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Seminar Business Writing and Grammar Skills Made Easy and Fun! Seminar

Presented by SkillPath Seminars

Skillpath Seminars

Bring this seminar on-site to your facility for groups of 10 or more.

Gain dozens of field-tested strategies relied on by today’s most effective business writers.

Course Description


You’ll learn …

  • The “pre-writing” technique that’ll have the words flowing effortlessly!
  • How to know if your paragraphs are in a confusing, illogical order … and the best way to fix the problem
  • How to avoid the trap of wordy opening paragraphs that leave the readers wondering “Huh?”
  • The 12 most damaging blunders in business writing
  • And much more!

Gain dozens of field-tested strategies relied on by today’s most effective business writers. Learn how to present your ideas clearly and persuasively … select words that fit your meaning … spot misused verbs, pronouns and punctuation … avoid communication misfires … and much, much more.

Day One: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Getting started: Transforming a blank page into a bold message

  • Freewriting: What it is and how to use it to produce a great first draft in half the time
  • Are your paragraphs in a confusing, illogical order? Here’s how to tell and how to fix the problem
  • Great words and phrases for linking paragraphs together so your readers don’t have to stumble through your document
  • How to guard against the deadly mistake of leaving important points out because you’re so focused on the little stuff

Understanding the ground rules

  • Take the confidential Writer’s Discovery Analysis to identify areas you want to polish
  • Understand how business writing is uniquely different from other types of writing
  • Discover your natural style—it’s the key to reader-friendly, interesting writing
  • How to “do your homework”—you’ll be amazed at how effortlessly the words flow after that
  • Put the “Know Thy Reader” commandment into practice and double the impact of your message

Perfecting your grammar and usage skills

  • The most troublesome words in business and how to erase any uncertainty about using them
  • When a personal, casual style is important—never underestimate the power of contractions
  • A concise refresher on how to correctly use verb tenses, subject-verb patterns and pronouns and their antecedents
  • The “best-of-the-best” desktop references you’ll want at your fingertips for quick answers
  • Ensure or insure? Affect or effect? Making the right choice between confusing words like these just became a whole lot easier!
  • When it’s okay to bend the “rules” to make your point clearly
  • Are abbreviations and acronyms really proper in business writing? This insight will shed light on the issue
  • The unwritten rules about the appropriate and inappropriate use of jargon
  • BONUS: A handy reference list of conjugations for 120 irregular verbs!

Avoiding embarrassing mistakes

  • Can’t remember if the punctuation goes inside or outside the quotation marks? Here’s how to avoid this pitfall
  • Follow this widely accepted guideline for when to spell out numbers and when to use figures
  • Avoid these blunders when using apostrophes—they scream “Rookie!”
  • When adding hyphens, dashes and other marks for emphasis … know when you’ve gone overboard
  • To capitalize or not to capitalize? These tips will eliminate any question
  • A refreshing overview of how to use punctuation marks correctly every time
  • Your guide to international correspondence—follow this to the letter to ensure you put your best foot forward

Spelling every word correctly every time

  • An intriguing spelling technique that many national spelling champs secretly rely on
  • How to stop having to look up the same word in the dictionary over and over
  • Prefixes and suffixes made easy
  • How to take the confusion out of pluralizing letters, abbreviations and numbers
  • DANGER: If you think your spell-checker takes the place of the human eye, you’re asking for trouble

Day Two: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Grabbing your reader’s attention with powerful openings and closings

  • The “bible” on how to write openings that reel readers in
  • How to construct a closing so action-oriented it’s like a shot of adrenaline to your reader
  • Real-world insight into humor and when—if ever—it should be used in business
  • How to avoid the trap of wordy opening paragraphs that leave the reader wondering “Huh?”
  • Tough but necessary questions to ask yourself after you’ve written the opening paragraph

Persuading, influencing and convincing for results

  • Super techniques that give you powerful psychological leverage over your reader
  • The proven connection between the use of personal pronouns and the results your business writing gets
  • Undeniably effective tips for winning the reader over to your way of thinking
  • How to make a strong and logical written argument without coming across like a bulldozer
  • Stop! If you want to avoid a negative reaction from the reader, take this precautionary step

Projecting credibility and professionalism

  • The 12 most damaging blunders in business writing—sidestep these at all costs
  • How to curb the use of worn-out business clichés and what to say instead
  • Hard-and-fast rules when working with a team on a writing project
  • How to develop a sixth sense for damaging, biased and sexist language so you can make absolutely sure your writing is “clean”
  • Get a firm grip on how to deliver bad news in writing—without a doubt, you will need this someday

Expanding your professional skills

  • EXCLUSIVE: How to choose a style manual that works for your organization
  • Just released! The latest, most professional business writing formats … for letters, memos, proposals, reports and more
  • A crash course in building winning business proposals
  • How to write memos and e-mail that today’s busy professional can digest in 60 seconds or less
  • Field-tested letter-writing techniques that pay off in 3 big ways
  • Don’t miss a single one of these 6 elements when writing a report … they’re all essential!
  • Straight from the mouths of direct mail pros: Creating sales letters that bring in the orders
  • How to write a press release that gets glowing coverage your company president will thank you for
  • The art of writing crisp, clear instructions

Editing and proofreading like the pros

  • 4 amazing proofreading secrets that will automatically push your accuracy rate to 99%—or higher
  • Editing and proofreading symbols the pros use to simplify and speed up the revision process
  • Relax … this team approach takes the fear out of proofing technical or financial data
  • How to proofread quickly and accurately under pressure
  • How to shut out phones, voices and other distractions when proofing in a busy office (It’s like sitting in an airtight bubble!)
  • Catching typographical errors—yes, it’s tricky, but these tips will help shine the spotlight on them
  • Keep your sanity with this proofreader’s checklist that ensures perfection down to the very last detail
  • Proofreading a foreign language? Here are helpful rules that will calm your nerves
  • How to do a final “sanity check” before your document goes out the door so you can sleep like a baby that night
  • Editing techniques that will work miracles on your document

 

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SkillPath Seminars
Skillpath Seminars

Summary

Gain dozens of field-tested strategies relied on by today’s most effective business writers.

Delivery Method

Seminar Seminar

Also Available As

On-Site Training On-Site Training

Who Should Attend

Business Professionals

 
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