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The Business Writing Skills course teaches the best practices business people must know to be able to write clear, effective, professional business documents, including e-mail, memos, letters, and reports. It teaches a structured approach to writing that makes writing easier and guides readers through the content. Graduates report that they receive high praise for their writing, and other employees begin to copy their style.
The course contains 12 practice activities and four competency examinations. The online lessons contain clear explanations and many examples. You go at your own pace and submit assignments when you are ready. The instructor evaluates the activities and examinations, comments on skills learned and skills that still need polish, coaches you through learning the skills, and certifies your competence. You receive a graduation certificate for framing at the end of the course.
Course Content
Pre-write
Follow email protocol.
Set goals.
Know your readers.
Choose strategies based on the goals and readers.
Use a standard letter format.
Use a standard memo format.
Prepare the Information.
Learn how to overcome writer's block.
Prepare notes for your email, memo, letter, or report.
Organize the Writing.
Have an organizational pattern in mind.
Use special organizational patterns for some messages.
Introduce the Content.
For emails and memos, always write a clear, meaningful subject line.
For letters, use a "Subject" or "Re" line if your company customarily uses it.
Write a clear, complete email introduction.
Write a clear, complete report introduction.
Write a clear, complete letter introduction.
Write a clear, complete memo introduction.
For emails, letters, and memos, write a cordial beginning or buffer.
State the contents of the email, letter, or memo.
State the contents of the report.
For reports, state conclusions and recommendations in the introduction.
Write a Clear Document.
Write the explanations in blocks.
Keep explanations of a subject together in one block.
Check each block for focus.
Check each block for completeness.
Open each block with a statement of the contents.
Use headings to open blocks.
Bold field or data names to identify them as blocks.
Create lists.
Open list blocks.
Mark the list items clearly.
Keep list items in a single list.
Keep list items in the same format.
For reports, present information in tables when possible.
Write Clear, Complete Explanations.
Write to build conclusions in the reader's mind.
For reports, write clear, complete, relevant explanations.
Use key words consistently.
Fully explain each new concept word or phrase.
Use full phrases to define words clearly.
Write a Conclusion with Impact.
Write a conclusion that achieves your goals.
Write Clear, Effective Sentences, Paragraphs, and Words.
Use paragraphs to organize information.
Write concisely.
Combine sentences to show relationships and use short sentences to be clear.
Write clear, simple, straightforward sentences.
Write strong, direct sentences.
For reports, write clearly and simply for non-technical readers.
Use words the reader will understand.
Prepare a Polished, Correct Final Draft
Use your spell checker and grammar checker.
Proofread.
Format the email to be readable.
