Training in business involves a huge range of subject areas but for some strange reason, a business writing course is often forgotten.

Yet, most people in business write every day. Certainly, people in management positions have to do lots of writing.

Feedback from people who attend a is nearly always very positive. They are surprised how much valuable information they take out of a one-day program on business writing.

Courses on topics such as ‘presentation skills’, ‘financial fundamentals’, ‘managing for new managers’ dominate the training scene in so many of our large organisations. Yet, for people who attend all these courses, writing is of fundamental importance.

Many people in business are inclined to think that a business writing course is not necessary because they know how to write. But if you learnt to write at school (as most people did), you mainly learnt academic writing.

But the reality is that business writing differs significantly from academic writing.

If you are writing an essay, you usually lay out your foundation then proceed to expound on your thesis or argument. You allow the essay to grow and develop as you take your reader, step-by-step, through your thinking process. But business writing is not like this.

Some of the key features of business writing are:

• Business writing is briefer and more concise than most other types of writing;

• Writers have to be conscious of the fact that a letter, memo, or report may only gain the reader’s attention for a few seconds; and

• It is important to get to the point quickly.

Once you understand how different business writing is, then the need for a business writing course, becomes obvious.

Most people, where they attend a business writing course, very quickly make a significant improvement to their writing.

There are three major areas to address.

1. Sentence length – shorter sentences are clearer;

2. Varying sentence length – your writing is immediately more interesting if the length of sentences varies;

3. Simpler words – you communicate better when you use them.

In an effective business writing course, you do much more than simply build upon your good grammar skills. More importantly, you learn about the process of creating impactful written business communications whether they be sales reports, tender documents, annual reports or just simply emails to staff.

In a professional one-day program, attendees should:

• Discover the importance of good writing skills in the business environment,
• Learn about audience and purpose analysis,
• Examine different types of business documents, and
• Have the chance to practice a new business writing approach.

As a business professional, you will often be asked to create reports and present their findings. Unfortunately, good report writing and presentation preparation skills are usually learned "on-the-fly" through "trial-and-error". If you're looking to improve these skills, then a professional business writing course would be a very worthwhile investment.