Effective Business Writing

Description

The ability to write clearly and directly is highly prized in organizations. This online self-paced course focuses on improving business writing. The ideas, techniques, and checklists in this course apply to all forms of business writing: memos, reports, brochures, proposals, presentations, catalogs, and websites. Other topics include formal and informal outlining techniques, how to revise for wordiness, unnecessary phrases, redundancy, and jargon, and the appropriate use of email in an organizational setting. 

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course participants will be able to:

• Recognize the difference between ineffective and effective writing
• List and define the four major factors of effective writing (clarity, tone, organization, and delivery)
• Recognize the role of the audience in effective communication and the importance of understanding an audience's needs
• Employ formal and informal outlining techniques
• List and recognize techniques for overcoming writer's block
• Recognize the importance and dangers of writing quickly
• Revise for wordiness, unnecessary phrases, redundancy, and jargon
• Write more effective emails and recognize the appropriate use of email in an organizational setting
• Employ checklists for organizing, writing, and revising

Intended Audience

This course is targeted to individuals who meet or exceed the following professional demographics:  

• Entry-level public procurement and central warehouse professionals who serve as assistants, coordinators, buyers, or equivalent functions within their respective entities.   

• Non-procurement managers and supervisors who are responsible for either the procurement function or staff who provide procurement functions under delegated authority.   

• Professionals who are employed by governing entities and special authorities (such as K-12 and higher education, publicly-owned utilities, transportation providers, and other publicly-funded or created organizations) that either serve within or manage the procurement function.  

• Suppliers or representatives of suppliers seeking to understand the public procurement function from a holistic level, including the policies, standards, and procedures by which public entities must function.