Business and Professional Writing

Northern Illinois University, Department of English

Business and Professional Writing: How to Write Effective Letters, Memos, Reports and E-mail

October 8-9, 2003, Holmes Student Center, Illinois Room
Click here for registration form.

Business and Professional Writing is a workshop focusing on the essential elements of reader-orientation, written communications. Participants learn practical techniques for making their writing more effective. Using a hands-on, process approach to writing, this program gives participants the skills necessary to analyze and critique writing, target areas of improvement, and establish practical techniques for making their writing more powerful and effective.

After taking this program, you are able to:

*increase productivity
*overcome writer's block and meet deadlines
*eliminate rewrites and miscommunications
*ensure message clarity

Seminar Outline

Day One
Section 1

•Six-step approach to business and professional writing
•Review of work-related writing in-class
•Job-related writing experience

Section 2

•Developing a writing plan, Steps 1-3
•Write to inform or to influence?
•In-class exercises, memos

Section 3

•Developing a writing plan, Steps 4-6
•Write summary sentences
•Review of rules
•Helpful samples
•Group work and critique of writing efforts
•Email exercises, guidelines and issues

Section 4

•Review the writing plan
•Writing the first draft
•The opening, transitions, using lists, closing paragraphs

Day Two
Section 5

•Clear communication
•Active and passive language
•Specific language
•Plain English
•Jargon

Section 6

•Using concise language
•Clutter
•Unnecessary Repetitions
•Revision

Section 7

•Sentence structure
•Make sentences shorter, correct run-on sentences
•Rules of commas, colons, and semicolons
•Grammar, unclear pronouns
•Subjects and verbs

Seminar Leader
Janice L. Knudsen, M.A., is on the staff of the Department of English at Northern Illinois University. During her career, Jan has taught a variety of courses, including Practical Writing, Technical Writing and Rhetoric and Composition. She administers the internship program, maintaining relationships between corporate sponsors and interns. In addition she edits newsletters for corporate clients and serves as a web reviewer for Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Dates: October 8 and 9, 2003
Location: Northern Illinois University, Holmes Student Center, DeKalb, Illinois. Times: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Free to all participants: a 136-page writing manual . . .plus lunch each day. Only $295. 12 hours of C.P.E., C.E.U. certificates available.

What others have said:
"The instructor covered the course material in a manner that was easy to understand. She gave excellent tips to remember proper grammar usage." M. Sisler
" This course is a great way to update or refresh business writing skills." M.Cataldo
"The instructor was very knowledgeable and helpful. If you do a lot of business writing, this program would be very helpful."
"The instructor is an excellent teacher. The class kept moving along. She was very thorough and knowledgeable. I learned new skills which I will use." D. Isom

Call 1-800-345-9472 or 815-753-0277 to register. Click here for registration form.

All registrations confirmed by payment. Cancellations made more than seven working days prior to the program's starting date are subject to a $25 cancellation fee. Refunds cannot be granted if proper cancellation is not made prior to the day of the program.

Questions? Call Andee Larson at External Programming, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 753-5200; she can handle all the details for you, provide you with references, and answer any questions you may have.

E-mail: Steven Johnson Website: www.niu.edu/ext_prog/index.html.

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