The Write Stuff |
Click to download course outline |
If you cannot communicate adequately the main points that you want to get across on two sides of paper, you have almost certainly not thought the problem out properly.
Sir John Harvey-Jones
The purpose of letters, proposals and reports is for the reader to understand something they did not understand before, and usually to persuade them to take a particular course of action. This course focuses on preparation, use of word processing, language and structure to produce clear, concise reports.
Course topics
| Defining Objectives | Collecting Information |
| Organise | Structure |
| Establish the real issues | The Power of Persuasion |
| The style of plain English | Avoiding business speak |
| Rhythm | Being objective |
| Hard facts | Unsupported assertions |
| Putting your preferred option last | The Pitfalls |
| Avoiding legal, pompous, neutral and ambiguous words | Giving readers an excuse to change their minds |
| Avoiding -isms (racism, sexism, ageism etc) | Avoiding stock phrases and clichés |
| Presenting new ideas | Emotion |
| Sentence and paragraph length | Active rather than passive verbs |
| Matching the style to the reader | Vocabulary |
| Spelling | Abbreviations |
| Punctuation | Making it look readable |
| The shape of the page | Appendices |
| Use of charts and graphs | Common word processing options |
| Give clear reasons | Anecdotes |
| Witticisms | Conclusion |
| xxx | |
| Duration 1 day | Cost per delegate £225.00 + VAT |