The Online Business Writing Course

Module one is an introduction to the world of business writing. Lesson one explains why you should avoid “corporate speak” and the bureaucratic style.

Lesson two examines six qualities of good business writing.

Lesson three discusses the value of writing with a “you-centred” approach.

In lesson four, we look at “tone,” and how you need to set the right tone in your writing.

Lesson five looks at four types of sentences, and how they differ from each other.

Module two teaches you the first step in business writing—how to organize your thoughts.

In lesson six, you learn the steps you need to take to plan your writing project.

Lesson seven teaches you the value of starting every writing assignment with your reader in mind.

In lesson eight, we discuss why you shouldn’t start writing until you know your goal.

In lesson nine, I show you a simple way to use Microsoft Word to outline your message before you start writing.

In lesson ten, you learn the different ways to structure your message.

Lesson eleven is all about style, and how to choose the right style based on your topic and your audience.

Lesson twelve is the final lesson in this module. We look at tone and persona, and why you need to pick the right tone and the right persona, depending on your reader.

Module three teaches you the second step in business writing—writing your first draft.

Lesson thirteen deals with the vital matter of getting to your point quickly.

Lesson fourteen explains how to write in simple sentences.

Lesson fifteen is all about paragraphs—what they are, how they work, and how they are the secret to writing persuasively.

Lesson sixteen is about the value of using simple words instead of fancy words.

Lesson seventeen looks at verbs, and why you must prefer strong verbs over weak verbs.

In lesson eighteen, you and I look at why you must keep related words together in your sentences.

In lesson nineteen, I describe how to make your writing specific rather than general.

In lesson twenty, I describe how to make your writing concrete rather than abstract.

In lesson twenty-one, I describe how to make your writing definite rather than ambiguous.

And in lesson twenty-two, the last lesson in this module, we look at the passive voice and the active voice, and why you should prefer the active voice.

Module four teaches you the third and final step in business writing—editing your first draft.

Lesson twenty-three teaches you how to eliminate needless words from your writing.

Lesson twenty-four shows you the value of using parallel structure in your business writing.

Lesson twenty-five tells you about the most common grammatical mistakes that people make in their business writing—and how to avoid them.

Lesson twenty-six looks at common mistakes that business people make when crafting sentences.

Lesson twenty-seven looks at the most common mistakes business writers make with commas and apostrophes, and how to avoid them.

In lesson twenty-eight, you and I look at six categories of words you must eliminate from your draft before you print it or email it.

Lesson twenty-nine is the final lesson in this module. It’s a handy checklist of mistakes to look for when proofreading your document.

Module five is a grammar refresher. Over the space of five lessons, I show you how to use capitalization properly, how to avoid shifts in verb tense, how to match your pronouns with their antecedents, how to make sure your subjects and verbs agree, and how to avoid misplaced modifiers.

Module six teaches you how to polish your punctuation. There are ten lessons in this module, each lesson teaching you how to use one piece of punctuation. You’ll learn how to use parentheses, ending punctuation, elipses, dashes, hyphens, quotation marks, apostrophes, colons, semi colons and commas.

Module seven is the final module in the course. We look at the most common documents that you write each day at work, and we discuss how to write each one.

Lesson forty-five is all about writing better emails.

In lesson forty-six, you learn how to write effective reports.

In lesson fifty-seven, you learn how to organize and structure business reports.

Lessons forty-eight and forty-nine teach you how to organize and write effective memos.

Lessons fifty and fifty-one are about business proposals—how to outline them, structure them, and write them.

Lesson fifty-two is the last lesson in the course. We look at how to write effective letters.