This four-day program provides a progressive growth in writing skills for staff who require a good grounding in the basics of workplace writing. Practical techniques and clear awareness are developed through individual, small group and plenary projects. Guided discussions will present new information and will foster an exchange of experience among the groups.

The program is best presented as two two-day modules with an interval of at least one month. It dovetails directly into the Effective Writing and Advanced Report Writing series for full writing skill development.

Topics Developed in Module One:

• Expressing information with courtesy and tact
• How to convey respect and politeness
• How to write in a gender-and racially-sensitive style Developing a personal tone
• How to think in the mind of the reader
• How to focus on people rather than process and policy
• How to use an individual style
• How to create an involving style with active voice
• Clarifying meaning with wording and punctuation
• How to be clear with word order and good style
• How to signal logic with punctuation
• Adapting style to suit the reader
• How to be concise yet complete
• How to have a cliche-free style
• How to select the correct sound-alike
• How to master spelling
• How to be clear and on a suitable level.

* Be confident the message is clear *

Topics Developed in Module Two:

• Arranging sentences and paragraphs to achieve unity
• How to write and edit for sentence and paragraph unity
• How to structure and format for letter and report unity
• Building coherence and logical flow of data
• How to check for sentence and paragraph coherence
• How to use transitional words to signal logical steps
• Structuring a document for easy access and understanding
• How to use parallel construction in sentences
• How to use lists for clarity, variety and emphasis
• How to format all documents in hierarchies of order
• Structuring a document to achieve a specific purpose
• How to deliver good news and bad news
• How to be persuasive
• Formatting letters in modern designs
• How to use format elements effectively
• How to launch lively letters and keep conclusions crisp
• Authoring correspondence
• How to research from file to write responses
• How to initiate a correspondence series.

* Discover that writing well can be enjoyable! *