Writing to Reach the Audience

Overview/Description
 Business writing is effective only when it informs or prompts the reader in the manner you, the author, desire. Whether your intended reading audience consists of one person or fifty, those readers will determine what kind of content you include and how you present it. If you were writing instructions for a child on how to answer the phone, it would sound very different from the same instructions written for an adult. All effective writing varies by audience--and skilled writers always write to connect with their readers. "Writing to Reach the Audience" instructs people who have to write at work in some easy-to-apply techniques to help them write to their readers, however those readers may vary with business circumstances. If you're writing a thank-you letter to a valued colleague, the approach, tone, and structure of the document are dissimilar to a complaint letter you write to a vendor. The principles and considerations that regulate the style differences in the two letters regulate the audience differences in all written documents. This course helps you master writing techniques to reach your audience without having to learn a lot of writing jargon or creative elements. This is a practical writing course for busy people at work.

Target Audience
 Anyone who does any kind of business writing at work, from e-mail and memos to reports and presentations

Expected Duration
3.0 hours

Lesson Objectives:

Writing Approach

  • identify the value of mastering writing elements that help you manage your approach to writing documents.
  • identify writing elements in a business document that help establish document credibility.
  • select examples of appropriate writing situations for the direct or indirect writing approach.

    • Setting the Tone

  • recognize the benefits of setting an appropriate tone in business writing.
  • select examples of appropriate writing tone.
  • tailor the writing tone in hypothetical business documents to the designated audience.
  • select document wording that demonstrates an appropriate business tone.
  • replace biased language with bias-free language in hypothetical business documents.

    • Strategies for Organizing Content

  • recognize the benefits of organizing written business materials.
  • identify methods for organizing content in written business documents.
  • label sentence examples with the paragraph element they represent.

    • Course Number: COMM0015