BUSINESS WRITING

Business Writing

In today’s globalized age, few things are as important as the ability to write well. Put simply, clear communication is a sign of a clear mind.

And yet, this skill is vanishingly scarce. More and more, our emails resemble texts. Our plans don’t clarify; they complexify. We aim to impress, not to illuminate.

If these scenarios sound familiar, here’s the good news: You’re not alone.

Even better: The problem is fixable; the mechanics of good writing are eminently learnable.

And that’s the point of this business-writing workshop. Give me anywhere from one hour to one day, and I promise you this: You’ll leave with the confidence and know-how to make your writing precise, crisp, and enjoyable.

Here’s a glimpse of what we’ll cover:

✅ Which rules of English it’s ok to break.
✅ Why no topic is too complicated or boring to be made engrossing.
✅ Why every authority on language recommends that you use contractions.
✅ Why simple writing is so powerful.
✅ Why your writing needs to engage both sides of the brain.
✅ Why style (everything from how your words sound to how they look) matters as much as substance (or what your words say).

We’ll conclude with an editing exercise.

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Editing

Not a rehash of grammar, but handy, memorable tips you can immediately apply.

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Grants

Grant writing is serious business. For some recipients, a single grant can mean the difference between hiring someone vs. laying someone off. Indeed, many organizations draw an outsize percentage of their revenue from one or two key grantors. And this is to say nothing of the fierce competition: The demand for money far outpaces the supply of it.

Yet here’s the thing: Requests — whether for nonprofits, academics, scientists, or even states vis-à-vis the federal government — are like résumés: About a quarter of them can be rejected with prejudice, at first blush, without any consideration. Why? For the same reason résumés get tossed in the trash: Because the applicant is unqualified, because her proposal is vague, because she ignored instructions.

That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: Grants are game-able. That is, there are a variety of tactics that will almost guarantee you’ll make it to the final round of application process. Specifically, if you internalize and incorporate 13 specific lessons, you’ll turbocharge the likelihood that you get funded.

Headlines

Headlines are the closest thing writers have to a silver bullet. Don’t waste ‘em.

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Numbers

When faced with lots of facts and figures, many people recoil. Big numbers can be intimidating.

That’s both unfortunate and fixable. In fact, even if you’re terrible at math, I can help you make numbers meaningful.

In this workshop, you’ll learn not only how to analyze any kind of data, but also how to crank it down into familiar comparisons that even your innumerate uncle can understand. You’ll learn how to turn spreadsheets into stories.

We’ll conclude with a group exercise in which you’ll apply these lessons to humanize various statistics.

As a result, you’ll be able to comb through any chart, database, or spreadsheet, and emerge with an essential takeaway that everyone remembers. With unflagging consistency, you’ll be able to turn metrics into meaning.

PowerPoint

Everyone thinks they hate PowerPoint. Yet what they actually hate is not the tool, but the way the tool is used. Here’s the truth: when used appropriately, a slide deck can be indispensable and indelible — not a necessary evil, but a powerful aid.

You too can deliver a deck as if you were Steve Jobs. You just need to unlearn all the bad habits you’ve seen across corporate America.

Each attendee will receive three things:

1️⃣ A copy of the PowerPoint presentation.

2️⃣ A list of websites for free or low-cost graphics.

3️⃣ A cheat sheet with the techniques we discussed.

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Speechwriting

Speechwriting is a special art. Or so some think. In truth, crafting a speech can be similar to crafting an op-ed — but only if you know the landscape beforehand.

Talking Points

Of all the documents in the realm of business writing, this one is the most ambiguous.

Visual Aids

All smart writers know a secret. They know that what you write — your words by themselves — is only half of any project. The other half? How those words look. Put simply, how your words look can be as important as what they say.

In this interactive workshop — filled with examples from the T.V. show Mad Men — you’ll learn to think visually, like a designer. You’ll come to appreciate the power of packaging and presentation — everything from the length of your paragraphs and the width of your margins to your use of headings and your choice of typeface. As a result, your copy will become as aesthetically arresting as it is textually thoughtful.

Here’s a glimpse of what we’ll cover:

✅ How to transform even the most boring text into content that’s digestible and enjoyable.
✅ A dozen techniques used by professional designers that give your paragraphs room to breathe.
✅ Why the human eye prefers white space.
✅ How to use the subtle tricks of formatting to make your tables clearer and more impactful.
✅ Why you should always write a subheading.

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