Effective Writing

Overview

Writing is not ‘speaking written down’ - it is more powerful than that! To master the skill of good writing is to unleash the power to inform and persuade more effectively than by any other means. This course provides the skills and attitudes that allow this to take place.

Key Outcomes

Delegates will leave the programme knowing the four key areas of the writing process. Having explored elements of structure and style on the course they will develop the key skills and techniques needed for precise and meaningful written communications.

Duration

1 day

Content

• Considering your audience: what to consider and why it’s so important
• Overview of different writing styles (and when to use them)
• Review of different genre (e.g. e-mail, memos and letters) and how to approach them
• Aspects of good style
• Use of active and passive verbs and subject-verb agreement
• Sentence structure and effective paragraph writing
• Focusing on clarity and consistency (including tips for avoiding ambiguity)
• Dealing with spelling – some notorious words, word endings and homophones
• Editing and proof reading techniques
• Correct use of punctuation (including parenthesis, apostrophe and quotation mark)