 |
Call us on 01733 891 860 (UK) or use this contact form |
 |
|
|
|||
|
 |
Moving communication campaigns into action |
|
|||
|
"Thanks again for the course on Monday. You covered lots of really useful exercises and tips for us to take away and put into practice." Rachel Johnson, Marketing Officer, WRAP "The course content was in manageable chunks and covered everything we needed to know, even though we were all at different levels of confidence and competence. It was delivered clearly and at a pace we could all digest. If there was ever anything we didn't understand then you were approachable and welcoming with our questions. "Even though you had a lot to fit in, all of our queries were resolved and you were even available at the end of the day for clarity on anything we wanted to discuss. I would definitely opt-in for a course you were doing again. Thank you for educating me." Kim Coley, Waste Reduction Officer,
"This was a very helpful day that was pitched just right with lots of practical exercises." Pod Bhogal, UCCF: The Christian Unions
Why does developing your business writing skills matter? It's as important as ever to express ourselves clearly and accurately. Despite the growth of new technologies, the written word dominates business communication, so individuals and organisations need to get things right. When your writing helps readers to quickly understand the information they are more likely to take the action you are looking for. This could mean everything from a colleague completing tasks assigned to them in meeting minutes to a customer buying a product you are promoting. In some cases it could even mean that your readers avoid making potentially costly mistakes that can happen as a result of poorly-written instructions or recommendations. Readers are also less likely to have to waste their time (and yours) asking for clarification. Why it should matter to you: For you as an individual, your business writing ability certainly matters. Employers frequently mention writing ability when asked what skills they look for in candidates. It also follows that good written communication skills can only enhance your prospects for career development and promotion. Why it should matter to your organisation: As well as the practical benefits of clear writing, your organisation should also be committed to presenting a positive image through accurate communications with your customers. The need for this was demonstrated by a Royal Mail survey where:
Although the survey dates back to 2005, there’s no reason to believe that people today are any less bothered about the accuracy of written communications.
|
|
Business English Essentials course The first in our 'ABC for Business' series, this course tackles the two biggest issues preventing effective business writing: Writing clearly Do you sometimes waffle too much when writing emails, letters, reports or website content? Do you struggle to get important points across in as few words as possible? Or do you suffer from writers’ block and never know where to start? If any of that applies to you, this course will show you how to put things right. Writing accurately Poor spelling, punctuation or grammar skills reflect badly on you personally and can turn people away from doing business with your organisation. But although most people sometimes struggle with the rules and quirks of English usage, you can make big improvements with the help you’ll get on this course. This business writing training course provides you with highly practical solutions to both of these writing challenges. It’s good news for people who want to get better at business writing. Skills you develop on the course will leave you more confident that you are following the essential rules of English usage and that you are better able to get your message across. This business English course is nothing like those boring English lessons that you might remember from school. Instead, it delivers practical help, enabling you to walk away with new techniques for better business writing skills, as well as a solid foundation for improved grammar and punctuation usage. The delivery style is lively and engaging. The course is packed with fun tests, discussion about tricky issues and lots of examples to explain the theory and techniques. Here's what's covered in our Business English Essentials course: Where do you start? Great tips for overcoming writer's block and ways to get clear objectives for your work before you go near that keyboard. Making sentences and paragraphs work for you. Learn how to write clearer sentences and paragraphs, with tips on how to arrange and edit them for maximum effect. Editing your writing. Writing your first draft is half the battle: great writers are good at editing their own work so we’ll show you how to stay focused on your subject, how to cut the waffle and how to write with maximum clarity. Using formatting to bring your writing to life. We’ll look at how you can use emboldening, underlining, italics, colour, indentation and more to add an extra level of readability to your writing. Punctuation getting you down? If you get stuck on where to put your comma, semicolon, dash, hyphen, exclamation mark, bracket, speech mark, ampersand or apostrophe, we’ll show you where to stick it! The grammar 'rules': which really matter and which are just myths? If the advice you hear and read seems confusing don't worry. We'll look at which of the so-called rules of English usage are genuine (and how to apply them) and which can be forgotten about. Proof-reading the easy way. Learn effective techniques for catching unwanted spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. And more . . . There's additional content, from ensuring accuracy in areas like product names and branding to deciding when to use capital letters. Follow-up support. As a course delegate you will be able to contact your presenter, Richard Groom, should you require further clarification on any aspect of the course content. You also get one month of email and phone access for feedback and coaching on your writing. This course is for anyone who writes as part of their job, whether they write for internal or external audiences. It assumes that English is either the attendee’s native language or that they have achieved a very high standard of English as a second language. Please contact us if you wish to discuss course suitability in more detail. Course structure: This is a one-day course and includes many exercises (including fun quizzes) to ensure an enjoyable time. The course starts at 9.30 and we usually finish delivering the course by 4.30pm. You are then welcome to talk through any specific issues that concern you with your tutor, or take the rest of the afternoon off for a break from talk about semicolons and adverbs! Prices: For in-company delivery, there is a flat per-delegate rate for this course, making it very affordable. The one-day course costs £150 per delegate and a half-day version is also available costing £100 per delegate. However, where delegate numbers are low the total minimum price for a half-day course is £500 and £750 for a full-day course. Where more than 12 delegates attend a discount is offered, depending on numbers and circumstances. A one-to-one coaching service is also available. The prices for this are £250 for half a day and £400 for a full day. Note: any in-company training or coaching delivered locally (ie within an hour's travel) does not involve any travel or accommodation costs. These costs may however be added for courses further afield, but only with your prior agreement. We sometimes run public courses where the price is £245 per delegate. There is also a multi-delegate discount - send two or more people from your organisation and the price for each of them is £195 per person. All prices include the course itself, a booklet covering all of the course content and one month of email and phone access to your presenter following the course for feedback on your writing. Find out more: Please contact us if you want more information about the course or want to discuss running it in your organisation.
Coming soon . . . the second course in our 'ABC for Business' series will be launched in mid-2011 to take a closer look at techniques for effective business writing. |