Business Writing Training

We understand that being able to write in a clear and professional style is important to your business. That is why we have developed the Business Writing Institute and the Effective Business Writing seminar. This practice-driven business writing workshop will significantly improve your ability to write in English, so that your readers will receive a clear, concise, effective message. Most professionals spend at least 15-20% of their time writing for business; emails, memos, business letters, reports and other business correspondence. Our customized approach guarantees an improvement in business communication skills that will increase your productivity, success and job satisfaction.

Learn more about our business writing courses here, or contact us for more information.

 

Benefits of business writing training classes:

  • learn how to write a business letter
  • discover the skills of writing a business letter
  • learn to create clear business correspondence
  • understand the difference of writing for business
  • improve overall business communication

10 Business Writing Training Tips on How to Write a Professional Email

Email is the most common form of written communication in the business world--and the most commonly abused. Too often email messages snap, growl, and bark--as if being concise meant that you had to sound bossy. Not so.

Consider this email message recently sent to all staff members on a large university campus:

It is time to renew your faculty/staff parking decals. New decals are required by Nov. 1, 2008. Parking Rules and Regulations require that all vehicles driven on campus must display the current decal.

Slapping a "Hi!" in front of this message doesn't solve the problem. It only adds an air of giddiness.

 

Instead, consider how much nicer and shorter and probably more effective the e-mail would be if we simply added a "please" and addressed the reader directly:

Please renew your faculty/staff parking decals by November 1.

Of course, if the author of the e-mail had truly been keeping his readers in mind, he might have included another useful tidbit: a clue as to how and where to renew the decals.

Ten Quick Tips on Writing a Professional Email

  1. Always fill in the subject line with a topic that means something to your reader. Not "Decals" or "Important!" but "Deadline for New Parking Decals."
  2. Put your main point in the opening sentence. An e-mail shouldn't sound like an episode of Lost.
  3. Never start a message with a vague "This." ("This needs to be done by 5:00.") Because most of us have to read dozens of e-mails a day, specify which "this" you're talking about.
  4. Don't use ALL CAPITALS (no shouting!). or all lower-case letters either (unless you're e. e. cummings).
  5. As a general rule, PLZ avoid email abbreviations and chat room acronyms: you may be ROFLOL (rolling on the floor laughing out loud), but your reader may be left wondering WUWT (what's up with that).
  6. Be brief and polite. If your message runs longer than two or three short paragraphs, consider (a) reducing the message, or (b) providing an attachment. But in any case, don't snap, growl, or bark.
  7. Remember to say "please" and "thank you." And mean it. "Thank you for understanding why afternoon breaks have been eliminated" is prissy and petty. It's not polite.
  8. Add a signature block with appropriate contact information. In most cases, this means your name, business address, and phone number, along with a legal disclaimer if required by your company. Do you need to clutter the signature block with a clever quotation and artwork? Probably not.
  9. Edit and proofread before hitting "send." If your messages look like excerpts from a ten-year-old's chat room, don't be surprised if they're forwarded with a chortle to people you've never met.
  10. Finally, reply promptly to serious messages. If you need more than 24 hours to collect information or make a decision, send a brief response explaining the delay.

Source: Richard Nordquist link

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