Table of Contents

Successful business writing. How to write business letters, emails, reports, minutes and for social media. Improve your English writing and grammar. Chapter 1: Why are good writing skills important in business? 10 Chapter 2: Purpose of written communication 18 Chapter 3: People 26 Chapter 4: Preparation for writing 32 Chapter 5: Different forms of written communication 40 Chapter 6: Writing good English 56 Chapter 7: Guidelines for good writing 70 Chapter 8: Proofreading 80 Chapter 9: Persuasive communication 98 Chapter 10: Action plan and check list 108 Answers: 113

About the Author

About the author: Heather Baker Heather had over twenty years' experience as a secretary and PA before setting up Baker Thompson Associates Limited in 2000. The company specialises in the training and development of secretarial and administrative staff (www.bakerthompsonassoc.co.uk). She now travels all over the UK working with large and small companies to enable their office staff and PAs to work more effectively and efficiently. She also delivers courses in the Middle and Far East. Heather is a Certified NLP Practitioner. She worked for ICI Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca) and Hewlett Packard; she spent 5 years in France working for the Commercial Director of Cognac Hine and then 10 years with Granada Media working up to personal assistant to the managing director, commuting regularly between their offices in Manchester and London. Heather conceived the speedwriting system BakerWrite and wrote a best selling book based on this system (Speed Writing skills training course, http://www.UoLearn.com ) which is also available as a video training course (http://www.bakerthompsonassoc.co.uk ). She is the author of Successful Minute Taking.

Reviews

Praise for business writing success: 'The course gave me a boost of confidence that shows I am capable of drafting letters.' 'I learnt such a lot from the course, I take a bit longer over everything I write now, but it is amazing the difference if you change the 'tone' of the message.' 'I feel a lot more confident using punctuation. I found the course interesting and everything is explained clearly.' 'I learnt how to deliver bad news with a positive spin.' 'It is all great and adaptable for my role.' 'I particularly found the practising of email writing and feedback given was incredibly helpful.' 'I thought this was focussed and incredibly useful. The methods, hints and tips which I learned will enable me to improve the quality of my work.' I would certainly recommend it to others.' 'Extremely informative.' 'It is fantastic and has helped me improve my writing skills.'