Effective Business Writing – Training Course Outline

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.

What you will learn on this course

By the end of the 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

What our customers say

“I was very impressed with Giulia. She was very knowledgeable and presented in a friendly yet precise style. The course content was excellent.”

KA – George Wimpey Plc.

“Very useful and excellent documentation.”

SR – Accenture

“The course was interactive and the examples were relevant. The module on passive vs active was particularly helpful.”

RB – Tenon Group plc

Course Duration

This course is a one-day, interactive workshop. Delegates practise writing effective business correspondence, learning the techniques through group discussion, exercises and working on real documents you bring to the workshop.

Course Contents

1. General principles of writing

• The BASDELL business writing model – an easy to remember formula that covers the main elements to consider when writing business documents
• Our premise – good writing isn’t magic, it can be learned!
• 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
• Plain Words’ rules of good writing – eight principles to keep your writing on track

2. Good writing techniques for business correspondence

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

3. Writing emails

• Why have email etiquette?
• Email etiquette – 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 minimise flaming by recognising ambiguous content and knowing when to use the phone instead

4. Writing letters

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

5. Writing reports

• Organising your content for easy comprehension
• Some useful techniques for longer documents
• Structuring your report – standard elements and variations
• Gathering information – the four main sources of data
• Checklist for structure – does it support your content?
• Avoiding writer’s block: the mindset for drafting

6. Writing agendas, minutes or meeting summaries

• 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

7. Editing your work

• A top-down approach to improving text – edit like a reader
• Effective transitions – holding the flow of thought
• Tips to maximise 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

Book Now!

For details of timetabled courses, see the schedule. For prices, see the costs table.

To reserve your places you can either book on-line or call us on +44 (0)1635 202013/+44 (0)207 0960 749.