Improve your business writing

with Mary Morel

Writing well is not a 'nice to have' skill; it is an essential skill. Your career will suffer if you cannot write well. You don't want your manager telling you that your writing skills are holding you back, so take the opportunity to upskill now.

Clear writing is based on clear thinking and there is no reason why you can't write well. You don't have to write the next great novel, but you do need to write well. And maybe you'll surprise yourself and find you no longer say: 'I hate writing'.

In this course, you'll learn through videos, reading information, quizzes, podcasts and activities. You'll also receive two comprehensive e-books on sentences and words for future reference. Each lesson is bite-sized, so you can dip in and out when you have a few minutes to spare.

The principles in this course apply to all types of business writing, including reports, memos, proposals and emails.

This course is suitable for anyone who wants to improve the professionalism of their business writing.

Many organisations buy an annual licence for their employees. Contact me if you'd like to learn more (details below).

Improve your business writing

The power of good writing

What you'll learn

  • Think first

    When you think first, your writing will be faster and more efficient. You don't have to totally plan your document, but you do need to be clear about why you are writing, who you are writing to and what you want to say. This course offers three techniques to help you clarify your messages before you start.

  • Write well

    To communicate effectively, you need to structure your writing for your readers and use language they will relate to. You'll learn how to structure a document and brush up on basic writing skills. It is often at the sentence and word choice level, you can make the most improvement to your writing.

  • Review and edit

    Too many writers write too close to the deadline and don't allow enough time to review and edit their work. Before you start fixing the typos, you need to review your writing for meaning: will it achieve what you want? Then you can edit for sentence structure, grammar and typos.

Course curriculum

  • 1
    Introduction
    • Welcome
    • Your writing
    • Download e-books and glossary
    • Parts of speech (video)
  • 2
    Think first
    • Think first
    • Plan with outlining (audio)
    • Plan with storylining (audio)
    • Plan with PACK (video)
    • Plan your writing (activity)
  • 3
    Structure your writing well
    • Structure
    • Structure your writing for readers (video)
    • Structure (activity)
  • 4
    Write clear paragraphs
    • Write clear paragraphs
    • Paragraphs (video)
    • Write clear topic sentences (activities)
    • Rewrite paragraphs (activities)
  • 5
    Understand sentence basics
    • Sentence basics
    • Sentence terms (video)
    • Sentence terms (quiz)
    • Active and passive voice (video)
  • 6
    Work with sentences
    • Work with sentences
    • Sentences (video)
    • Tighten your sentences (activities)
    • Improve your sentence structure (activities)
    • Prefer the active voice (activities)
  • 7
    Use lists well
    • Use lists well
    • Lists (quiz)
    • Turn prose into bullets (activities)
  • 8
    Use an appropriate tone
    • Set the tone
    • Language elements of tone (quiz)
    • Tone and audience (activities)
  • 9
    Learn the difference between commonly confused words
    • Commonly confused words
    • Five commonly confused words (video)
    • A-B commonly confused words (quiz)
    • C- E commonly confused words (quiz)
    • F-M commonly confused words (quiz)
    • P-Z commonly confused words (quiz)
    • Homonyms (video)
    • Homonyms (quiz)
  • 10
    Test your vocabulary and spelling
    • Latin words and spelling
    • Latin words (quiz)
    • Spelling (quiz)
  • 11
    Format your writing well
    • Format your document well
    • Design with Word (video)
  • 12
    Avoid common grammar, punctuation and usage mistakes
    • Common mistakes
    • Grammar (quiz)
  • 13
    Review and edit