See also:
Business Writing Intensive

Business Writing

Business Writing

Business Writing is a 6-week class, which includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s for beginners or anyone who wants a refresher. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.

For companies interested in our Business Writing program, see this brochure or visit our Corporate Classes page.

In business, your writing counts. It’s a projection of yourself (and your company) just as much as what you wear or how you conduct yourself in a meeting. Good writing skills will enhance your image, increase your confidence, boost your productivity, and help you achieve your objectives on a daily basis.

Here you will learn the basic principles of good business writing, which you can immediately put into action—on anything from simple emails to complex documents. You’ll also be surprised at how entertaining the course is, and by how much “personality” can play a part in your business writing.

Whether you seek to pick up the basics or polish your skills, you’ll soon be writing with less stress and more success.

About Business Writing
Business Writing

A wonderful way to improve the composition and creativity in your writing.

Tabitha Weaver

communications associate

Notes

This course touches on grammar and style points, but these things are covered more fully in Grammar 1 and Grammar 2.

This is not an English-as-second-language course. It’s fine if English is not your first language, but you must speak and write it fluently.

Upcoming Classes

Masks are not required, but we’ll provide masks for those who want them. We are no longer requesting proof of vaccination.

More Covid details

Price

Registration fee $25, paid once per term

6-Week

Syllabus

This course gives you a firm grounding in the basics of effective business writing, and lets you experiment with various communication techniques. Course components:
     Lectures
     Writing exercises

New York City/Zoom classes
The syllabus varies from teacher to teacher, term to term. Many topics will be similar to those covered in the Online classes.

Online classes 
Week 1
You and the Audience: The value of good business writing. You—knowing how to present yourself. Audience—know your audience, picture yourself in their shoes. You and your audience—know your point, understand the situation, ways to connect. Integrity. Grammar tip—what is a sentence?

Week 2
Tone: Tuning your tone—word choice, situation. Tone killers and sweeteners. Meta-message. Openings and closings. Emotion. Style tip—what is a paragraph?

Week 3
Structure/Process: Structure—choosing between the “straight-on” or “ramp-up” approach, pyramid/sandwich/feature structures, visual design. Process—planning/first draft/revising, professionalism. Patience and practice. Grammar tip—the he/she conundrum.

Week 4
Strong Writing: Be clear—clarity checklist, avoid “business-speak” and “know-it-all-speak.” Be concise—concise checklist, cutting with a machete and with surgical scissors. Be specific. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Style tip—active vs. passive voice.

Week 5
Engaging Writing: Be conversational—naturalness, levels of formality. Be colorful—what is colorful and when to use it. Conversational and colorful techniques—sentence tips, strong verbs, sparing with modifiers, avoid clichés, figurative language, sound, story, humor. Social grace. Style tip—parallel structure.

Week 6
Email and Other Forms: Email protocol—tips, traps, and etiquette. Tour of other business writing forms—letters, memos, reports, proposals, white papers, press releases, brochures, websites, blogs/newsletters, social media. Opportunity. Grammar tip—punctuation primer.

Note: Content may vary among individual classes.

Teachers

Corie Hengst
Corie Hengst

Corie Hengst is a production editor at Adweek, where she focuses on editing and production for the print magazine. She has served as a freelance editorial contributor for companies and publications including Penguin Random House, Bankrate, and ShoeFitts Marketing. She has also written white papers, newsletters and blogs, as well as edited business books, and she has held magazine editor positions at Plan Adviser/Plan Sponsor and American Salon. She holds a BA from Missouri State University.

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Mo Krochmal
Mo Krochmal

Mo Krochmal is the executive editor and founder of Social Media News NY. He was a founding producer for the New York Times website, senior editor of GenomeWeb, executive producer of Nassau News Live, and New York editor for TechWeb. He has written for United Press International, the New York Times, the Danbury News-Times, the Wilson Daily Times, and the Washington Daily News. He is the vice president of the New York City chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He has facilitated professional communication training at the Courts of the United States, the US Patent and Technology Office, and Health Security Partners in Washington, DC. He has taught at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hofstra University, Quinnipiac University, and the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. He holds a BA from North Carolina State University and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University.

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