Our Business Writing Basics course is built for you!

  • Videos and interactive exercises

    Each chapter in this course includes videos explaining the concepts, handouts to accompany the video content, reflections to integrate course material into your experience, and quizzes to practice your skills.

  • Work at your own pace

    This course is on-demand, which means you start when you want and move through the course content as fast or slow as you like!

  • Add on expert feedback

    Want expert feedback? You have the option to add-on expert feedback and submit a message up to 250 words so you can find out what you are doing well and where you can improve!

What you will learn

  • Planning

    The 7 questions to ask yourself before you write anything. These questions easily help you write faster and craft more effective messages by preparing your brain to choose language for your purpose and audience.

  • Sentence Strategies

    Sentences form the basis of our written communication. You'll learn 9 strategies for crafting clearer, more concise, and nicer sentences: 4 things to avoid, 3 things to consider carefully, and 2 things to do.

Business Writing Basics includes

  • 15 videos

  • 5 handouts

  • 2 readings

  • 3 reflections

  • 13 quizzes

  • Pre and post skill assessments

Instructor(s)

Jenny Morse is the founder and CEO of Appendance, Inc, which provides business writing training to professionals working at companies along the Front Range and around the country. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Bowdoin College in Maine, her Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Colorado—Boulder, and her PhD in English at the University of Illinois—Chicago. As a freelance writer and editor, she has written website copy, crafted award speeches, and ghostwritten for a few CEOs, publishing articles in Forbes, Inc., and Wired. Her articles about common grammar errors, writing habits, and entertaining writing stories can be found at appendance.com/blog.

Jenny Morse, PhD

President, CEO, and Lead Trainer

Course curriculum

  1. 01

    • Welcome to the course!

    • What you will learn

    • Learning objectives and course outline

    • Set your goals

    • Initial Assessment
  2. 02

    • Planning: The first step to becoming a more efficient and more effective business writer

    • Why do you need a plan? - Handout

    • Why do you need a plan? - Video

    • Purpose and audience: The first 5 questions - Handout

    • Purpose and audience: The first 5 questions - Video

    • Medium and Approach: The last 2 questions - Handout

    • Medium and Approach: The last 2 questions - Video

    • Consider purpose, audience, medium, and approach

    • Practice planning with these scenarios

    • Reflect on the planning process
  3. 03

    • 9 strategies you can use now to improve your writing

    • 4 Things to Avoid - Handout

    • 1. Avoid Wordy Phrases - Video

    • Practice Writing Without Wordy Phrases

    • 2. Avoid Indefinite Starters - Video

    • Practice Avoiding Indefinite Starters

    • 3. Avoid -ly Words - Video

    • Practice Avoiding -ly Words

    • 4. Watch Out for Word Choice Errors - Video

    • Practice Watching Out for Word Choice Errors

    • 3 Things to Choose Carefully - Handout

    • 1. Avoid No/Not - Video

    • Practice Avoiding No/Not

    • 2. Avoid Passive Voice - Video

    • Practice Using Active Voice

    • 3. Think About Voice: I, You, We - Video

    • Practice Altering Voice

    • 2 Things to Do - Handout

    • 1. Write Short Sentences - Video

    • Practice Writing Shorter Sentences

    • 2. Ask Questions - Video

    • Practice Asking Questions

    • Practice Writing Using these Strategies

    • Reflect on these 9 strategies
  4. 04

    • Final Assessment

    • Thank you for your participation in the Business Writing Basics course!

    • Want Feedback on Your Writing?

    • More courses to improve your business writing!

    • Provide feedback for the course

Why should you take this course?

This course is designed to help you become a more efficient (faster!) and more effective (clear! concise! nice!) writer.

  • You write a lot for your job.

  • You worry that your writing may not be "good enough."

  • You take a long time to write, sometimes staring at the blank screen.

  • You don't get the answers you want and worry your messages aren't clear or easy to read.

  • You've been told your writing sounds "mean" or "rude," even though you are really nice in person!

  • You want to be confident that your writing is good.

  • You want to refresh your writing skills.

Start improving your writing today!

Our Business Writing Basics course will get you started with the tools you need to level up the writing skills you use in your job. Once you understand these tools and how to use them, you'll be able to craft better messages in less time!
Enroll now
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What our customers say

“I'm a lot more aware of the messages that I'm sending and I find myself looking at the messages that I receive to try to improve them.”

Melissa P.

“The 7 questions for planning your writing will be helpful for all future correspondence and professional writing. The key to step away for 15 minutes after writing before reviewing your own writing. ”

Jenna B.

“I feel empowered and able to resolve the writing challenging messages more quickly. Business writing has always been enjoyable for me and it is all the more fun with some new tools! ”

Steve H.

“Jenny's Business Writing course through Appendance is fantastic. Even before the completion of her course, I was able to see the immediate results of my improved business writing. I cannot emphasize enough how effective her material is at improving the day to day operations of my work. If you are looking for someone to help improve your business writing, Jenny is one of the best resources out there.”

Logan S.

Wait!

If you purchase our Business Writing and Email Basics bundle, you'll get our Business Writing Basics course *and* our Email Excellence course. A $134 value; all yours for $110.

  • Business Writing and Email Basics

    Get all the content from our Business Writing Basics course AND our Email Excellence course. With Email Excellence, learn keys for subject lines, greetings, closings, and signature blocks as well as how to organize and write emails that are easy for your audience to read and respond to. Course includes expert feedback on up to 3 email messages!

    $60.00

    Buy Now

What Else Does Appendance Offer?