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Free 32-page book with exercises and printable resources
This course will teach you advanced techniques that can take your writing from good to great. Every day, we use words to persuade others to buy from us, to hire or promote us, to establish our credibility and reputation. We write to change the way people think, feel and act. It is essential that the words you choose and the way you use them are working for you as hard as they can.
Free 32-page book with exercises and printable resources
This course will teach you advanced techniques that can take your writing from good to great. Every day, we use words to persuade others to buy from us, to hire or promote us, to establish our credibility and reputation. We write to change the way people think, feel and act. It is essential that the words you choose and the way you use them are working for you as hard as they can.
Writing well is a vital part of any successful career or business. If you want to thrive at work you need to thrive at writing. By the end of this course, you will have developed advanced writing skills that will propel your career or business to the next level.
In this course, you will master advanced writing techniques. It's divided into five parts:
Part One - Good Writing: First, we’ll discuss what makes writing ‘good’. Why does something we read or hear stand out? Why do we enjoy it, trust it or understand it more than something else? In Part One, we’ll also examine word choice, the use of metaphor and humour, authenticity, and explore how playing with variety and rhythm in your language can bring your words to life.
Part Two - Structure: Structure is the road map that directs your reader from where they are to where you want them to be. In Part Two, we’ll show you why structure matters so much, the most common and effective structures, the best way to present an argument, and how you can use different structures in the writing you do every day.
Part Three - Storytelling: People love stories and learning to write good ones is one of the most potent tools in your writer’s toolkit. In Part Three, we’ll show you how they work, how to write them, and how to use stories in your everyday writing.
Part Four - Practicalities: In Part Four, we’ll look at some of the more practical aspects of writing and presenting your work, including the importance of research, formatting and advanced editing techniques. We’ll also address two of the biggest writing challenges that many of us face: writing for non-native English speakers, and writing within an organisation or company, where there are often tight constraints on what and how you write.
Part Five: Applying what you’ve learned: It’s now time to put everything together and apply these lessons to different types of documents. In Part Five, we’ll cover writing articles, LinkedIn posts, speeches, presentations and press releases. Even if you don't normally write this sort of thing, the lessons you will learn will help you with everything you write.
Throughout the course there will be short exercises and quizzes so you can check your understanding and hone your skills.
Advanced Business Writing Skills is written and presented by Mark Morris and Philip Fiske de Gouveia.
Mark is an award-winning professional speechwriter with more than fifteen years of experience writing for senior politicians in the United Kingdom and internationally – including for two former Prime Ministers. During his career, he’s written thousands of speeches to audiences across Europe and North America.
Mark has written countless debates in the British Parliament, as well as articles for newspapers including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, La Repubblica, El Pais, The Times and Die Welt, and for magazines including Wired and Newsweek. Mark even had the honour of writing an historic and award-winning speech to a joint meeting of the United States Congress.
Philip is a professional speechwriter, and has written for some of the world’s most senior business and political leaders. He is a former BBC journalist, reporting from all over the world, and has published articles in dozens of newspapers and magazines. He is also a playwright whose plays have been produced for stage and radio. Philip is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the Institute of Communications Studies at the University of Leeds.
In this course, Mark and Philip will give you the full benefit of their years of experience and expertise to set you on the path to writing success.
So enroll now and start your journey to writing excellence.
Why writing well so so important
A little about Mark and Phil
An overview of the course
21 page resource pack.
In Part One we will examine the difference between 'good' and 'bad' writing.
We will look at:
Length
Word choice
Metaphor
Humour
Authenticity
A quick word on Udemy reviews.
Why does a piece of writing stand out and achieve its objectives while others don't?
How long is too long? Or too short?
The words you choose dictate the rhythm and pace of your work. This can be the difference between success and failure.
Correctly using metaphor and simile can transform your writing; here's how.
Humour is an excellent way to connect with your readers, but there are risks.
For your readers to trust your message, they need to trust you.
Review of what you've learned in Par One: Good Writing.
In Part Two we will dive into structure, one of the most important parts of effective writing.
We will look at:
why structures matters
a range of different structures you can use
A clear structure is like a map. It helps you guide your reader from where they are to where you want them to be.
Britain's famous wartime Prime Minister's advice on how to structure a document.
A powerful technique from American psychologist, Alan Monroe.
How to make an effectiive and persuasive argument, rather than a simple assertion.
Some other structures you can draw upon for your work.
List of structures and an exercise.
A review of what you've learned in Part Two: Structure.
In Part Three, you'll learn the importance of story telling and how to do it.
A little science on why people are drawn to stories and why you should use them in your work.
What makes an engaging story.
Learn how the story telling wizards at Pixar structure their stories and how you can follow in their footsteps.
Test your knowledge of story telling structures.
A review of what you have learned in Part Three: Stories.
In this section you will learn how to improve your research skills and advanced editing techniques, as well as how to better write for non-native English speakers and how to write effectively for a company or organisation.
How to plan and conduct your reaserach. And when to stop.
Advanced editing techniques to help your work shine.
What to consider when writing for people whose first language is not English.
What to consider when writing not as yourself, but as part of a larger organisation.
How to effectively manage the process of writing for a company or organisation.
A review of what you have learned in Part Four: Practical Issues.
In Part Five, you'll learn how to write a range of specific documents, from emails to speeches.
How to write an effective email that achieves its objectives.
How to write a newspaper article to change the way its readers think, feel or act.
How to write an effective piece for LinkedIn.
How to write and deliver a powerful and engaging speech that achieves your objectives.
How to write and deliver an effective presentation.
How to write an effective press release that actually gets published.
Here's something to print out and keep close whenever your write, George Orwell's timeless rules of writing.
A review of what you have learned in Part Five: Putting it into Practice.
Overview of everything you've learned in this course.
Develop your writing skills even further with my other writing courses.
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Exercises and resource pack reinforce learning.
Course is logically organized and easy to follow.
Valuable inclusion of storytelling techniques.
Offers techniques applicable immediately to work.
Instructors bring valuable real-world experience.
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