(Available also for Customised Training by Duration, Venue & Fee)
Programme Description
Effective writing in English, the official language, is a powerful tool in the hands of public service officers. Brilliant officials articulate their thoughts in a clear and concise manner. They allow their ideas to be better understood by their readers. They improve their writing skill by learning to select and use appropriate words and formats, the correct medium and adjust their writing style accordingly. They clarify their objective and communicate it clearly. These are what the course will take public officials who attend it through.
They will also learn to spot, correct and avoid the most common writing pitfalls. They will gain valuable experience analyzing, writing and revising a wide spectrum of official documents. From a simple interoffice memo to multi-page written presentations, public officials who take this course will learn how to put good writing to work for them.
Course Contents
DAY ONE
Developing Writing Skills
• Writing inertia and how to overcome it
Writing Guidelines
• Essence of effective senior level writing
• Planning the writing
• Organising thought before writing.
Prewriting & Planning
• Establishing purpose
• Clarifying readership
• Researching for facts.
• Developing appropriate writing style
• Audience
• Message
• Word Choice.
DAY TWO
Attention to Grammar
• Verb exercises
• Noun and pronoun exercises
• Spellings
• Punctuations.
• Editing techniques
• Sentence Structure
• Paragraphs
Writing Competently for Effective Communication
• Planning the writing
• Organising thought before writing
• Researching for facts
The Business Writer’s Attitudes
• Simplicity and conciseness
• Confused words
• Outdated expressions
• Opinion words and expressions
• Look-alike words.
Common Writing Problems
• Common errors in the use of English by Nigerians
• Problem with Clichés
• Parallelism problems
• Misplaced modifiers
DAY THREE
• Formatting the Writing
• Style and tone
• Paragraphs
• Headings
• Agendas
• Letters
• Memos
• Executive Summaries
• Reports
• Proposals
• Business Cases.
DAY FOUR
Speechwriting
• Informative Speech
• Persuasive Speech
• Inspirational Speech.
Anatomy of a Great Written Speech
• A review of sample great speeches in history
• Clear about the goal the speaker is to achieve
• Resonates “What’s In It for Me” to the audience
• In tune with the speaker’s voice
• Simple in words
• Original
• Authentic.
The Speechwriter’s Tool Kit
• Facts researching
• Dictionary
• Biographies
• Great speeches
• Quotations.
Speechwriting Steps
• Meeting with the executives
• Deciding the theme
• Reviewing the audience
• Agreeing the slant
• Speechwriting Process
• Writing opening that grabs an audience’s attention
• Closing that sticks in an audience memory
• Using stories to bring ideas to life.
DAY FIVE
• Finalizing Formal Document
• Informal Written Communication
• Revising, Editing and Proofreading
• Visual Appeal
• British v. American English
• Rules that guide the use of numerals in written projects.
