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Course Name
Effective Business Communication with Writing Emphasis

Contact Hours: 12

Course Description
This series teaches the writing skills learners will need to effectively communicate in a business setting. They'll learn how to prepare for a writing task, and about strategies and skills for effective word choice, sentence building, and paragraph design.

Features

  • Flash and audio provide animated, interactive Lesson Introductions, Activities, and Simulations.
  • Flash scenarios use real world situations to illustrate course concepts.
  • Audio accompanies each lesson page throughout the course.
  • Simulations teach learners to perform specific tasks in applications through guided, multi-step exercises.
  • Activities allow learners to apply course concepts in an interactive questioning environment.
  • Exercises allow learners to practice in the actual application being studied.
  • A Course Topics list contains active hyperlinks, permitting quick access to specific topics.
  • Find-A-Word allows learners to look up an unfamiliar term in the Glossary, on the Web, or in a dictionary. In addition, it lets them find other occurrences of the term in the same course.
  • Search text enables learners to rapidly search all text within a course to easily retrieve information required.
  • Courses challenge the learner with a variety of question formats, including multi-step simulations, true/false, multiple choice, and fill-in-the-blank.
  • A skill assessment generates a customized learning path based on the results of a pre-test.
  • A glossary provides a reference for definitions of unfamiliar terms.
  • Bookmarking tracks the learner's progress in a course.

Outcome
As a result of this course you will be able to:

  • Describe the benefits of using a planning worksheet
  • Determine the basic prerequisites of your business communication
  • Identify the audience of your business communication
  • Decide the format, style, order, and attachments of your business communication
  • Identify the five qualities of effective words
  • Identify the rules of correct word usage
  • Identify the guidelines for nondiscriminatory language
  • Build effective sentences
  • Recognize and correct common sentence faults
  • Design paragraphs successfully
  • Define each informative prose pattern
  • List business applications for each pattern
  • Provide examples of each informative prose pattern 
  • List the acceptable letter-writing formats
  • Discuss three categories of letters
  • Determine which style of writing is best for a particular situation
  • Write neutral, positive, negative, and persuasive letters 
  • Discuss memos
  • Explain proposals
  • Create a press release
  • Describe e-mail and faxes 
  • Describe the general characteristics of formal reports
  • Describe acceptable formats of reports
  • Explain how formal, informational, analytical, and persuasive reports should be organized
  • Understand the importance of planning your projects
  • Select information relevant to your audience
  • Identify and set up the standard sections of a document
  • List the four rules of producing effective documentation
  • Use charts, graphs, and tables to illustrate steps in the procedures you are documenting
  • Choose the best formatting characteristics for your documentation project

Assessment
Courses challenge the learner with a variety of question formats, including multi-step simulations, true/false, multiple choice, and fill-in-the-blank. A skill assessment generates a customized learning path based on the results of a pre-test.

Outline
  1. Effective Business Communication: The Planning Worksheet
  2. Effective Business Communication: Writing Skills
  3. Effective Business Communication: Patterns of Development
  4. Effective Business Communication: Letters
  5. Effective Business Communication: Memos, E-Mail and Other Communications
  6. Effective Business Communication: Reports
  7. Effective Business Communication: Documentation