Business Correspondence
Writing Principles

Part One: Essentials of Effective Business Writing

• What is business correspondence?
• Differences between business and creative writing.
• Identifying old-fashioned vs. modern business writing styles.
• Writing skills using the 4 C’s—clear, concise, courteous and correct.

Part Two: Process of Effective Business Correspondence

• Understanding attention span of readers.
• Summary writing—5 W’s & 1H.
• Concise writing essentials.
• Approaches to writing—voice, direct, indirect and persuasive.
• Controlling tone in writing.
• Common grammatical errors made in business correspondence.
• Identifying reader types.

Part Three: Office Correspondence (Internal and External)

Section A: Reports and Proposals

• Differences between analytical and informational reports.
• Ways to organize reports and proposals convincingly.
• Delivering reports via set and standard formats—Feasibility reports, internal papers, incident reports, investigation reports, concept papers.

Section B: Replying to Emails and Letters

• The four-point plan used in emails and letters.
• Phrases to use when replying to general letters of enquiry and to an aggrieved customer.

Section C: Minutes of Meeting

• Organisational content structure in minutes of meeting.
• Business meeting buzzwords and terms.
• Prepare note-taking forms.
• Listening comprehension and note-taking skills.
• Using the appropriate tone and language.

Methodologies

• Lecturing
• Group Discussion
• Self-Analysis
• Class Brainstorming
• Learning from a Partner
• Interactive Exercises

Who Should Attend

• Managers
• Officers
• Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing and Customer Care Executives
• Administrative/ Support Officers and Executives
• Personal Assistants and Secretaries

Caroline Josephine Dawson

Caroline Josephine Dawson has more than 18 years of invaluable experience as an Editor of lifestyle and technical publications and 15 years teaching business management, environmental and soft-skills communication.

She holds a Master of Arts in Mass Communication from NTU (Singapore) and has attained the Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certification through the London Teacher Training College and also teaches English as a foreign language. Caroline is also an MBTI®, DISC Accredited Administrator, Enneagram and Lumina Spark/Emotion practitioner and she has administered the tools to top level managers and supervisors on managing their leadership styles and team members. She is currently pursuing her doctorate studies in Business Administration through a Paris-based business school.

Her many opportunities in working with the public and private sectors around the world has enhanced her training experience. Participants of her training workshops attest to her motivational, instructional and highly experiential training methodology that have helped them in their workplace business management. Caroline has trained operational, supervisory and managerial staff from various organisations.