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Dr. Craig Hogan, director of the Business Writing Center and author of Explicit Business Writing: Best Practices for the Twenty-First Century oversees training for corporate trainers, professors, and others who want to be certified to teach the skills employees need to write clear, explicit e-mail, memos, letters, and reports. The skills are based on the 39 best practices explained in Explicit Business Writing: Best Practices for the Twenty-First Century. The trainer will receive the certification with our gold seal on it, for framing.

The training is in the semester-long course BWC225 Explicit Business Writing Skills with Additional Training with special guidance for the trainer or professor to prepare for training employees and students.

The training materials for the comprehensive, semester-length course, BWC225 Explicit Business Writing Skills with Additional Training, are available to college professors and corporate trainers for use with students and trainees. Cost of the interactive training materials is $79 per student or trainee.

A professor may assign the materials and have students purchase a user name and password from our online bookstore just as they purchase a textbook from the university bookstore. For corporate trainers, the Business Writing Center provides the trainer with a user name and password for the group of trainees so the trainees do not have to purchase the materials.

Professors and corporate trainers may review the online training materials and receive a complimentary review copy of the text, Explicit Business Writing: Best Practices for the Twenty-First Century by sending an e-mail containing the request to the Center at

R. Craig Hogan, Ph.D., director of The Business Writing Center, with 35 years of experience in teaching writing, has compiled the best practices into a valuable guide for business people: Explicit Business Writing: Best Practices for the Twenty-First Century.

1. a corporate culture that expects effective communication, so clear writing becomes the norm

2. modelling of the standards in all communication so new employees learn the skills quickly after a short training course

Competency-based training contrasts sharply with training that is judged to be successful if the trainee logs time in a workshop or classroom. Writing skills can be learned only over time with feedback from readers or a trainer and practice of the skills. Workshops alone are too short to teach writing skills, so The Business Writing Center requires follow up activities and certification of competence before participants can graduate from the workshop.

Using the Book for
Competency-Based Training

The Business Writing Center is open to other alternatives. Fees will depend on the arrangements. Contact The Business Writing Center at to have us help you explore alternatives.

Tuition is $295. The course begins as soon as you register because you work individually with the trainer. You may register for the course by filling out the registration form.

A company engaging The Business Writing Center for courses or workshops must agree to allow us to certify participant competence in explicit business writing within three months after the workshop or course through a written competency examination.

Contents:

Trainees master all of the following skills and demonstrate their competence in writing examinations the trainer evaluates carefully. They must demonstrate mastery of each skill before advancing to the next skill:

Plan and organize.
• Have clear objectives.
• Provide information that suits the reader's knowledge of the subject, educational background, technical expertise, need for concrete explanations, and need for depth of knowledge.
• Include everything every intended reader needs to achieve your objectives.
• Respond to requests by providing precisely what the person asked for under the conditions specified.
• Give readers the information they need at the specific points where they need it for maximum understanding.
• When readers have differing needs or abilities, write different versions or sections of the document to match the readers' needs and abilities.
• Present topics in the same order throughout and link all the contents in each part.

Build the communication infrastructure.
• In e-mails, letters, and memos, write thanks, commendations, and genuine statements of good will that build teams and partnerships with clients.
• Present the information with consideration for the reader's possible reaction to the subject and you.
• Use the tone and level of formality that fit the objectives and the reader.
• Ask for and give feedback on the clarity and relevance of documents and writing.

Prepare readers to understand and act.
• Write e-mail subject lines using words that alert the reader to the contents, required action, or critical information in the e-mail.
• In the introduction, explain everything readers need to know to understand fully why they are receiving the document.
• In the introduction, describe all actions the reader is expected to perform and any critical information the reader must know.
• Summarize conclusions and recommendations at the beginning.
• Write a clear statement of the contents at the end of the introduction so readers know what to expect and can prepare for reading.

Provide a clear framework that guides readers.
• Put the information into clearly defined blocks that the reader can read, understand, and remember, one block at a time.
• For each information block, write an explicit opening statement the reader can use to begin putting the block's details into a framework.
• For lists with items that are each several paragraphs or pages long, open the lists with statements of the contents and open each list item with a description of the item's contents.
• For lists with items that are a few lines long, break out the lists with numbers and bullets.
• Present information in a clear visual blueprint so readers can see the organization as they read.
• Use tables to organize the information so readers can place the details into a clear framework.
• End the document with a conclusion that helps readers achieve your objectives.
• Include feedback loops that reflect the importance of the content and your assessment of the likelihood this reader will understand or act as expected.

Use explicitly clear explanations.
• Write concrete, detailed descriptions of problems and issues.
• Write requests that state directly, unambiguously, and completely what you are requesting.
• Use key terms consistently.
• Fully explain the concept behind every new key term as the reader encounters it.
• Have a clear focus for the document and for each part.
• Communicate technical subjects clearly to non-technical readers.
• Write instructions and procedures that are complete and concrete.
• Provide sufficient, relevant evidence for statements.

Write clear, concise paragraphs, sentences, and words.
• Write concisely.
• Write clear, focused, organized paragraphs that help readers identify, understand, and remember concepts.
• Write sentences that are complete, simple, clear, and straightforward.
• Use only simple punctuation.
• Use words every intended reader will understand.

Write a final draft that has correct usage (grammar, punctuation, and spelling) and uses clear formatting.
• Polish and proofread all documents.
• Use formatting that makes the text easy to read.

Training in language usage require a very different set of skills from those required for structuring clear e-mails, memos, letters, and reports. Usage training comprises grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax. Language usage is more difficult to teach because the use of language is deeply ingrained from learning the language in childhood or from learning another language in childhood that influences the adult's use of English.

Training in usage must occur over time in the context of the trainee's own writing, with a focus on language, not structure. Competency-based training that brings the trainee to mastery of the skills may require months or years of training. The courses that teach usage are BWC110 Basic Writing Skills Tutorial, BWC130 Individualized Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English, and BWC85 Basic Grammar Essentials. Two additional individualized courses focusing on language are available for executives and managers: Writing Coaching for Managers and Executives and Writing Coaching for Nonnative Speaking Managers and Executives

Tuition for each course is $295. The course begins as soon as you register because you work individually with the trainer. You may register for the course by filling out the registration form.

Language usage (grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax) can similarly be taught through a workshop and follow up training to help the person achieve a higher level of proficiency. If The Business Writing Center determines that a trainee's language usage requires more work than we can provide in the follow up activities described below, we reserve the option of requiring that the person enroll in one of our individualized language usage courses to gain as much competence as the person is capable of attaining. However, because becoming competent in language usage is so dependent on the trainee's efforts and requires long hours of study and practice, The Business Writing Center cannot guarantee that the workshop and follow up activities will result in the trainee's attainment of language mastery.

This is the certification process:

1. During a one-day to three-day workshop, our trainers will train participants in basic language skills (grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax).

2. Participants must then practice the skills over time after the workshop until they are able to demonstrate competence. They may use one of these three methods:
   • Regularly scheduled sessions with one of the company's in-house trainers who reviews the participant's writing samples, talks with the trainee or writes detailed notes for the trainee, and prescribes reading from the text, The Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers

   • Enrolling in BWC226 Language Usage Competency Preparation (tuition $175) in which one of The Business Writing Center's trainers evaluates writing samples and coaches the trainee through additional learning in preparation for the competency examination

   • Enrolling in BWC110 Basic Writing Skills Tutorial (tuition $295) or BWC130 Individualized Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English (tuition $295) in which The Business Writing Center's trainers train the person in language usage to the level of proficiency the person is willing and able to attain during either course

   • Group peer-training, in which the participants meet regularly after the workshop to evaluate one-another's writing samples and ensure that all are gaining competence in language usage

3. Within three months after the workshop, each participant must write a response to a case study demonstrating correct language usage. The writing must be supervised, over a limited time. If the trainee does not demonstrate correct language usage in the sample, he or she must submit another case study sample. Cost of additional case-study samples is $50 per sample.

4. The Business Writing Center will certify the participant's competence and graduate the person from the course. Each participant will receive a graduation certificate for framing.

E-mail the Center at

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