Business Writing
Workshops:
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 workshop. 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 workshops
here, or contact us for more
information.
Benefits of business writing
training workshops:
- 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
Business Writing Training: Five Truths I've Learned in My
Role as Writing Coach
I've been a writing teacher for 25 years, and I've taught
in just about every setting you can imagine: high schools and
colleges, contact centers, corporate boardrooms, libraries,
power companies, and even a plastic cup manufacturing plant.
(Don't ask.)
Lately I have been providing one-on-one writing coaching for
staff at the National Association of Realtors, the College
Board, the American Society of Civil Engineers, Pan American
Health Organization and, soon, the National Museum of the
American Indian. Usually, I meet with the coach-ee in person
for an hour and then follow up with weekly coaching sessions
by phone. I have found these coaching sessions so
professionally satisfying and so productive that I took some
time to reflect on coaching. Here are the five truths I've
learned in my role as writing coach:
People suffer tremendous doubt about their ability to write
well enough on the job. In fact, there's so much suffering
going on that I am sometimes surprised anyone gets any writing
done at all. In these do-more-with-less times, people suffer
because they have too many writing tasks to complete in too
little time. But they also suffer because they are quite sure
they don't write well enough, and they dread the inevitable
exposure. They're convinced that everyone else finds writing
easy, that not being able to write well has held them back
professionally, that it's better to reuse the old version of
whatever they must write than to risk writing it their own way
and doing it wrong. Coaching helps them suffer a bit less,
and, as we all know, it's hard to be productive if you're in
pain.
Good writers are made, not born. The people I work with become
better writers during our coaching sessions. The direct,
individualized instruction combined with my nurturing of their
confidence helps them break bad writing habits and build new,
successful ones. After coaching, they write more quickly, more
effectively. They suffer less. In short, they improve.
Certainly there are some writers whose eloquence and grace are
innate, but most workplace writers become better the
old-fashioned way: instruction + practice + feedback. I've
never met a person who couldn't improve his or her writing
skills, and I have found that coaching is one of the best ways
to "make" a better writer.
Managers should provide employees with model documents. Most
of the people I coach are eager (desperate?) for models of the
types of documents they must write. They would really like to
see a sample of what their managers consider a model report,
memo, or e-mail. They want to please their managers. They are
willing to adopt their manager's writing style, even succumb
to the manager's whims, but they need to know what their
managers want. But many managers stubbornly refuse to provide
models. They think that the writer shouldn't need a model or
that a model will stifle creativity and initiative. Some
managers won't provide a model document, or a sample of what
they're looking for, because they don't know what they want.
In essence, they exploiting the writer in their requests for
multiple drafts. My experiences as a writing coach have proven
to me that managers who provide model documents set their
writers up for success. (Not to mention that providing a model
keeps the manager honest...)
Specific praise leads to improvement. Negative comments
they've received on their writing have actually made most
people so cynical that they perceive praise as nothing more
than the moving walkway toward criticism. When their managers
say "Your first draft is pretty good," they hear "Now that
we've gotten the thin compliment out of the way, let's get
down to some hard-hitting criticism." During coaching, I take
the time to let my client know exactly what he or she is doing
well. I never give vague praise. I never say "This is a good
draft of the memo" without continuing "because you've used
headings to make it scannable, and you've included a few
well-chosen statistics, such as annual income, to convince
your reader." Specific praise is practical as well as "nice."
Once writers clearly understand which successful writing
tactics they have under their belts, they will repeat and
adapt these tactics in new situations.
Intimacy fosters learning. Usually, I do the first coaching
session in person and the rest by phone. Because two-way,
active listening is easier on the phone, these sessions are
intimate, calm, engaged, and personal. I've received, and
kept, many confidences during writing coaching sessions. I've
been privy to people's fears and shared in their
accomplishments. Coaching has been an honor for me because my
clients have been so open. Writing coaching works.
Source: Leslie O'Flahavan
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Related Terms:
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business letters,
business letter,
business correspondence,
writing for business,
writing a business letter,
business communication,
how to write a business letter
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