Prince2

The Write Stuff

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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
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Duration 1 day Cost per delegate £225.00 + VAT