immigrants both in Australia as well as the USA, at university level and also in the workplace

Editing Doctoral and Masters theses and assignments for Non-Native as well as native English speakers, bringing crispness and clarity to writing

Developed and facilitated Cross-Cultural Sensitivity training workshops in the workplace

Worked in the documentary film field for almost 2 decades; This included grant writing, scriptwriting, research and producing for broadcast (National Geographic, Discovery and PBS) as well as for Museums in the US and Australia

Co-founded Australia’s leading volunteering charity for children, Kids Giving Back

Responsible for all communications: creating website content including blog posts as well as social media, annual reports, grant applications, and articles about Kids Giving Back for 3rd party websites and newsletters.

Writing samples including blog content through to October 2019 may be found at https://kidsgivingback.org/

Executive Director (2012-2020) Kids Giving Back, driving the organisation’s mission to Create the Next Generation of Generosity.

Writing/Copy Consultant for grants, museum texts, commercial narrative.

How working with me can make a difference to your business:

 

Through my ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching career I developed an expertise in working with professionals for whom English is a second language and whose job requires working with a high level of both spoken and written English. Before even starting to edit a piece of writing, my skills lie in deciphering the writer’s intentions and then distilling the message to make it crisp, clear and business-like, leading of course to succinct, effective communication. 

 

As you’ll recall I also worked in documentary production for 20 years, and this is where my writing skills were first developed – writing grants to fund films; and writing educational scripts which involved interviewing internationally renowned scientists and distilling their expertise to ensure the video scripts I wrote were both accessible and interesting to the lay-person/audience, as well of course as being interesting. 

 

RUTH TOFLER-RIESEL

Copy Editing, Writing and Presentation Coaching

M: +61 (0) 40307 2957

E: ruthtr@riesel.org

Industries and focus areas include:

•Science
•Technology
•Business including the Non-Profit/Social Enterprise Sector •Social Anthropology
•Education, Leisure, Lifestyle and Health
•Travel
•Arts + Humanities including Psychology

Ruth has over 20 years experience writing and copy-editing for:

• Website content including blogs • Social media
• Flyers and brochures
• Promotional articles
• Business Communications
• Grant proposals, pitches, reports, marketing
• Doctoral theses + other academic writing
• Resumes and accompanying documentation
• Multimedia/educational scripts for Museums
• Documentary film proposals
• Broadcast media scripts for Nat Geo, Discovery, PBS