Online Business Writing Courses

The Business Writing Center offers online training business people take from anywhere in the world. Trainers work with trainees to give them confidence in their writing and the ability to write with impact. More . . .

Instructors

The primary instructor is Dr. R. Craig Hogan, author of Explicit Business Writing: Best Practices for the Twenty-First Century, with over 35 years experience in training business writers. He has worked with business people at all levels, from sales and office professionals to executives. More . . .

Certification for Explicit
Business Writing Trainers

The Center trains and certifies corporate trainers, college faculty, and anyone interested in teaching the explicit business writing skills. The course materials and book can then be used in the training. The Business Writing Center will customize and publish versions of the book for agencies. More . . .

Best Practices for Writing that Communicates Clearly

R. Craig Hogan, Ph.D., director of The Business Writing Center, with 38 years' experience in teaching writing, has written a valuable writing guide for business people titled Explicit Business Writing: Best Practices for the Twenty-First Century. It contains the best practices business people are using today to make their writing clear and effective. More . . .

Business English as a Second Language

The Center offers courses to help speakers of English as a second language to polish their business writing language skills. They are for speakers of English as a second language who have mastered English but need to polish their use of phrases, articles, modal auxiliaries, tenses, and the other areas that commonly cause problems for nonnative speakers of English. More . . .

Federal GSA contract GS-02F-0129T

The Business Writing Center has a federal General Services Administration contract. A special GSA course catalog includes book costs with tuition and GSA discounts. You may also download the GSA Pricing List containing all of the Business Writing Center services with GSA discounts.

Editing and Proofreading

Center faculty edit and proofread business documents. For more information, send an e-mail to center@writingtrainers.com describing the project. If you would like regular editing and proofreading as you finish documents with a quick return time, describe what you would like in your e-mail.

Companies the Business Writing Center Trains

Many businesses have arranged with the Business Writing Center to train employees. You may examine the list of companies and agencies .

Resources for Business Writing Training

Competencies for Business
Writing Training

Competency-based training in explicit business writing requires trainees to demonstrate competence in every writing skill to graduate. You may download and freely distribute our lists of explicit-writing competencies:

Summary of the writing standards for explicit business documents

Detailed writing standards for
explicit business documents

Writing standards for explicit e-mail

Dr. Hogan Speaks to Groups about Explicit Business Writing

R. Craig Hogan, Ph.D., director of The Business Writing Center, author of Explicit Business Writing: Best Practices for the Twenty-First Century, will speak to groups of employers and managers about how to develop a workforce able to write clearly and effectively. The goal is for all employees to communicate with 100 percent clarity to 100 percent of the readers, 100 percent of the time. More . . .

Taming the E-mail Problem

This PowerPoint presentation explains how business people can manage e-mails and keep e-mail viable as an efficient medium for business communication available today. You may use and copy it freely in your company.

Test Your Knowledge of the
26 Most Common Business
Writing Problems

      Do periods and commas always go inside quotation marks? This sentence is incorrect: "The jury was at odds over the verdict." Do you know why?
      You may take the free quiz of the writing problems business people often display by clicking here. The quiz is a teaching tool you may use freely. If you are a manager, you may use it with your employees.
     For each item in the quiz, you or your employees choose the sentence you believe is written correctly. After you select sentences for all of the items, your score will appear immediately, along with an explanation of the rule for each of the choices you made. Some of them will surprise you.

Competency-Based, Onsite
Business Writing Workshops

Dr. Hogan presents workshops at company sites to train participants in the skills they need to write explicit business documents. The workshops teach the best practices explained in Dr. Hogan's book, Explicit Business Writing: Best Practices for the Twenty-First Century.
The workshops are competency-based. Dr. Hogan evaluates participants' writing and certifies their writing competence or coaches them through revising. More . . .

Online Business Writing Courses

41 Online Business Writing Courses

The Business Writing Center offers 41 online business writing courses, ranging from basic grammar to advanced courses such as Proofreading Skills and Writing Clear, Objective Audit Reports. The courses are listed in the left column of this page. Anyone may enroll for a course by filling out the registration form.
The Business Writing Center provides a free evaluation of a writing sample with suggestions for the courses that would be best for the writer. More . . .

Online Writing Courses for
Busy Business People

BWC95 Business Writing Essentials
BWC85 Basic Grammar Essentials

In response to requests for versions of our online courses that require less trainee and faculty time, the Business Writing Center has developed online courses in business writing and usage (grammar, punctuation, and syntax) that have the same content as the longer online courses, but require one-third of the faculty time and student time. More . . .

Individualized Writing Courses

The real strength of training using the Internet and e-mail as the media is that it allows more individualized teaching than any other medium, including having a personal tutor. The trainee can learn and write at his or her own pace, taking all the time necessary. The instructor is available to provide guidance and coaching at any point. A classroom environment or tutoring appointments don't allow that flexibility.
To make the individualized teaching and coaching available to trainees, the Business Writing Center offers six individualized courses. More . . .

Courses for Certification in
Explicit Business Writing

The Center certifies business writers in the 39 best practices that result in explicit business writing. A graduate certified as competent in the skills will be able to write e-mails, memos, letters, and reports that communicate explicitly to readers. The Center also certifies students in colleges of business.
Two courses teach the best practices: BWC220 Explicit Business Writing, which has five competency exams, and BWC225 Explicit Business Writing with Additional Training, which has 39 activities and 17 competency exams. Graduates of BWC225 are able to edit others' writing and teach the skills, so the course is ideal for training trainers. The materials are available for use by professors and corporate trainers. More . . .

Learning Correct Grammar

Businesses would like their employees to write without grammar errors, so they arrange to have them attend workshops on grammar. Unfortunately, a workshop simply will not teach business people how to overcome problems in their language usage. However, there is training that will help employees use correct grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling. More . . .

Customized Training for Corporations and Agencies

The Business Writing Center customizes training to fit a company's or agency's requirements. Center faculty will evaluate a company's or agency's writing, provide suggestions for training, and design a program to develop a workforce that writes explicitly. More . . .

Press Releases and Course Reviews

Responding To Customers in E-mails: Let Customers' Words Guide You

The Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) asked the Business Writing Center to write Responding To Customers in E-mails: Let the Customers' Words Guide You, based on the Business Writing Center's Writing Skills for Technical Support Representatives online training course. You may review the introduction and contents of the course.

Interview with the Director
by The New York Times

The New York Times published an article on page A-1 about writing training featuring an interview with The Business Writing Center's director, R. Craig Hogan, PH.D. You can read the article at this link.

Article about the Center
in The Daily Pantagraph

The Daily Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois, where The Business Writing Center's main site is located) interviewed the Center's director, R. Craig Hogan, PH.D. at his office. You can read the article at this link.

Review of the Proofreading Skills course by Investor's Business Daily

Investor's Business Daily interviewed a graduate of the Proofreading Skills course and wrote a review of the course and taking online training. Click here to see the review.

Article about the Center in TechRepublic

TechRepublic published an article describing Center resources available for IT professionals. Click here to see the review.

Cincinnati Enquirer article

The Cincinnati Enquirer weekly magazine published an article about the unique services the Business Writing Center offers.

Article about the Center in hr-esources and HRWire

HR-esources and HRWire published an article about the Center and our suggestions to help corporations improve the quality and clarity of their writing, especially e-mail. To read the article, click here.

Online Business Writing Training Materials for Trainers and Professors

The following online, interactive course materials are available for corporate trainers and college faculty. The Business Writing Center has a train-the-trainers course training corporate trainers to use any of the materials.

• Basic Grammar for Business
• Business Writing Skills
• Editing Skills
• Effective Business Letters
• Effective Workplace E-mail
• Explicit Business Writing
• Legal Proofreading Skills
• Legal Writing Skills

• Plain English Writing Skills
• Proofreading Skills
• Recording and Writing Meeting Minutes
• SEC Plain English Writing
• Writing Clear, Objective Audit Reports
• Writing Skills for Contact
Center Representatives

For more information, send an e-mail to the Business Writing Center.

E-mail the Center at center@writingtrainers.com

Business Writing Training