Solid Business Writing

In the business world, writing faux pas are far too common. Oftentimes, we choose not to plan out or review our writing in lieu of efficiency; however, taking the time to prepare an outline and carefully read over documents is an important step. It allows us to correct typographical errors or clarify vague information that can otherwise cause an appearance of unprofessionalism or misunderstandings. These unfortunate affects can then lead to a loss of customers and even contribute to major profit losses.

Here are a couple statistical examples that demonstrate the practical benefits of effective writing:

• “When FedEx revised manuals for ground operations employees, the average search time dropped from 5 minutes to 3.6… [this saved them] $400,000 per year, just in the time employees spen[t] looking for information.”
• “After General Electric revised a software manual, customer calls and messages to their support team dropped by 125 calls per month. They estimated a savings of $375,000 per year for every single customer with the revised manual.”

This course will provide the foundation for improving the clarity and effectiveness of your writing in any business situation from formal letters and reports to emails.

Course Objectives

Successful completion of this course will increase your ability to:

• Implement techniques to effectively write all types of business documents
• Utilize outlining to plan documents
• Follow acceptable e-mail protocol
• Edit and proofread for complete and professional documents

Key Topics Covered

This course explores the following subjects in depth:

• How to spend less time writing
• Planning a document to specify what action you want readers to take
• Understanding the structure of reports, e-mails, proposals, letters, and memos
• Strategies to organize your message
• Jumpstarting out of writer’s block
• The steps of the editing process