Engage and Influence with Business Writing
Grabbing reader attention and getting your words read
When we write at work, we have about eight seconds to engage readers and make them want to read on and/or take action. That’s about 27 words – one heading and one sentence, or two sentences.
Making those first 27 words count is key to ensuring your writing hits the mark.
If your team members write in ways that bury key messages within long, wordy documents, there’s a risk readers won’t engage or act on the information they have read. They won’t understand what is required of them. And that affects local government decision-making and productivity.
This program equips participants to write in a way that engages readers from the first heading and sentence and makes clear the action required.
Overview
This course gives your team business-proven techniques to ensure their written messages are read, understood, and acted on promptly. It will boost their productivity and effectiveness.
Participants learn how to craft their writing to ensure it hooks reader attention, motivates recipients to take action, and saves everyone time.
Participants receive personal, expert feedback on their own writing.
Course Outline
- Introduction
- Knowledge gaps and the role of business writing
- Five steps to writing success
- What research says about reader attention
- Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) explained
- How to craft a BLUF with everyday examples
- Students edit their own writing to create BLUF communication
- Active and passive language
- Using active language for headings, subject lines, and sentences
- Spotting passive writing and making it active
Outcomes
Participants will:
- understand why good writing is critical to success at work
- understand the rationale for Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) communication
- know how to create and apply BLUF communication
- acquire active language skills for engaging headings, subject lines, and sentences
- receive individual feedback on their writing strengths and needs.
Who is it for?
Council team members needing to engage readers and motivate action.
Facilitator
The facilitator will use group discussions, council case studies and Local Government oriented examples, to help you transfer your learning to the workplace.
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