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Broad-based business writing improvement with a focus on synthesizing complex information into clear summary statements. Craft a tight "so what" statement that identifies significance, not just information.
Available for groups online or onsite, and for individuals online.The ability to summarize and synthesize lots of information into a coherent statement that highlights implications, not merely a recitation of facts, is essential in managerial and persuasive writing.
These summaries take many forms — briefs, scorecards, status reports, regulatory reports, client recommendations, meeting summaries, status updates, and business pitches.
They require keen thinking and planning, and skilled writing to enable your reader to understand complex information easily. Most professionals write executive summaries throughout much of their business writing.
This course teaches the optimal business writing process, provides broad-based business writing improvement, and teaches you how to write clearly and correctly.
This course is a great fit for you or your organization if:
After completing the course, you will earn a personalized certificate. You can display your certificate in the certification section of your LinkedIn profile, download it to print, or mention it in your résumé.
During the course, you will apply what you are learning in a series of writing exercises. These tasks are designed to reinforce what you are learning in that section of the course. Additionally, after submitting these writing exercises, you will receive detailed written feedback from your instructor.
The course concludes with a live one-to-one coaching session, conducted via web meeting, to review one of the typical executive summary documents you've written at work. and identify additional writing improvements.
Onsite training is highly interactive, with many individual, peer, and group activities. We focus on the thinking and planning work that is the foundation of executive summary writing, as well as sharpening syntax.
USAA
FedEx Services
USAA
Kemper Corporation
Given their important role in business communication, writing effective executive summaries is a highly prized skill. Executives and managers can quickly recognize a clearly worded summary, and appreciate the clarity of the abbreviated version. It is much more challenging to write shorter than longer. This fact makes the challenge of the executive summary even greater. Therefore, when they are well-written, its value is apparent to managers.
Developing your employees’ business communication skills improves communication flow within your organization. If your company relies on executive summaries to communicate information between departments and management levels, then you understand the importance of receiving clearly extracted information.
While employees can be experts in their area, being able to communicate information in a summarized and prioritized way is often not a co-occurring skill. This course provides your employees with the toolkit to distill and direct their expertise.
Improved executive summaries will improve the transfer of information through your company. This shift in communication will increase productivity and eliminate misunderstandings which can lead to costly mistakes.
This business writing course is split into 12 detailed modules.
This module outlines the necessary foundation for writing better content and process. We will work with you to develop specific learning goals that you want to achieve by the end of the course.
Learn our step-by-step process to write more effectively. In order to summarize well, a business writer needs to have a strong understanding of what the reader needs as well as the document's purpose.
You will be able to create better structure and help your reader take the desired action by summarizing what matters.
Learn how to organize your information for clarity. This module includes tips and tricks on how to organize the beginning, middle, and end of your document and make it quick to scan.
We'll also illustrate actual executive summary writing and how to craft a "so what" summary that highlights what matters from mere backstory.
Colleagues are depended on well-summarized information to act decisively. Learn how to write better internal documents.
Better communication inside your organization can lead to fewer meetings, higher productivity, and less chaos.
Learn best practices for when you need to write to external stakeholders. A writing mistake to a team member may be overlooked, but you can be sure it will be noticed by a new customer, supplier, or regulator. It is crucial you can communicate professionally and summarize well.
Email now accounts for over 25% of our time in the workplace. In this module, we teach you how to save time and better manage high email volume. You will learn how to structure emails to elicit the results you want.
Learn the optimal structure and sequence for a business report.
You will learn how to drastically improve a report's effectiveness by writing a focused and well synthesized executive summary that enables readers to quickly glean the most important implications.
In this module, we share the best tips for organizing and presenting information, including graphical representations.
Good readability helps your reader scan and easily absorb complex information. You will also learn how to format documents depending on their purpose.
By definition, executive summaries convey complex information. The goal is to make the complex clear.
In this section, you will learn the tested tools to eliminate bloat, write clear and direct, and easy to understand sentences.
Style and tone change depending on the type of document you are writing and your reader. An internal memo or email is different than an external letter or report.
In this section, we will teach you how to convey confidence and emote an executive voice that presents you as a skilled professional.
Identify your particular grammar and punctuation errors and learn tactics to avoid these embarrassing mistakes.
These go beyond simple tips and tricks. These are proven grammar and syntax strategies that will make your writing correct and professional.
The course concludes with a live one-on-one video call with your instructor.
During this session, you will review one of your typical work documents with your instructor, and verify your ability to summarize anything well in writing. Ask any lingering questions.
The live coaching call acts to solidify the information learned during the course so you can apply your new knowledge to future writing and to provide detailed feedback on the executive summary you wrote in the course.
This course includes award-winning instructor coaching and feedback and ongoing support.
M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Boston
B.A. in Journalism from the University of Rhode Island
Katie is an experienced Business Writing and English as a Second Language instructor, business writing coach, and teacher trainer. She taught Business Writing, Non-Native Writing, and Academic Writing at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
She is very skilled at evaluating both the substance and language of business documents. Her writing critiques, instruction, and coaching have received stellar evaluations from our clients at Chartis Consulting, DuPont, Shell, Southern Middlesex Opportunity Council, and the World Wildlife Fund.
She holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Rhode Island and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Katie lives in Rhode Island with her husband, toddler, and very old dog. When not teaching or creating courses, she can be found doing something (anything!) outside with her little family.
M.Ed from the Boston-Bouve College of Human Development Professions at Northeastern University.
B.S. in Education from Salem State College
Janet is a business writing and marketing instructor, consultant, author, and public speaker with more than 20 years of experience working with individuals, small businesses, and corporations to develop all facets of business communication.
She writes and speaks extensively on business writing and marketing writing and has been a featured speaker at numerous business and education conferences in the U.S. and abroad.
Janet taught analytical writing, marketing writing, proposal writing, and general business writing courses at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
She enjoys gardening, yoga, hiking, and exploring the endless beauty of the New England seacoast where she lives on the South Shore of Massachusetts.
Graduate courses in Composition from Pompeau Fabra University
ESL Teaching Certification from Canterbury Consulting
B.A. in International Studies and Communication from Elon University
Grace supports Instructional Solutions' online courses and also works with individuals and groups from several multinational companies across Europe as a business writing coach.
She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has traveled extensively, providing a keen sensitivity to global writing. She has a strong background in corporate communication and management and successfully developed cross-functional writing and communication processes in a large corporate team in NYC. She is also a successful blogger and has received rave reviews from her writing critiques and coaching for our work with DuPont, Liberty Mutual, SparkPost, and many other groups.
She is bilingual in English and Spanish. She enjoys yoga, travel, and dance. She splits her time between New York City and Madrid.
C.A.G.S. in Composition and Rhetoric from University of New Hampshire
M.A. in English Literature from Boston College
B.A. in English from the University of Rhode Island
Mary founded Instructional Solutions in 1998 and is an internationally recognized business writing trainer and executive writing coach with two decades of experience helping thousands of individuals and businesses master the strategic skill of business writing. She excels at designing customized business writing training programs to maximize productivity, advance business objectives, and convey complex information.
Mary leads the project management and instructional design on customized courses. She also personally trains the instructors who lead ongoing training.
She lives in Princeton, New Jersey where she enjoys yoga, running, cooking, tinkering with new technologies, and most especially her family.
For individuals and groups.
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