General principles of writing

• 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
• Apply our eight principles of good business writing to work you bring with you, with advice from the course presenter
• Deliver solid conclusions through organized structure and flow

Good writing techniques for business correspondence

• Pre-Course Questionnaire
• Use practical and modern methods for powerful business writing
• When you book we send you a questionnaire which we ask you to return to us before you attend the course. This enables our Trainers to assess your needs in advance.
• The best sequence of delivery reflects your contents
• Structuring your text – layouts to support content and draw the reader in
• How to ask for things without starting a long sequence of replies to replies
• How to give bad news – being up-front and empathizing
• Responding to complaints – when you are at fault; when you wish to make a concession; standing firm; what to avoid
• Writing letters of complaint – useful phrases

Writing emails

• Why have email etiquette?
• Email etiquette for header fields – 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

Writing Reports

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

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
• Knowing what to include

Editing your work

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