Business Writing for Today's Professional

This session is being offered in collaboration with MITACS Training (formerly Mitacs Step). Mitacs Training provides professional development training to advanced degree graduates, supplementing their education and research experience with the tools necessary to succeed in today’s workforce.

"Thanks for the workshop! There were many different teaching techniques incorporated in the course, I enjoyed learning the many techniques to improve writing." - Postdoctoral Fellow

"The skills I learned will help me improve my professional work." - UBC Postdoctoral Fellow

No matter what field you’re working in, written communication is a critical part of your day-to-day duties. Regardless of your comfort or skill level, you can benefit from learning techniques to entice your readers and achieve your goals. This workshop will help all professionals hone their writing skills using proven techniques and processes. 

Workshop Objective:

To provide opportunities for participants to build on their business writing knowledge and skills through a combination of self-directed activities and in-person, facilitated application. Through their participation, participants will shape their approach to strategically creating clear written communication in a professional setting.

Learning Outcomes:

• Gain practical written communication skills to improve engagement with various stakeholders
• Deepen your understanding of writing techniques to concisely grab a reader’s attention and get results
• Learn writing methods that can be applied immediately   
• Harness writing processes that maximize preparation and effective writing time

Key Topic Areas:

Preparing to write

• Preparing to write: Gathering ideas , Organization, Scheduling
• Determine relevant information + Structure + Tools: Operational plan, Report, Template, Email
• Estimating + Scheduling + Defending writing time (email, letters, templates)

Actively Writing

• Reduction techniques: 1st write, 2nd write, 3rd write
• Report Writing: Top Tips + Samples review
• Tables: Using – how to, when to, + Tips
• Images vs. Words (when to visualize data)
• Organizing Content: Top-down vs. Bottom Up
• Duration estimating: How long will this really take up in my day?
• Call-To-Action: Defining, usage
• Assessing + Respecting audience reading / attention time

Self-Editing + Review

• Proofing techniques
• Grammar + Sentence Structure Top Tips
• Formatting tips + MS Word / MS Excel quick tips
• Improving Clarity, Tone

PRE-WORK

Pre-work is required for this session, and will be distributed by the PDFO in advance of the workshop date. This work is expected to take approximately two hours. 

FACILITATOR

Rose Hastreiter

Each moment holds within it a choice to go beyond survival. Rose founded Leonty3C.com, a Canadian firm that helps people shift into thrive. Her industry background as an IT project management leader, instructor, speaker, and facilitator combined with her professional creative background as an internationally-recognized composer and vocalist, shares one mission: to inspire days-well-lived.

As the daughter of a WWII survivor, she began her career at a young age so to take care of herself and her elderly father who navigated the daily impacts of post-war trauma. By the age of 20, she was representing Canada as a speaker at international conferences while finishing her degree at UBC and developing her management consulting profession. Over 20 years later, her consulting cases span a variety of organizations, including for-profit, non-profit, government, and academic arenas. Her specialty is empowering project team functionality, action follow-through, and productivity. Her workshops boost quality of action through an integrated tactical and human approach.

Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, she has worked extensively through Canada and in 2009, moved her office and production studio to the spectacular Fundy Isles region in New Brunswick. She considers herself a citizen of the world, so when people ask where home is, she'll normally point out "wherever my feet are". She is known for her energy, authenticity, and powerful stage presence, speaking on topics of leadership, productivity, humanity and resilience. http://www.leonty3c.com

Registration

Registration in this workshop is required, and is now open. Those postdocs who are successfully registered will receive a confirmation email within one week of the workshop date.

Graduate students, please register through Graduate Pathways to Success.