1-day course

“Personnel assigned vehicular space in the adjacent areas are hereby advised that utilisation will be suspended temporarily Friday morning.”

“All employees are herewith instructed to return the appropriate designated contracts to the undersigned.”

“Next winter, because of cutbacks, the Unicorn Corporation will close plants in North Branch, where 500 people will be put out of work, and in South Branch, where 200 employees will be laid off and 200 will be reassigned.”

Sentences like these are often found throughout e-mail, business reports, and memos. Meaning is lost, and often the reader gets lost on the way, too. Many business writers have mastered the basics of writing (spelling, grammar, and sentence construction), but need help simplifying their writing, ordering paragraphs, and writing for specific purposes (such as a business case).

This is a workshop for those who already are good writers. Our time will be devoted to writing letters of recommendation, of persuasion, of refusal or of action, that reflect current word usage and up-to-date formats. You can also become more skilled at writing business cases, proposals and reports and learn a bit more about e-mail etiquette.

• Introductions and Course Overview
• Top Ten Writing Challenges
• The Three C’s
  • Clear
  • Concise
  • Correct
• Grammar and Writing Mechanics
  • Seven Ways to Simplify your Writing
  • More on Paragraphs
• Readability Index
• Writing Letters
  • Parts of a Business Letter
  • Letter Styles
• Dealing with Specific Requests
  • Requests for information
  • Letters of Reference (Recommendation)
  • Letters of Refusal
  • Letters of Persuasion
• E-mail Etiquette
• Business Documents
  • Business Cases
  • Requests for Proposals
  • Writing Reports
  • Documentation
• Workshop Wrap-Up