Business Writing Skills Course

Business writing skills course- Managers seeking new staff consistently nominate the ability to communicate as an essential skill. In this interactive and practical course, you will learn how to construct efficient and effective communications that get results.

Most people write emails or letters on a daily basis as well as occasional reports, meeting summaries, minutes or other business correspondence. Learn how to create business documents that say what you mean and achieve the results you want. This course not only covers the basics of how to improve your writing skills but also how to achieve the right result from your written correspondence.

Recent Case Study for this business writing skills course
A major education provider recently lost their number one client (over a million dollars per year in revenue) primarily because of misunderstandings in their email correspondence.

Survey Results for this business writing skills course
A study by the Australian Psychological Society found there ‘was pressure on executives to communicate well via the written word’ – especially in emails and report writing. It also found that many staff is simply not confident or skilled in doing this.

Your team will learn the ‘Three Keys to Effective Writing Skills’

• Planning
• Drafting
• Editing

What you will learn on this business writing skills course

By the end of the business writing skills course, you will know how to:

• Structure your business documents effectively
• Avoid common grammatical mistakes
• Write in a clear, concise style
• Get your message across convincingly
• Give your business documents that final polish before you send them

Other learning outcomes in the business writing skills course include how to:

• Recognise the attributes of effective business writing
• Identify it’s not a ‘talent’ but a process
• Determine the best means of communication for the purpose – should you call? Email?
• Understand the different phases of writing
• Undertake a structured approach to planning
• Apply the five stages of planning  your document
• Understand the audience – who are you writing to? How should you communicate?
• Edit documents for clarity and brevity
• Use effective layout techniques to aid understanding
• Follow email etiquette with colleagues and clients
• Use subject lines that work in today’s ‘information overload’ workplace
• Use the right structure for the different types of emails you write on a daily basis
• Get to the point without losing rapport with the other party
• Request action without being perceived as overly aggressive or demanding
• Ensure we don’t say ‘No’ in an email
• Manage the balance between not always being able to deliver what the client wants, but still maintaining an ongoing relationship with them

Course Outline for business writing skills course

General principles of Business writing

• Clarifying your objective – know where you’re going and you’ll know when you’ve arrived
• Quick and clear messages – six questions to clarify your thinking
• Who is going to read your document? Knowing your reader helps you pitch your message
• Apply  the  eight principles of good business writing that works

Good Business writing techniques for business correspondence

• The best sequence of delivery that  reflects your contents
• Structuring your text – layouts to support content and draw the reader in
• British Vs American English
• How to ask for things without starting a long sequence of replies to replies
• How to give bad news – being up-front and empathising
• Responding to complaints – when you are at fault; when you wish to make a concession; standing firm; what to avoid
• Writing letters of complaint – useful phrases

Writing emails for business

• Why have email etiquette?
• Email etiquette for header fields – subject lines, content, forward and reply
• Technical issues – signature files, attachments, elaborate fonts can work for or against you
• Choosing the right structure for your content and objective
• Email style counts – it still represents your business!
• Sending the right message – what your email could be saying about you
• How to minimize flaming by recognising ambiguous content and knowing when to use the phone  instead

Writing reports

• Organizing your content for easy comprehension
• Some useful techniques for longer documents
• Structuring your report – standard elements and variations
• Checklist for structure – does it support your content?
• Avoiding writer’s block: the mindset for drafting

Writing agendas, minutes or Business meeting summaries

Want Something a Little Different?

• Benefits of good minute taking
• Agenda – layout and contents to facilitate minute taking
• Layout and style of minutes
• Preparation to take the stress out
• Recognising facts from chatter
• Knowing what to include

Editing your work

• A top-down approach to improving text – edit like a reader
• Effective transitions – holding the flow of thought
• Tips to maximize impact
• Polishing the words – poppycock and commonly-confused words
• Polishing your grammar and punctuation – common mistakes and things that make some people go mad
• Spelling – using the tools
• Infinitives
• Proofing your work – tricks to help you see what’s really there

General principles of writing

• The  elements to consider when writing business documents

Managing emails

• Is it your in-box or your total filing system?
• Analyzing and processing your email
• Staying on top

Gathering and sifting information

• The four main sources of data and the benefits and risks of each
• Gathering information and how to get input from others efficiently

Writing letters

• Layouts for letters – address, contact details, salutation
• Main part of letter – structure, tone, style
• Closures and enclosures – standard forms

Writing to communicate to you’re   A. U. D. I. E. N. C. E

• What is communication?
• The three golden rules of effective writing
• Evaluating writing: measures of effectiveness

A systematic approach: planning, writing, editing Planning email

• Email as your ambassador: the golden rules
• Making your purpose clear
• Focusing on action
• Targeting the reader
• Creating a clear message
• Putting your thoughts in order

The ten commandments of effective BUSINESS emails

Practical work: planning and drafting emails

Preparing to send business emails

• Constructing paragraphs
• Managing sentences
• Using words wisely
• Grammar and punctuation

Bringing your Business writing to live

• Techniques to make your writing more dynamic
• Developing a personal style

Constructing an outline

• Key features of effective outlines
• Control criteria

Practical work: planning a report

From outline to first draft

• Essential apparatus of a report
• Functions of prose; techniques of explanation and argument
• Summaries and introductions

Practical work: developing the outline; identifying necessary prose techniques

Editing the write up

• Paragraphs, sentences and words
• Plain English
• Grammar and punctuation: what you need to know

Practical exercises: editing for clarity

Proofreading techniques in this business writing skills course includes

• Perils and pitfalls of proofreading
• Top tips towards foolproof proofing

Drawing Up Your Personal Development Plan

• Participants will finish this business writing skills course with an increased confidence and knowledge in how to communicate with the written word and achieve their purpose.