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Business Writing Exercises

The document provides four exercises to help trainers teach business writing skills: 1) Have students write and exchange business letters to provide feedback on organization, clarity, conciseness, accuracy, and tone. 2) Analyze examples of good and bad business writing to identify strengths and areas for improvement. 3) Translate poorly written "Bad Writing Contest" paragraphs into clear English. 4) Have students keep a daily journal on business topics to improve their writing over time through practice. The exercises are meant to improve organization, identify weaknesses, and develop discipline in business communication.

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Pooja Arora
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789 views2 pages

Business Writing Exercises

The document provides four exercises to help trainers teach business writing skills: 1) Have students write and exchange business letters to provide feedback on organization, clarity, conciseness, accuracy, and tone. 2) Analyze examples of good and bad business writing to identify strengths and areas for improvement. 3) Translate poorly written "Bad Writing Contest" paragraphs into clear English. 4) Have students keep a daily journal on business topics to improve their writing over time through practice. The exercises are meant to improve organization, identify weaknesses, and develop discipline in business communication.

Uploaded by

Pooja Arora
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BUSINESS WRITING EXERCISES

These four business writing exercises and activities will help trainers add a
creative touch to their lessons on business writing.

Business leaders have consistently cited the declining writing skills of graduates as one of the
major training challenges that face them in the workplace. Indeed, some have identified business
writing as one of the more difficult forms of communication for employees to master.

Yet, business writing is an integral part of success for many people in business, especially those in
supervisory or management roles. Trainers and professors have been responding to this need by
increasing the emphasis on business writing in the classroom.

Business writing includes writing memos, reports, performance evaluations, e-mails, press
releases, and policy manuals, among others. Organized writing tells readers that the writer is
organized in thought as well as writing. Poorly written and disorganized communication tells the
world that the writer is a sloppy, disorganized thinker. The basic rules for planning good business
communication are:

1. Write with your intended audience in mind.


2. Know your objective.
3. Decide which essential information to include.
4. Decide how to present the information.

The following activities can help instructors teach business writing to their students. It will help
them practice writing, identify weaknesses in writing, and learn to be organized and disciplined.

You’ve Got Mail

Have students write a business letter. You may provide a topic or let them choose. Once the
business letter is written, have them exchange it with another student. They should read the letter
and evaluate it using the following criteria:

1. Is it organized well? Does each paragraph contain a topic sentence? Are ideas presented
in a logical order?
2. Is it clear? Does it use plain English? Does it use specific words and concrete nouns?
3. Is it concise? Does it use active verbs and strong words? Does it include only what the
reader needs to know?
4. Is it accurate? Is all information correct? Does it use proper grammar, spelling, and
punctuation?
5. Is it courteous and friendly? Do I use positive expressions? Is it free of bureaucratic,
pretentious, and legalistic language? Is the tone appropriate?
1. Have the students then write a one-page letter providing feedback to their classmate on
their writing style. Encourage students to be constructive and supportive.

Brilliant Business Writing Skills 1


KWELANGA TRAINING
Is It Good or Bad?

Gather several samples of business writing—memos, press releases, business reports, etc. You
may be able to find some examples on the Web, in business magazines, or from internal school
communication. Have students examine each piece of writing. For each piece of writing, have them
determine what could be done to improve the writing. Then have them list what things are done
well.

Jumbled English

Visit Web sites where the Bad Writing Contest Winners are published. Many sites publish the
results and can be found by doing a search at any search engine. Copy the winning paragraphs
onto separate sheets of paper. Divide students into several teams and give each team a copy of
one of the paragraphs and a dictionary. Tell them they have 10 minutes to read the sentence and
translate it into plain English. Give a prize to the group that comes the closest to making sense out
of any of them. Discuss what makes each selection bad and how it could have been improved
upon. Have them write a memo explaining the faults in the paragraph and explaining how to revise
it.

Daily Improvements

Have each student keep a personal journal in which they are required to write at least three
paragraphs each day. The journal should cover such topics as what they learned in the class, what
they learned during internships or their workplace, business experiences of friends and relatives,
and other business-related subjects. Tell them to keep the journal for at least two months and at
the end of the two months to read back and evaluate whether their writing has improved and, if it
has, in which ways.

Brilliant Business Writing Skills 2


KWELANGA TRAINING

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