Business Communication and Writing Skills

Module 1: Communication Skills – Overview

• Icebreaker: Who are you?

• The organizational uses of written and oral communication

• Verbal communications: written, spoken, paralanguage, including choice of words, questions

• Identifying common barriers to productive communication: ways to overcome them

Module 2: Fundamentals of Business Writing

• Principles of effective written communication

• Clear, concise and direct expression of ideas

• Kiss principle

• The importance of positive tone and appropriate style

MODULE 3: Getting Started

• Different strategies to suit individual style preferences, including: Brainstorming, Mind-mapping, Free-writing, Logical outlines

• Defining your purpose and selecting the appropriate format

• Identifying the objective and key ideas

• Planning, outlining, and formatting

MODULE 4: Specific Forms of Business Writing

• Power memos

• Minutes of Meetings

• Responding to complaints and criticism

• Reports - how to write them

Module 5 : Expressing yourself more clearly and completely

• Recognize perceptual filters that hinder communication

• Recognizing your style and the style of others

• Saying What’s In Our Hearts

• Interpreting nonverbal cues

Module 6: Listening for Understanding

• Listening and confirming the message

• Using questions to reach out.

• Translating “yes-no” questions.

• Asking questions more creatively.

• Expanding your tool kit of creative questions.

Module 7 – Making better communication an important part of everyday living

• Taking responsibility for your emotions

• Minimizing defensive reactions in others