Effective Business Writing for Managers
SYNOPSIS
This course, Effective Business Writing For Managers, is written for you to increase your appreciation, knowledge, and skills about business communication. With increased workforce mobility and demographic changes in Singapore due to the extended retirement age, it is inevitable that you will be the change agent in your organisation. You would be communicating with people who are from a different generation and perhaps culturally different.
This course is an introductory course designed for entry level employees, who are fresh graduates from tertiary institutes who are required to write business proposal letters at their workplace. This book emphasizes a strong value-orientation perspective and the outcome of research and information organisation techniques. It also addresses the importance of grammar and punctuation to enhance the clarity in written communications.
This course is distinctive because of its well-balanced emphasis on both content and practice. Our pedagogical approach to this course emphasizes a learner-empowering philosophy via a tight integration of business-sensitive knowledge, attitude checkpoints, and pragmatic communication skills necessary to develop sound proposal papers that meets diverse contexts.
A wide-angle lens to learn about written communication concepts drawn from diverse disciplines which incorporates the following:
- A theory-practice emphasis via the use of timely, real-life activities and case studies to connect with key concepts in each stage.
- A text with accessible language so that readers and practitioners of written communication can enjoy reading the book in an interactive manner.
- An interesting set of activities at the end of each chapter to reinforce key concepts learnt for readers to practice the written communication skills
The focus of this course is to help improve the writing skills by one notch higher. To communicate effectively, you need to get your point across and relay information clearly. The reader must understand exactly what you mean. This course is to meet this expectation. Finally, do not write to impress, but to express!
Course Outline
The Writing Process
- Principles and importance of effective writing
- Analyse your audience
- How do you want your audience to React?
- The POWER tools of writing
- How to plan your writing
- Choosing the structure for your writing
- Choose appropriate style
- Revising, proof-reading
Planning Your Delivery
- The 4Cs of Writing
- Clarity, Coherence, Consistency & Conciseness in writing
- Common errors in written communications
- Mistakes in troublesome words (UK and US English)
- Importance of conciseness and brevity
- Tautology, Pompous language, Jargon
- How to make the tone of writing work for you
- Active / passive voice, using appropriate phrases
- Avoiding ambiguity, Expletives
Guide to Organisation & Structure: The Paragraphs
- Characteristics of good paragraphs
- How to write clear, emphatic sentences
- How to write effective paragraphs
- Purpose, Completeness, Unity, Order, Transitions
Methodology
- Interactive Lectures
- Group discussion and exercises will be used to enhance learning and reinforce skills
- Reflective Practice
Duration
2 days, 9am to 5pm
Course Objectives
At the end of the training programme, participants will be able to:
- Understand the Principles of effective writing.
- Learn the importance of effective writing.
- Reduce time spent in planning and writing.
- Convey ideas in a way to suit the audience and purpose.
- Organise the writing for easier understanding.
- Identify and avoid the common errors in writing.
- Apply the principles in writing effective letters, memos, faxes and emails.
Target Audience
Managers who need to have a firm grasp of the basic written communication skills.
Trainer
Mr. Loganathan is an experienced Facilitator with 25 years as a Military officer in the SAF.
He has extensive working experience in minute-writing and business communication skills.
Logan possesses 3 Masters; Master of Business Administration from University of Western Australia, Master of Arts (Instructional Design Technology) from Nanyang Technological University and Master of Training and Development from Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.