Better Business Writing

Helping you to get better at creating clear business writing

What you'll learn

To help you to get better at writing, and editing, clear business English

To help you to improve the logic in your writing, and anything you edit

To help you create compelling business stories and narratives so that you keep your readers' attention

To help you to simply business writing so that everyone will understand your message

To practice using the key principles that underpin clear business writing

Requirements

You must be able to write in English and have some experience of writing or presenting in business, whether in a company or in a university

You should be able to open Microsoft PowerPoint and PDF files, so that you can work on practical writing assignments through this course and see model solutions.

It is helpful to have some plain paper and a pen to hand as it is sometimes easier to practice writing skills with pen and paper. If you have a printer so that you can print exercises as required, this might help you depending on your working style, but the assignments can also be completed using the PowerPoint documents.

Description

Better Business Writing has been designed to help business executives, consultants and students to get better at creating clear business writing.The course introduces the key principles that underpin clear business writing, helping you to:Improve the logic in your writing and anything you edit Create compelling stories that keep your readers' attentionSimplify writing so that everyone gets the messageThe course has a mix of lectures, worked examples, and practical assignments to illustrate the key techniques that you can use to make writing clearer. It covers the techniques that will help with short text documents of two to four pages long, which might come with analysis or slides, and mainly contains short paragraphs of text. It also helps with longer e-mail messages that are important, and scripts that you prepare for verbal presentations.This is not a theoretical writing course. It is a practical one which distils many years of personal experience into the essentials that can make a difference for people quickly. It focuses on the techniques that can give you 80-90% of the potential improvement for 20% of the time and effort.The course is suitable for both American English (US) and British English (UK). It is also suitable for both native and second language English speakers, and for anyone that has to write or speak English for business and wants to become clearer.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction to Better Business Writing

Section 2: Clear Logic

Lecture 2 Introduction To Clear Logic

Lecture 3 Using Inductive and Deductive Logic

Lecture 4 Chained Logic Structures

Lecture 5 Logical Grouping and Ordering

Lecture 6 Logical Ordering - Groups

Lecture 7 Logical Ordering - Items

Lecture 8 Parallel Structure

Section 3: Business Storytelling

Lecture 9 Introduction to Business Storytelling

Lecture 10 Focusing On The Outcome

Lecture 11 Writing With Sandwich Structure

Lecture 12 Writing in Active Voice

Section 4: Simplifying Business Writing

Lecture 13 Introduction to Simplifying Business Writing

Lecture 14 Breaking Long Sentences Down

Lecture 15 Removing Words You Don't Need

Lecture 16 Replacing Long Words and Jargon

Section 5: Conclusion

Lecture 17 Conclusion and Your Next Steps

Anyone working in a business who wants to make their writing clearer and more impactful.,Business consultants who want an introduction to, or refresher on, the principles of clear business writing.,MBA students who want to develop their business writing skills.,Undergraduate and postgraduate university students that want to learn more about how to write effectively and clearly for business.