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RULES OF THUMB FOR BUSINESS WRITERS
DESCRIPTION:
You have to write clearly, concisely, and
energetically--without meandering, repeating yourself, or sabotaging your
ideas with poorly constructed sentences, stilted language, and embarrassing
grammatical errors. In the business world, limply written, badly
organized documents can subtly but steadily downgrade your career.
Get the help you need-now!
This class is designed to meet the real
writing demands of daily business. It will focus on concise explanations
of the most frequent problems in writing. You'll learn how to find your
focus, break up your thoughts effectively, format your documents for optimal
readability, begin with an attention-grabbing bang, adopt a straightforward,
conversational tone, and improve your style. You'll also learn how to
write succinctly, accurately, and persuasively, whether in formal business
correspondence, more casual e-mail messages, memos, agendas, instructions
manuals, reports, newsletters and press releases, or proposals. The
class will also cover the rules of punctuation, grammar, and usage,
understanding when to capitalize, choosing the correct pronoun, avoiding
fragments and run-on sentences, properly placing apostrophes, etc.
Instructor
Bill Mallin
Phone: 713.439.8268
Email: bill@billmallin.com
or bill.mallin@bakerhughes.com
Contact
Cindy Eatherton
713.439.8600
cindy.eatherton@bakerhughes.com
Schedule
This will be a 12-week class offered on Thursday
evenings at Baker Hughes.
Dates: 2/7/02 - 4/25/02
Time: 4:30 - 5:30
Location: 9th floor conference room
Class #1 - 2/7/02
Part I: The Writing Process.
·
Writing in the Business World.
·
Finding Your Focus.
·
Sizing Up Your Work Style.
·
What to Do When You're Stuck.
·
Organizing Your Ideas.
Class #2 - 2/14/02
·
Paragraphing.
·
Continuity.
·
Adding Visual Interest: Layout and
Illustrations.
·
Revising.
·
Proofreading.
Class #3 - 2/21/02
Part II: Writing with Power.
Class #4 - 2/28/02
·
Grammar Review: Common Sentence Patterns.
·
Avoiding Tangled Sentences.
·
Varying Your Sentences.
·
Eliminating Biased Language.
Class #5 - 3/7/02
Part III: Specific Business Writing.
·
Guidelines for all Business Correspondence.
·
E-mail and Fax Messages.
·
Memos.
·
Letters.
·
Agendas and Minutes.
Class #6 - 3/14/02
Class #7 - 3/21/02
Part IV: Special Projects.
·
Research on the Internet.
·
Crediting Outside Sources.
·
Recurring Projects.
·
Long-Term Projects.
Class #8 - 3/28/02
Class #9 - 4/4/02
Part V: Correctness-Usage.
·
Confusing Words.
·
One Word or Two?
·
Spelling.
·
Capitalization.
·
Abbreviations and Numbers.
·
Correct Pronouns.
Class #10 - 4/11/02
·
Consistent Pronouns.
·
Pronouns: Avoiding Vagueness.
·
Verbs: Agreement with Subjects.
·
Verbs: Consistent Tenses.
·
Word Endings.
Class #11 - 4/18/02
Part VI: Correctness--Punctuation.
·
Periods: Avoiding Sentence Fragments and
Run-on Sentence.
·
Commas.
·
Semicolons and Colons.
·
Dashes and Parentheses.
Class #12 - 4/25/02
The Book
Rules of Thumb for Business Writers
by Diana
Roberts Wienbroer, Elaine
Hughes, Jay
Silverman
Your book will be given to you on the first
day of class. Yes, it is free.
Class Size
Class size is limited - about 15 students;
hence, if you are interested in taking the class, please sign up as early as
possible. If there is not room in this class, you can sign up for the
next one - May 2nd, 2002.
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