Please note: This is not a course syllabus. A course syllabus is unique to a particular section of a course by instructor. This curriculum guide provides general information about a course.
This course provides an introduction to the essentials of effective business communication with a focus on content, style, and form. Emphasis will be on correct grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and mechanics of writing professional communication.
Recognize the goals of business writing.
Understand the goals of business communicators in conveying negative news.
Analyze the purpose of a message, anticipate its audience, and select the best communication channel.
Adapt writing techniques based on audience and purpose.
Draft well-organized paragraphs.
Complete business messages by revising for conciseness.
Evaluate a message to judge its effectiveness.
Enhance readability through document design.
Identify and correct mistakes using a style & reference manual.
Address business uses of social media, networks and assess their advantages as well as risks.
Compose direct messages that make a request, respond to inquiries online and offline, and deliver step-by-step instructions.
Use correct punctuation including end marks, commas, quotation marks, semicolons and colons, apostrophes, hyphens, underscores, parentheses, and dashes in written communication. In addition, the student will identify and correct misused punctuation.
Explain digital age persuasion and identify time-proven persuasive techniques.
Understand the importance, purpose, and components of informal and formal proposals.
Make effective word choices through the application of dictionary, business style references, and spelling skills. Knowledge of commonly confused words and oftentimes omitted words and letters will also be applied.