Effective writing is a powerful tool in the business environment. Learn how to articulate your thoughts in a clear and concise manner that will allow your ideas to be better understood by your readers. Improve your business writing skill by learning to select and use appropriate formats for your audience, use the correct medium and adjust your writing style accordingly, as well as identify your objective and communicate it clearly. You'll also learn to spot, correct and avoid the most common writing pitfalls, and gain valuable experience analyzing, writing and revising a wide spectrum of business documents. From a simple email to a complete report, learn how to put good business writing to work for you.
High-Impact Business Writing
This course is part of multiple programs.
Instructor: Sue Robins, M.S. Ed.
Sponsored by University of Michigan
201,028 already enrolled
(3,825 reviews)
What you'll learn
Write effective presentations, emails, writing for visual communication
Edit and proofread business documents
Create business reports and press releases
Spot, correct and avoid the most common writing pitfalls
Details to know
Add to your LinkedIn profile
4 assignments
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
Build your subject-matter expertise
- Learn new concepts from industry experts
- Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
- Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
- Earn a shareable career certificate
Earn a career certificate
Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV
Share it on social media and in your performance review
There are 4 modules in this course
In this first Module of High-Impact Business Writing, you will learn the necessity and utility of understanding your audience for a business document. You will learn how to write with clarity and brevity as well as how to make appropriate language and word choices for that audience. This module also addresses the structure and important considerations for the most frequently used document types for business applications.
What's included
1 video4 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
Module 2 is focused on the frequently mistaken or overlooked aspects of impactful writing. Common spelling errors, incorrect word usage, and judicious word selection that are important for business writing will be highlighted. Subject-verb and noun-pronoun agreement as well as verb tense and common rules of punctuation are reviewed. This module concludes with some rules of sentence structure and paragraph development to aid in the creation of universally understandable, cogent documents.
What's included
1 video3 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
In Module 3, we study some of the more common message types: positive messages, negative messages, and persuasive messages. Each type of message will be characterized and strategies for common forms of documents within each of these message types will be presented and practiced. This module also includes best practices for email use, including when email is the preferred choice, creating effective subject lines, and pertinent content choices.
What's included
1 video4 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
The final module of this course begins with an overview of report preparation, including structure and content considerations. The three forms of review for a document: editing, revising, and proofreading are explained in detail and their purposes explained. This module also includes some best practices for writing in a virtual and shared virtual environment as well as recommendations regarding the visual appeal of documents, both on paper and online.
What's included
1 video4 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Instructor
Offered by
Why people choose Coursera for their career
Learner reviews
3,825 reviews
- 5 stars
64.13%
- 4 stars
24.26%
- 3 stars
8.10%
- 2 stars
2.19%
- 1 star
1.30%
Showing 3 of 3825
Reviewed on Jun 30, 2020
This course provided more insight on how to write professional documents, and access to extra material on the subject matter was a big highlight of this course. thank you
Reviewed on Aug 19, 2023
What an amazing experience with Coursera! 👏🏻
Reviewed on Jul 7, 2016
A simplified course that targets areas of business writing which most of us tend to oversee. In this era of digitalisation and information overload, this back to basics method was really refreshing.
Recommended if you're interested in Business
University of Glasgow
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
University of Colorado Boulder
Open new doors with Coursera Plus
Unlimited access to 10,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription
Advance your career with an online degree
Earn a degree from world-class universities - 100% online
Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business
Upskill your employees to excel in the digital economy