Better Writing for Business: Basics and Brush-Ups

“Good writing announces your seriousness, establishing you as someone capable of caring and discipline.” – Frank Bruni

The first module sets the tone for the program and encourages participants to establish personal goals for what they hope to learn and apply.

We’ll begin with a review of the fundamentals – the building blocks of good writing. Both early-career and mid-career professionals can benefit from reminders and fresh insights on best practices. We’ll go over practical tips and techniques for immediate improvement and emphasizing observing one’s own work, as well as the work of others, to identify what makes writing good.

Developing this awareness is essential for analyzing quality writing, distinguishing it from mediocre material, and applying new knowledge and strategies to improve communication skills.

"You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”– Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Nobel Prize-winning novelist

In a world where truth lies along a continuum, the depth of your research is ever more important in writing believable, compelling documents. Beyond the Google search and emerging AI platforms, explore a range of research strategies that will help you meet the blank page with confidence; avoid writer’s block; and produce well-constructed, detailed stories. By examining actual writing case studies, you’ll see the strategies in action and take away a useful construct for differentiating your ideas.

“By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this.” – Roald Dahl

Want to write well? Here’s what not to do. Drawing from Everybody Needs an Editor: The Essential Guide to Clear and Effective Writing this session shares practical advice on avoiding common landmines in your communication.

Topics include crafting effective email subject lines, writing strong opening sentences and headlines, managing text and sentence length, using humor appropriately, and more.

Along the way, you’ll see plenty of bad examples, so you can learn exactly what to avoid.

“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful.” – Edward R. Murrow

This module explores the fundamentals of persuasion and how research-backed principles can strengthen your writing and communication campaigns. Participants will be introduced to the Persuasion Matrix, a practical communication planning tool from Persuasive: 40 Lessons in Communicating for the Common Good and learn how it has been used to guide a wide range of successful campaigns.

“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.” – David McCullough

 AI offers to make writing easier, but some shortcuts can sacrifice creativity and critical thinking. In this module, you’ll gain insights into how AI can be used as a writing, research, and planning tool without sacrificing your own voice. The presentation will provide strategies for using AI to organize and refine your ideas while leaving space for surprise in the drafting process. From crafting targeted prompts to requesting useful feedback, you’ll leave with actionable tips for leveraging AI as an asset to your writing, not a substitute for it.

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” – Stephen King

Let’s bring it all together.

After completing the five modules, you’ve covered a lot of ground—now it’s time to turn those insights into action. In this final module, you’ll create your own plan for improving your writing. We’ll explore how developing a writing plan can sharpen your thinking and strengthen your performance, and we’ll share a few final tips to help you polish your finished work.