CONTINUING EDUCATION

BUSINESS WRITING

Explore the Course
Essential Skills for Working Professionals

Write with purpose, clarity, and confidence

Business writing shapes how colleagues, customers, and decision-makers understand an issue and respond. This practical course brings business documents and email communication together in one connected class.

Learn to identify the purpose and audience for each message, organize the most important information first, and choose a tone that is professional, courteous, and clear. The course covers memos, reports, proposals, customer letters, and email.

Participants will work through the principles that apply across these formats: concise language, logical structure, accurate information, careful editing, and an appropriate call to action.

What you will learn

1
Define the purpose, audience, and desired response before drafting.
2
Organize memos, reports, and proposals so readers can find key points and recommendations quickly.
3
Write customer correspondence that addresses concerns respectfully and explains next steps.
4
Write concise email with clear subject lines, appropriate tone, and careful recipient and link checks.
5
Edit for clarity, accuracy, grammar, bias, confidentiality, and professional style.

Program at a Glance

  • Instructor: Art Samansky
  • Format: In-Person
  • Schedule: Thursdays, April 1, 8, and 15, 2027
    6:00-8:00 p.m.
  • Tuition: $175
  • Duration: Three weeks; six instructional hours
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Course Topics

A connected approach to business writing

Purpose, audience, and structure

  • Choose a writing process that fits the task, such as outlining or drafting from key points.
  • Distinguish the goals of internal memos, reports, and external proposals.
  • Lead with the main point, recommendation, or action the reader needs to take.
  • Use headings, summaries, and supporting facts to guide readers through longer documents.

Clear and credible writing

  • Use direct, specific language and active voice.
  • Support claims with current, reliable information and cite sources when appropriate.
  • Keep tone professional, courteous, inclusive, and suited to the reader.
  • Review drafts for accuracy, grammar, spelling, ambiguity, and unnecessary wording.

Customer letters and sensitive messages

  • Respond promptly and use the reader's name appropriately.
  • Acknowledge the issue, explain the resolution, and make next steps easy to follow.
  • Communicate with transparency and care to help maintain trust.
  • Provide useful contact details and follow-up information.

Email that represents your organization

  • Write a specific subject line and concise message that works on small screens.
  • Set an appropriate tone with salutations, acknowledgments, and a suitable closing.
  • Check recipients, attachments, links, timing, and confidentiality before sending.
  • Consider how wording, punctuation, forwarding, and AI-assisted edits can affect meaning and risk.
  • Check links, phishing concerns, applicable recordkeeping expectations, and whether a conversation is better handled in person.

The course also addresses jargon, idioms, cultural differences, plagiarism, copyright awareness, and careful use of AI-generated text.