For centuries, the skills of British diplomats have been the envy of the world, with discussions about their strategies and tactics taking place behind closed doors.

But now the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will for the first time publish its training course online so that any member of the public can learn the art of diplomacy.

The induction course, titled Diplomacy in the 21st century, teaches valuable lessons such as think carefully about turning down a meeting with someone, even if they seem “boring” and “unimportant”, because they may be the country’s future leader.

Those who enroll on the free online course will also learn diplomatic tradecraft such as protocol and networking, as well as “digital diplomacy” and useful social media tools.

Martin Bell, deputy director at the FCO’s diplomatic academy, is featured on the course’s introductory video saying: “My two tips on networking would be around never forgetting that you might have a revolution in your country tomorrow.

“So the person who wants to see you today, who seems very unimportant and perhaps even boring, might become incredibly important tomorrow.”

The course, developed in partnership with the Open University, will form part of the induction to the Foreign Office that is given to all new employees at embassies around the world.