You will learn to:
- Reduce the time it takes to write clear, professional business documents
- Write amicable, yet authoritative business letters, memos and e-mails
- Formulate letters of instruction, warning and dismissal
- Realize proficient business plans, proposals and reports, complete with tables and graphs
- Proofread and edit your documents to ensure that your message is clear and conveyed in a professional manner
Professional Business Writing
Business today operates in a highly competitive arena in which knowledge and information are essential. Regardless of how advanced the available technology becomes, business documents are still written by people. For information contained in a business document to be of any value, it has to be read, understood and used. Badly written business documents could reflect negatively on your own professionalism and undermine your organisation’s efforts in being perceived as a proficient business partner. It could also result in costly misunderstandings and delay the efficiency of your organisation.
This comprehensive 2-day seminar focuses on the essential elements of professional business writing and the documents specific to the managerial function. You will learn to write professional e-mails, letters, memos, proposals, reports and other business documents that are quick and easy to read, clearly understood and contain all and only the necessary information.
Ensure that all the documents you write reflect positively on both you and your organisation by: Understanding the characteristics of professional business writing
- Learning to plan the content and structure of your document to ensure that it is comprehensive and interesting to read
- Ensuring that your style is appropriate to your audience, while your documents are free of embarrassing grammatical and spelling errors
- Acquiring simple techniques and formats for various types of business correspondence and other documents
Course outline
- Examining professional business writing
- Evaluating the effectiveness and clarity of business documents
- Recognising the importance of non-sexist language awareness
- Identifying elements that create a positive or negative connotation to your message
- Recognising simple techniques that will enhance the authority of your writing
Identifying the essentials of business writing
- Writing short, clear business documents
- Learning to reduce your writing timeUsing layout to make documents easier to read
- Ensuring that your documents are suited to the readers
Planning your document
- Selecting the content of a document
- Organising details and data logically
- Planning the right structure or layout
- Identifying the appropriate style
Putting pen to paper
- Beating ‘writer’s block’
- Writing captivating introductions
- Saying exactly what you mean
- Highlighting essential information
Simple and professional writing
- Using punctuation correctly
- Ensuring that your spelling and grammar are faultless
- Avoiding frequently misused words and expressions
- Ensuring that acronyms enhance your writing by using them correctly
- Using plain English to communicate your ideas effectively
Authoritative and persuasive writing
- Distinguishing facts from opinions
- Motivating your statements
- Encouraging action from your readers
- Ensuring that your document is understood correctly
- Instructing your reader in a friendly, yet compelling manner
Letters, faxes, e-mails and memos
- Learning proven techniques for effective business correspondence
- Using short sentences, without sounding blunt
- Ensuring that your document is interpreted correctly
- Writing instructions assertively
- Composing professional letters of complaint
Writing business proposals and reports
- Focussing on the essential information
- Using simple report formats that work
- Ensuring that even the dullest facts and figures are read
- Including graphs and tables to explain or highlight important information
- Acknowledging your sources
Looking at specific management documents
- Reviewing the essential elements of a business plan
- Drawing up a clear and comprehensive marketing plan
- Completing tax forms quickly and correctly
- Formulating disciplinary documents and writing letters of dismissal
- Preparing documents for meetings
- Writing presentation material and reference documents
Editing the final document
- Learning how to edit and proof-read
- Evaluating the logic of your document
- Ensuring that the document achieves its aim
- Don’t spoil good writing by over-editing!
Who should attend?
This course is aimed at all managers who wish to improve their business writing skills.
