This one-day, intensive workshop equips participants with a six-step writing process to energize their writing, eliminate rounds of editing, and get results. Aided by expert coaching throughout the day, participants apply the course techniques directly to a writing assignment of their choice - anything from a simple e-mail or memo to a complex report, proposal, or strategic plan.

TOPICS COVERED:

• Writing From the Reader's Perspective: How to foresee and address your reader's needs, especially when communicating complex material
• New Research That Redefines Reader-Friendly: How research from cognitive science and usability studies can help you reach and move time-strapped readers who scan documents
• Keys to Clarity: Editing secrets to perfect your document's logic, flow, layout, and word choice, while eliminating clutter
• Fast Editing: Best practices to fine-tune editing process

DESIGNED FOR:

• Anyone who writes on the job

FORMAT:

The workshop follows a fast-paced and goal-oriented agenda. Participants start the day mapping their readers' mindset to clarify their assignment's purpose. After a "verb jam" session that helps participants activate their most powerful voice, they engage in a role-play exercise to anticipate readers' questions and devise their own answers. Participants finish the morning with a viable rough draft that instructors evaluate during lunch.

In the afternoon, the focus shifts to editing. Participants learn to use a one-page checklist to ensure a document will engage intended readers and elicit the desired response. Techniques such as the "10-second glance," "the rule of eight," "clutter busting," and "sound checking" help participants perfect their focus, flow and organization, while spotting and eliminating problems with fluff, clarity, and grammar. After polishing their documents, participants join in a group critique that closes the workshop.