Writing Skills

Below are our Writing Skills Courses. Please click for more information.

Advanced Writing Skills

This course will help experienced writers refine their writing skills as they address complex ideas and write for multiple audiences. Participants will learn tips for making their writing clear and compelling.

Objectives:

• Collect and organize information that meets your purpose.
• Learn ways to structure your content and format your documents.
• Review points of grammar and standard writing conventions.
• Learn tips for guiding readers to your point quickly and easily.
• Recognize stylistic choices that interfere with clarity.

Better Business Writing

This course will help participants produce documents that are clear, concise, and free of mechanical errors. Participants will review conventions and rules of writing, and practice applying them to their own work.

Objectives:

• Use points of grammar and writing conventions correctly.
• Identify common writing pitfalls.
• Analyze needs of intended audience.
• Organize ideas appropriately.
• Reduce redundancy and wordiness.

Clarity and Brevity in Writing

This course will help participants create documents that are easily and quickly read and understood. Participants will learn skills to make their writing energetic and compelling.

Objectives:

• Use audience analyses to establish clear purpose for writing.
• Develop methods of organizing material that guide the reader.
• Learn to identify and use the words that carry meaning.
• Recognize and discard filler words and phrases.
• Develop the habit of using short, simple, sentences.

Editing Mastery

This course will help participants check their documents for readability, clarity, and content sensibility. Participants will learn to focus on organization and flow, and on appropriateness for the intended reader.

Objectives:

• Understand the benefits of reviewing and editing.
• Apply standards of organization as an editing tool.
• Learn methods of reviewing documents for content.
• Consider documents from reader perspective.
• Review guidelines for structure and format.

Email Writing

This course will help participants produce email messages that are clear, concise and correct. Participants will eliminate email practices that contribute to confusion, and learn common email guidelines.

Objectives:

• Identify and correct common email writing problems.
• Understand the format and structure of effective business email writing.
• Target focus, scope, tone, and language to prospective readers.
• Learn tips for ensuring a professional and collegial tone.
• Consider appropriate alternatives to email messaging.

Grammar Gremlins

This course will help participants produce error-free documents as they review and apply the rules of English grammar. Participants will review parts of speech and sentence structure in sample documents as well as in their own work.

Objectives:

• Learn kinds and purposes of sentences.
• Understand subject-verb agreement.
• Review common grammatical and structural errors.
• Understand the use of punctuation marks.
• Make proofreading a habit.

How to Write a Brief

This course will help participants write briefs that are clear and concise. Participants will consider different types of briefs and their purposes, and adapt relevant elements to their own work.

Objectives:

• Learn the standard elements of a brief.
• Define goals and objectives of the project.
• Recognize needs and concerns of target audience.
• Consider variety of types of briefs and their requirements.
• Determine and write for desired outcomes.

Organize for Better Writing

This course will help participants improve their writing by learning the steps of organization.  Participants will learn to quickly order ideas, select appropriate format, and make structural decisions that support their writing goals.

Objectives:

• Understand the steps to take in preparing to write.
• Learn what to consider when choosing an organization format.
• Understand how writing goals affect organization choices.
• Develop pre-writing strategies for ease of planning.
• Learn a variety of organization styles and formats.

Persuasive Writing

This course will help experienced writers create documents that persuade and influence others. Participants will learn the features of making convincing arguments and apply them to their work.

Objectives:

• Understand fully the position and interests of the reader.
• Determine the benefits to your reader of your position.
• Describe benefits in ways that will appeal to the reader.
• Learn language that persuades and encourages.
• Examine several organizational structures that support your position.

Plain Language Writing

This course will help participants create documents that comply with the Plain Language directive for writing that is clear, concise, and focused on the reader. Participants will learn tips for formatting and organizing that make their writing more accessible to their readers. 

Objectives:

• Use characteristics of reader-friendly writing: short sentences, active voice, direct address.
• Analyze and address the needs and expectations of the reader.
• Format documents with reader-ease in mind.
• Make purpose and intent clear.
• Edit and adapt documents to the Plain Language style.

Proofreading for Error-free Writing

This course will help participants check their documents for grammatical and structural errors. Participants will review basic elements of spelling, punctuation, and grammar to ensure clarity and correctness.

Objectives:

• Review common grammatical and structural pitfalls.
• Consider the effects of punctuation on meaning.
• Learn tips for proofreading accurately.
• Recognize and address individual writing concerns.
• Understand the benefits of proofreading.

Refine Your Writing

This course will help participants sharpen their writing skills by reviewing and clarifying conventional standards of professional writing. Participants will consider the areas of their own writing that they wish to improve and will develop strategies for doing so.

Objectives:

• Evaluate and critique your writing style.
• Review the elements of successful professional writing.
• Use principles of plain language writing.
• Consider common writing practices that are stale, incorrect, or inaccessible to the reader.
• Develop strategies for monitoring use of grammar and structure.

Report Writing

This course will help participants improve their writing of reports. Participants will understand and adapt the elements that distinguish factual reports from opinion pieces.

Objectives:

• Determine the needs of the intended audience.
• Consider language that is neutral and objective.
• Learn to collect, organize, and synthesize relevant information.
• Present information using short, clear sentences in systematic order.
• Write conclusions that reflect goal and intentions of the report.

Technical Writing

This course will help technical professionals write clearly about complex issues. Participants will learn to adapt their writing for technical and non-technical writers.

Objectives:

• Analyze needs of audience and make writing choices accordingly.
• Review basics of standard correct writing.
• Determine purposes and main ideas.
• Examine varieties of organizational formats to support purpose.
• Explain complex or technical information using appropriate language and graphics.

Writing a Grant Proposal

This course will help participants become more proficient in the writing of grant proposals. Participants will learn to identify and respond to specific requirements of funding sources.

Objectives:

• Understand the process of grant proposal writing.
• Clearly and concisely define the purpose of your proposal.
• Know and align your project with the mission and priorities of your target audience.
• Use research sources to learn specific information about your target audience.
• Understand the importance of clarity, brevity, editing, and language choices in presenting your ideas.

Writing Meeting Minutes

This course will help participants write minutes of meetings that are clear and concise, and that accurately reflect the work of the meeting. Participants will learn to use time before and after meetings to make their minutes more effective, and will learn how best to use the time during the meeting.

Objectives:

• Recognize the importance of preparation and review.
• Understand the elements to consider before a meeting.
• Learn note-taking tips and techniques.
• Identify and overcome common barriers to writing minutes.
• Develop an individual plan and approach.