Advanced Business Writing Skills Workshop

Learn and practice tips and advanced techniques for better writing.

Upgrade your writing to increase readability and credibility.

This interactive, hands-on, 2-day advanced writing skills workshop is for those who already have some knowledge of writing skills. Class time is devoted to the writing challenges business professionals are faced with on a regular basis. 

Participants become more skilled at making their writing clear, concise and correct. They will learn to make emails more effective and develop a quick and easy method for composing documents—letters, memos, reports and proposals—in an organized format. This seminar provides you with basic formats and formulas for tackling any kind of writing task and communicating to your readers what they need to know.

This onsite seminar is not another “vanilla” writing course. Participants participate in individual and team writing exercises. They critique writing samples they have brought to class. Participants discover new techniques and develop skills to streamline their writing process and save time by focusing on what to write instead of how to write it. Everyone will see a dramatic improvement in their writing skills even before the class is over!

Note: Participants are encouraged to bring a current writing project and will receive 
one-on-one feedback on their writing efforts during the session.

Who Should Attend

Executives, managers and all staff members who want others to read and respect what they have written.

Training Benefits

• Upgrade your writing to increase readability and credibility
• Reduce response time to your email and letters by over 50%
• Find ways to jump-start your writing and overcome procrastination
• Make your writing clear, concise and correct
• Get hands-on experience in writing effective emails, letters or reports
• Identify and overcome your writing challenges
• Quickly organize your thoughts and generate content
• Improve sentence construction and paragraph development
• Identify ways to make your writing simpler and easier to read
• Eliminate numerous time-consuming revisions
• Develop effective business letters for tough situations
• Make emails more effective
• Develop an appropriate writing style and format for letters, business cases and reports
• Use standard ways of documenting materials

Outline of Course Topics and Learning Points

• Introduction
• Getting to know participants – identify participants’ learning objectives
• Principles that ensure effective business writing
  • Planning and establishing purpose
  • Meeting the reader’s needs and expectations
  • How to use techniques for overcoming writer’s block
• The Three C’s – All writing should be clear, concise and correct
  • Techniques for achieving clarity and precision in everyday business writing
  • The role of word choice
  • How to construct sentences that are clear, concise and direct
• Writing Purposeful Paragraphs
  • What a paragraph should contain and how to order paragraphs
  • How to use linking words and phrases in sentences and paragraphs
  • Active and passive voice and parallelism
  • How to employ various patterns of organizing information
  • Participants will also take a close look at the proper length of paragraphs
• Grammar and Writing Mechanics
  • Seven easy ways to help participants simplify their writing and ensure their grammar is correct
• Determining Readability
  • How and when to use the readability test (also called the Gunning Fog Index)
  • Applying readability test to their own work
Writing Letters
• Learn the essential guidelines for writing effective memos and letters
• Understanding the twelve important parts to a business letter choosing the best of several different styles 
• The importance of opening sentences
• How and when to use persuasive, positive and negative words
• How to use appropriate tone
Partner with Your Readers 
• Use a cordial tone 
• Write a buffer before negative information 
• Use a tone and level of formality appropriate for the reader 
• Focus on what's in it for the reader 
• Write so you build partnerships and teams 
Prepare Readers to Understand, Remember and Act 
• Use a meaningful, informative subject line 
• Open with the context 
• Write a clear statement of the contents 
• In the introduction, state actions to be performed and critical information 
• Write a conclusion if it will help you achieve your objectives 
• Include feedback loops to ensure that your message is successful 
Dealing with Specific Requests – Learn How to Write Special Documents Explicitly 
• Write clear descriptions of problems and issues 
• Write direct, unambiguous requests 
• Write clear procedures 
• E-mail Etiquette
  • Email, a universal method of communication, but what about email etiquette, tone and more…?.  
  • Identifying common email dilemmas – recommended solution
  • The guidelines for writing effective e-mail 
  • The importance of subject lines
• Business Documents
  • How to write a:
    • business case
    • request for proposal
    • formal report
  • Where would you start?
  • Apply guidelines and checklists that keep the writing on track
• Editing and Proofreading the Final Version
  • How to recognize common proofreading errors
  • Techniques for effective editing and proofreading
  • Methods for revising the first draft
  • How to avoid sexist or offensive language
  • Often confused words
• Workshop Wrap-Up
  • Workshop review
  • Develop an action plan

Quality writing skills are essential to success in today’s business world. In this Advanced Writing Skills Workshop, good writing skills are taken to the next level. Without this kind of training, these writing skills are too often learned by trial and error or not learned at all. We recommend organizations make advanced writing skills training available to employees at all levels. 

To receive more information about this training call toll free at 877-385-5515.