Course Overview
To develop knowledge and understanding of writing for business as
required by a practicing or potential first line manager :
• Know how to write a
report
Assessment Criteria
• Write a report to meet
specified standards
• Incorporate basic statistics and visual material in the content or
in an appendix
• Use effective and appropriate tone, language and level of
formality in a report
International
Curriculum
Unit 3.05 - Validated by ILM, the
Institute of Leadership & Management.
Course Outline
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria
1 Introduction
Activity 1
Activity 2
2 Written Communication
Speaking vs. Writing
Activity 3
WORKBOOK
- Keeping records of Oral Communications
- What oral communications should you record?
- Recording what you have said
- Case studies
- Recording what is said at meetings
- Recording oral communications for others
- Writing minutes of a meeting
- Comprehension Check
- Making Connections
- Think & Apply
3 Making Yourself Understood
Keep Sentences Short
Use Short or Simpler Words
Be Careful About Jargon
Use Clichés Sparingly
Avoid Unnecessary Words
Avoid Long Noun Clusters
Use the Right Words in the Right Order
Making Your Communication Concisely, Accurate and To the Point
Writing With Your Reader in Mind
Editing Ruthlessly
4 Preparing Your Communication
Conciseness
- Wordiness
- Redundancy
- Long Words
Completeness
Courtesy
Clarity
Correctness
5 Getting Started
Getting Your Thoughts Organized
The Right Words
Problems with Grammar
-
Tense and Person
- Agreement of Subject and Verb
- Agreement of Pronouns and Their Antecedents
- Possessives
6 The Business Letter
Layout
The Memo
Possible Format
WORKBOOK
- Writing effective memos and emails
- Writing Memos
- Example memo
- Exercise
Some Last Thoughts about the Text
7 The Formal Report
The Ingredients of a Report
- The Title Page
- Table of Contents
- The Terms of Reference
- The Summary
- The Introduction
- The Main Body
- Conclusions
- Recommendations
- Appendices
Language
The Acid Test of a Well Constructed Report
Activity 4
8 Using Statistics and Visual Materials
Using Charts and
Graphs
Activity 5
Types of Data
Activity 6
Activity 7
Scatter Diagrams
9 E-mail Etiquette
WORKBOOK
- Writing effective memos and emails
- Writing emails
- Examples
- Exercise
- Comprehension Check
- Making Connections
- Think & Apply
Don't Be a Novelist
Too Much Punctuation!!!
Formatting Is Not Everything
Abbreviations
Smilies
Salutations
- Threads
- Quotes
- Privacy, Are You Kidding?
A Blessing and a Curse
Conclusion