ABC Stage 1

ABC Case Study: A Lucky Break?

We begin with a case study, in which you will analyse emails written by native speakers. We shall use these to identify different writing styles, and levels of formality. You will need to "read between the lines" to reveal underlying communication situations and interpersonal relationships. We shall refer back to these emails during the course.

ABC Redundancy and Positioning

Business writing needs to be clear and concise. Redundancies waste time and obscure meaning. In this lesson, we shall examine different forms of redundancy, especially "opening fillers". I will give you practice in deleting redundancies and opening fillers. From this, I shall introduce the key concept of "Positioning."

ABC How Long Is A Piece Of String?

Controlling your Sentence Length is a key element in your writing style, and a major business writing skill. How long should our sentences be? When and why would we use shorter and longer sentences? How do we achieve the ideal balance to maximise clarity and conciseness? Sentence length must be a strategic decision, not an accident.

ABC Interpersonal Communication

A better understanding of communication can help us interact more successfully. In this lesson, we shall establish a model for the Process of Interpersonal Communication (i.e. HOW we communicate), and examine the three general Purposes of business communication (i.e. WHY we communicate).