Professional Written Communication

Overview

Course duration: 2 days.

This two-day course provides delegates with immediate and practical guidance on how to communicate effectively and professionally in writing.

Organisations and individuals establish their credibility with professional and well written communication. From planning to grammar, tone, style and final proofreading, delegates will quickly develop their writing skills and confidence in order to improve emails, letters and memos.

Is it right for me?

Designed for those who need to reduce the time taken to write professional, accurate documents and be confident in doing so.

If you're already an experienced writer then you may wish to consider our course .

What will I learn?

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Successfully plan and construct your documents.
• Ensure that the reader's needs are met. Be confident that your message is not lost.
• Overcome the ‘blank screen/page’ syndrome and reduce the time it takes to write.
• Choose the style appropriate to your reader and situation.
• Avoid common mistakes that impact on your professional image.
• Build successful sentences and paragraphs – using punctuation that guides your reader.
• Use a checklist to help proofread the final document.

Pre-course Activity

It would be beneficial to bring along examples of your written work. You can then review them throughout the course and edit if appropriate. To help the trainer focus on your specific needs, you will be asked to complete a pre-course questionnaire.

What will it cover?

The Perils and Pitfalls of Business Writing

• Current thinking regarding business grammar
• Tips to ensure we avoid grammatical errors
• Constructing sentences and paragraphs – with appropriate punctuation to create rhythm and flow
• What is ‘business language’?
• How jargon, slang and clichés can get in the way of understanding
• Can ‘action words’ gain results?

Our Reader

• Tailoring our message to the reader’s needs
• Is the reader clear as to WHY we are writing?
• How we can professionally
• • deal with complaints
  • give information
  • get a result
  • persuade our reader
• Creating an impact and keeping our reader ‘with us’until the final sentence

Preparation and Structure

• Relevant information that helps to achieve the objective
• Using T.I.P.E. as a basis on which to build
• The need to present your information in an organised, logical sequence

How am I ‘Coming Across’ to my Reader?

• Is my style ‘reader-friendly’?
• Using ‘punchy’ openings to gain interest
• Positive or compelling endings to ensure results
• The barriers to an effective, professional style
• Expanding your vocabulary to avoid repetition - keeping your writing ‘alive’
• Is my tone persuasive and assertive?

The Final Stage

• Avoid wasting time re-writing: proofread and edit your writing
• A checklist and structured approach to help find those errors in your final draft

Action Planning

• Creating your personal action plan for the future

Trainer Profile

Alison Cowper

Some delegates come to my courses with writing skills that need updating or reviving. Others may feel defensive following experiences that have knocked their confidence.

Whatever your need I’ll work with you to help you regain this confidence and feel motivated to write effectively in the workplace. I aim to put participants at ease so that you can absorb the knowledge and experiment with the skills in a calm but fun environment. I welcome a challenge and enjoy creating enlightening moments in my sessions.

The Faculty

Along withJan White, Teresa Benzinski and Gillian Brown, Alison Cowper ispart of the dedicated faculty team who will deliver this course. The initials next to each date below indicate which trainer is scheduled to deliver which event.

Recent delegates have said:

"The course has a mixture of practical and written work which made learning enjoyable."