Avoiding Errors in Usage and Punctuation

Overview/Description
 Have you ever received an e-mail so poorly worded that you hit the delete button before you even finished reading the message? Have you ever opened a letter so confusing that you couldn't understand what the author was trying to say? If so, you understand the frustration of receiving a badly written message. Are you afraid that you might have sent messages that have been discarded or misunderstood for similar reasons? If so, this course will help you to improve your basic usage and punctuation skills so that your messages are read and understood.

Target Audience
 All professionals for whom work-related writing is both required and challenging

Expected Duration
4.5 hours

Lesson Objectives:

Choosing Words Wisely

  • recognize the benefits of selecting the best words to convey the intended meaning in business documents.
  • choose appropriate sentences by applying rules to use easily confused words correctly.
  • choose sentences that use the best alternatives to clichés and buzzwords.
  • apply principles of matching language formality to purpose and audience by selecting the best alternative sentences to avoid slang and colloquialisms in a sample document.
  • identify sentences as containing either standard or nonstandard forms.

    • Common Punctuation Problems

  • recognize the importance of identifying and correcting common punctuation problems.
  • recognize examples of sentences that use commas correctly in sequences, such as series and consecutive descriptors.
  • apply punctuation rules to select sentences that use commas correctly to separate independent clauses, introductory statements, and nonessential information.
  • interpret punctuation rules to select sentences that use semicolons and colons correctly.
  • identify examples of sentences that place quotation marks correctly.
  • distinguish correct and incorrect examples of the use of exclamation points.

    • Course Number: COMM0012