Business Writing Essentials

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
Ernest Hemingway, American author

Good writing skills are an important part of any communication. Nearly all professions require some form of written communication as part of the job. Creating a good first impression through your written work is just as important as creating a good first impression in person.

There are all sorts of occasions when you might need to write something in business, whether it’s to write a letter to a client, send an email, persuade your colleagues of your new idea, give a project update, prepare a presentation, write a report or social media post, etc.

Yet, there are few things less inspiring than a dull report, and poor writing skills can prevent your message getting across. Given the right training and tools though, you can bring any topic to life as a skilled writer; communicating, influencing, persuading and engaging people to get your point across.

Common concerns we hear from people who attend this course include:

• How do I start writing when I’m just staring at a blank screen?
• How do I write clearly and concisely?
• How do I create a structure that makes sense to the reader?
• How can I make sure that my grammar, spelling and punctuation is accurate?

This Form-level course includes the core elements of our two-day ‘Business Writing Made Clear’ workshop and will introduce you to the essentials of good business writing, with tools and techniques to help you produce clear, concise and well-structured written communications - getting it right first time. There’s opportunity to practise and to get feedback from the trainer and your fellow delegates.

All of our trainers are experts in their field and have many years’ experience in writing business documents and training people in how to be effective business writers.

Even the greatest authors had to learn their craft - your journey begins here!

Target Audience

Business Writing Essentials is part of our Business Writing ‘Progressive Portfolio ’, structured to support your initial learning and ongoing development.

This Form-level course is aimed at anyone who would like to refresh their business writing skills or understand how to write more concisely and/or with more impact, for example when writing:

• Letters
• Emails
• Short reports
• Social media posts

If you already have experience of business writing, you may be interested in our Develop-level courses:

• Writing Persuasive Reports (MPDWPR)
• Writing Winning Bids and Proposals (MPDWWB)

You’ll learn how to:

• Identify different types of business writing and their uses
• Apply our unique ‘GAMPER’ model of business writing
• Adapt your writing style to the needs of the reader
• Identify the correct grammar, spelling, punctuation and presentation when writing for business
• Use plain English to put across a clear and concise message
• Structure written information in a clear manner

You’ll be asked to bring along a print-out of at least one example of business writing that you’ve recently produced. This might be a short report, letter, action points from a meeting, email (substantial), or any other relevant business document. You’ll be asked to share this with other delegates on the course so please don’t bring anything that is confidential to your business.

1. Types of business writing
2. Evaluating written materials
3. GAMPER model of business writing
4. Practice session
5. Writing it right - the importance of grammar, spelling, punctuation and presentation
6. Structuring your document
7. Editing and reviewing your work
8. Practice session