Business Writing Specialty Certificate

This interactive eight-week studio session is designed for administrative professionals responsible for overseeing outgoing correspondence, professional documentation, and email each day.

The framework features the breakdown of business writing into its three thorough components—prewriting, writing, and rewriting—to expand your writing experience and career opportunities. We are including a fourth component on e-writing with specific email management tips for writing efficiency.

Many exercises will be based on your actual documentation. This is no cookie-cutter generic business writing course.

Week 1: E-writing

Many administrative professionals today tend to multitask with email. Any emailed correspondence bearing your name or your organization’s logo must be absolutely error free. Even a careless mistake in an email can damage an organization’s reputation and make an entire work group look bad. Solutions lie in this fast-moving interactive learning module in which participants will learn:

• The top seven credibility-robbing email mistakes and how to avoid them
• The importance of a complete email subject line—and how to write one consistently every time to get your emails opened and read
• How to use email to communicate fluidly and build relationships in today’s hybrid work environment
• Three instances when NOT to use email—and pick up the phone instead
• How long is too long to wait for a response
• How to get a grip on your inbox with a few email management tips
• How to make sure your e-messages are absolutely error free with no embarrassing typos or mistakes
• A few practical punctuation pointers to eliminate run-on sentences along with hot topics such as tone and SCREAMING IN ALL CAPS

Week 2: Prewriting

• Applying the Plain Language Initiative to everyday business writing—and why this is important and necessary
• Mapping to organize your main points and save time writing
• Overcoming writer’s block with two unique techniques
• Determining your readers’ destination point
• Identifying the prewriting, writing, and rewriting phases as they pertain to the quality review process
• Defining acronyms, jargon, and certain technical terms for readability
• Using the BLUF approach to catch skimmers

Weeks 3 – 6: Writing

• AUDIENCE FAVORITE: Practicing five new guidelines for using bulleted lists in your technical message
• Eliminating clichés, wasted words, and smothered verbs
• Tightening the message by identifying the most frequently overused unnecessary filler words in technical writing
• Eliminating false subjects
• Knowing when to use the 1 = 1 Rule for technical documentation

Weeks 7 – 8: Rewriting

• How to make sure documents bearing your name and your organization’s insignia are absolutely error free with no embarrassing mistakes or typos
• BONUS: A customized focus on grammar and proofreading, including these practices:
• The “Newspaper Proof”: A fail-safe three-step approach to proofreading
• How to proofread for quality under tight deadlines, even in a distracting office environment
• How to spot errors of omission and why you never should proofread directly from your computer screen
• The START Strategy for mistake-free messages
• A round-table Q&A on updated grammar guidelines including punctuation and capitalization

REQUIRED ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: 60-minute Live Weekly Virtual Call Days and Times: Fridays at 2:00p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Central time via the Zoom platform.

Please note: The information provided should not be construed as legal advice and is for educational purposes only.

This course runs from February 26, 2024 through April 19, 2024.

Course fees are all-inclusive and nonrefundable.