Online Course Development: Business Writing Skills Workshop

I like the Business Writing Skills workshop because I feel it provides concrete information on utilizing business writing techniques. We all know our students believe they are great writers. Indeed, they may excel in AP English, literature-based essays and creative writing. We also know that business writing is different. This requires them to write concisely, get to the point and use appropriate words.

Students tended to be resistant when I told them they would need to employ a different writing style. After all, they are top students in a very competitive university. They didn’t really believe their writing wasn’t up to par.

Pam Brumbaugh from Elon University gave me a wonderful way to put this to students. She said, “Think about it this way… I'm teaching you to become bilingual”. In other words, business writing is a different way of writing - just like a different language. When you learn another language, you don't forget how to speak the first one. You have just added an additional one. You also know which settings you would use one language versus the other. It's the same way in writing. You won't forget how to write a poem or a thank-you note to your grandmother. Instead, you will learn techniques that you must consciously use in business settings.

The business writing skills workshop teaches a plan-draft-revise model. I show students how to do a planning worksheet. We then briefly discuss the drafting phase. The second workshop in this module focuses on revision. Students learn to go back to their work and revise to include effective words (short, concrete, specific, appropriate) to create effective sentences (active tense and generally subject-verb-object) and effective paragraphs (short and based on the topic sentence).

The assignment for this workshop is the beginning work for a business memo. In my regular class, I use examples related to general business, such as a memo recommending implementing social media or purchasing company cell phones for the sales team. These are accounting students in my online class. I enlisted the help of an accounting professor to devise an appropriate subject. He is also going to provide me a “key” to appropriate research, since my accounting knowledge would fill a thimble!

Students will create a planning worksheet and a draft. I review both to ensure they included sufficient research and information. I also review the draft to make sure they are not revising as they go along, a very inefficient writing process. They will revise the memo and resubmit after the Business Communications workshop.