Kathy Ahfid London
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Workshop & Keynote · Linguistics & Discourse Analysis · Media Literacy

In Plain Sight

Extremist organisations have been hiding in plain sight for decades. They are good at it. This workshop teaches you the tricks they use, and how to make yourself, and the people around you, significantly harder to manipulate.

What the talk moves through
  • 01
    The Architecture of Propaganda
    How influence content is built: the structural and linguistic patterns that appear across extremist materials, regardless of ideology or language.
  • 02
    Cultural and Linguistic Markers
    The specific tells, in Arabic, English, and across translation, that reveal the hand behind the message. What makes badly made propaganda detectable, and what makes the well-made kind dangerous.
  • 03
    Real-World Case Studies
    Live examples drawn from documented campaigns. Participants analyse actual materials, apply the detection framework, and learn to distinguish clumsy attempts from sophisticated operations.
  • 04
    Building Resilience
    How to become an audience that is hard to manipulate, and how to help others do the same. Practical tools for media literacy, institutional response, and everyday critical reading.
From the workshop
"The goal is not to make you cynical. It is to make you precise. There is a difference between doubting everything and knowing exactly what to doubt."

Grounded in a postgraduate degree in Linguistics and Discourse Analysis, with specialisations in translation, English language, and the study of persuasion. The framework has been applied in professional settings across government, media, and policy, and is designed to be immediately usable outside the workshop room.

Who this is for

Journalists, policy professionals, educators, communications teams, and anyone who works with information, or is affected by the lack of reliable information, in high-stakes environments.

Newsrooms & editorial teams Government communications departments Counter-extremism teams Schools & universities NGOs & international organisations Corporate communications teams
Format & length
90-minute workshop — interactive session with case study analysis, group exercises, and a practical detection framework to take away.
50-minute keynote — overview format suitable for conferences and larger audiences. Illustrative and accessible; no prior expertise required.
Half-day intensive — deep-dive format for teams who need to apply the framework to their specific information environment.
Book this workshop

Available as a keynote, workshop, or half-day intensive. If you're building a media literacy programme or want to talk through the format, reach out directly.