print
Course Name
Better Business Writing in One Week

Contact Hours: 10
Course Description

Business letters, memos, e-mails, proposals...not everyone's a writer, yet every businessperson is expected to write -- a scary prospect for professionals without formal writing training! Fear no more -- you are only one week away from clearer, more confident writing.

This unique course includes one work-week (five days) of daily lessons, designed explicitly for business professionals.

Students learn about grammar, clarity, precision, organization and style, then apply their knowledge to write better business letters, e-mails, memos and more.

Practical lessons, examples and activities draw from real-world business situations that professionals face every day, helping all students gain confidence and accuracy in their written communications.
Outcome

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
  • Differentiate a complete sentence from a fragment.
  • Determine which case to use in a given situation ("I" or "me," "who" or "whom").
  • Identify and correct misplaced modifiers.
  • Choose proper punctuation.
  • Differentiate between the plural and the possessive.
  • Choose correct words and express themselves more accurately.
  • Organize their writing logically.
  • Get to the point of the message.
  • Write clearer, more accurate memos, letters, e-mail messages, and other pieces of business writing.
Assessment
Each lesson includes activities and/or quizzes to assess the student's knowledge. After the final lesson, students will take a final exam.
Outline

Students will be sent the .pdf version of the Better Business Writing Workbook via e-mail, as well as specific instructions for each day of the course.

  1. Day One: Grammar, Part 1. Grammar uncertainty plagues many business professionals -- end it now! This lesson  teaches important grammatical rules, focusing on problems that regularly occur in the business world, such as incomplete sentences and pronoun confusion ("I" vs. "me," "who" vs. "whom").

  2. Day Two: Grammar, Part 2.  We will continue where we left off, focusing on punctuation mistakes and distinguishing between the plural and the possessive.

  3. Day Three: Clarity and precision. In day three, we will learn some techniques for ensuring clear writing, discussing sentence structure and word choices.

  4. Day Four: Style and logic. Day four is about the finer points of writing. Students will learn how to organize their writing logically to ensure the greatest clarity and impact. We will also discuss individual writing styles: when they are appropriate, and how to use them to enhance an otherwise dull piece of writing.

  5. Day Five: Writing e-mail, memos, letters and more. In the final day of the course, we will apply what we have learned, reviewing common types of business writing and learning how to approach each one.