Description: If the thought of drafting a report sends shivers up your team’s collective spine, or if their memos are verbose and meander without meaning, this writing workshop has the solutions. With practice activities that help non-professional writers organize their thoughts and words more concisely and methodically, this course is also ideal for anyone who’s ever suffered writer’s block, split an infinitive or dangled a preposition.

Session Achievements (partial list):
• Keeping your writing precise and concise
• Knowing the difference between affect and effect; they’re and there; you’re and your
• Observing the ideal length for a sentence and the maximum height for a paragraph
• Using the active voice
• Avoiding acronyms and trite business-speak
• Discovering how tools built into Microsoft Office can make you a better writer
• Perfecting punctuation—from commas to semicolons

Description: In an age where to text is to “communicate,” this seminar is a refresher on how crafting a well-written e-mail entails delivering just enough information to be efficient, and just enough politeness to convey respect. Your staff will learn why “reply-all” is dangerous; tune-up their e-mail salutations and complimentary closes; and observe how “please” and “thank you” help convey tone—and get results.

Session Achievements (partial list):
• Ensuring email is the right platform for your message
• Getting your subject line right and keeping it fresh
• Writing with the bottom-line upfront
• Using bullet points to best effect
• Balancing politeness with efficiency
• Avoiding the traps of “reply-all” and “cc” and “bcc”
• Proofreading before sending

Description: Your staff may dread taking meeting minutes, but capturing relevant details can mean the difference between action and inaction. Make your workplace gatherings count by getting the right information—and the right amount of information—down the very first time.

Session Achievements (partial list):
• Creating a meeting agenda to keep everyone on point
• Remembering the essentials you’ll need to complete the job
• Filtering what to include and knowing what to disregard
• Finding a format that aids legibility
• Completing your minutes while memories are still fresh
• Coordinating edits from others
• Transmitting your work to stakeholders and meeting attendees

Description: Discover why proofing makes perfect in this workshop designed for anyone who writes—or anyone who must edit the writing of others. Learn how mistakes are costing you credibility, and gain tips and tricks for catching accidental errors. Even better, uncover mistakes you may not even realize you’ve been committing.

Session Achievements (partial list):
• Catching errors by changing your routine
• Finding the most commonly misspelled words
• Punctuating with precision
• Editing for clarity
• Keeping your formatting consistent
• Learning proofreader’s marks
• Creating a workflow that keeps errors to a minimum

Description: Does your staff cram PowerPoint slides with data to cover all bases—and to conceal their fear of public speaking? This session gets them off and running with a clean slate, providing strategies and practice opportunities for delivering a message that will sizzle and never snooze. With the opportunity to prepare and then deliver on-camera (optional), attendees get to analyze their own performances on-screen, making tweaks to hook an audience with ease.

Session Achievements (partial list):
• Overcoming fear of addressing an group
• Preparing a story to warm up the room
• Using body language to underscore your message
• Dressing the part and making a great first impression
• Designing a presentation you will deliver—not read
• Knowing how (and when) to accept questions
• Viewing your performance and identifying further areas for improvement