Business Writing That Works

Good writing uses the right words to express our thoughts to someone else. It is a skill that can constantly be polished and refined. Good writing does not just happen by chance; it is something that is learned, practiced, and executed. Poor writing costs time, money, frustration, and possibly your reputation!

In business writing, the language is concise, the point of view is clear, and the points are well expressed. Good writing is work, and even the best writers get discouraged. However, with practice you can feel more confident about your own writing. This workshop will give participants the tools to become better writers and better communicators.

You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

Section 1: Why Write?

Many people feel that writing is a burden or something they should be able to delegate. This session will help participants identify the value of writing. It will also include the top challenges organizations face with regards to the writing of their employees and participants will have an opportunity to discuss their personal writing challenges.

Section 2: The First Four C's of Writing

Participants will discuss the first four C's of writing: clear, concise, complete, and correct. This session includes the why and the how of the individual components of good writing. Participants will practice each C through writing exercises to confirm understanding.

Section 3: Word Agreement

During this session, participants will explore word agreement through a brief lecture and a writing exercise. This discussion includes pronouns, antecedents and modifiers and their role in good writing.

Section 4: Active and Passive Voice

Most people prefer to read writing that is in the active voice. We will discuss and practice both voices during this session.

Section 5: Sentences and Sentence Types

During this session, participants will explore word agreement through a brief lecture and a writing exercise. This discussion includes pronouns, antecedents and modifiers and their role in good writing.

Section 6: Manners and Courtesy

The fifth C, courtesy, is an important principle of good business writing and will be discussed in this session.

Section 7: Practical Language

It is important to use words that best reflect what you are trying to say. In this session, we will examine some common dilemmas, such as fewer versus less, that versus which, than versus then, and suggested solutions.

Section 8: Sentence Construction

The two basic rules for constructing sentences are: use construction that makes the meaning clear, and keep the construction parallel. Participants will learn the concepts and practice the theory by rewriting sentences that do not follow these rules.

Section 9: Punctuation

After discussing all the punctuation rules, participants will work in pairs to develop a series of test questions for other participants. There are some key points that can be used to debrief the test. Capitalization rules will also be included in this section.

Section 10: Writing Effective Emails

This session will explain why there is a lot of miscommunication when using email as one's primary form of communication. Although email is convenient and fast, participants need to recognize tips, tricks, and strategies to ease the frustration of the reader and allow the writer to get their message across more efficiently.

Section 11: When to Send an Email?

Participants will learn the dos and don'ts of when you should send an email and how planning is an important step in the evolution of an efficient, productive email.

Section 12: Audience Needs

Being able to assess your reader's needs before drafting an email is a crucial step in sending an efficient and productive email. These strategies include how best to use the subject line, which acronyms to use to speed up inbox recognition, and how to avoid thread jacking.

Section 13: Reader versus Writer Focused

Emails are either reader or writer focused. Which one allows you, the writer, the best bang for your buck? This session is followed up with practical exercises to confirm the learning of the theory.

Section 14: Formatting

Participants discuss the pros and cons of various email formatting, including white space, lists, and parallel structure.

Section 15: Trigger versus Positive Wording

This session deals with what triggers us as readers and how we can ensure that we default to positive wording when writing emails. Emotional responses to emails are also discussed in this section. Exercises are used to confirm understanding.

Section 16: The Last Few Tips

Correct use of the "To" and "CC" fields, along with email signatures, salutations, and closings, are discussed to end out the topic of email writing. Final email rules and dos and don'ts are also included in this section.

Section 17: Spelling and Proofreading

Nothing spoils good writing more than a careless spelling or proofing error. Being careless can spoil a writer's best efforts. This session will help participants identify strategies to use in an everyday setting.

Section 18: Workshop Wrap-Up

At the end of the workshop, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.