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Book Description

Practical, proven techniques to make writing for business more effective and less stressful.

Thanks to e-mail, voice mail, cell phones, pagers, and, of course, the ever-expanding Web, we live in an age of information overload. Although all of these wonders were designed to make life and communication easier and faster, speed and efficiency have come with a price. Clear business writing has never been more difficult or stressful.

Writers are expected to respond quickly to an endless flow of e-mail messages. Readers complain about an increasing lack of clarity along with an abundance of mechanical errors. Supervisors and managers are bewildered by employees’ inability to simply say what they mean and the lack of appropriate tone and sense of decorum in the written communications they produce.

This book presents proven techniques developed in Dr. Iacone’s seminars that will enable greater ease, proficiency, and clarity in writing. The conversational, instructional format walks you through the actual stages of the writing process—from planning and writing the first draft, to editing and proofreading. This invaluable handbook also includes helpful guidelines to correct punctuation, lists of often-confused words, and step-by-step procedures for generating effective e-mail, memos, letters, and reports.

Salvatore J. Iacone, Ph.D., is a management training consultant whose specialty is designing and conducting business and technical writing and editing programs for major corporations, government agencies, and universities. His national and international clients have included AT&T, Duracell, Pfizer, Honeywell, and IBM. Dr. Iacone is the author of several books and articles.

Table of Contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedicaiotn
  5. Acknowledgements
  6. Contents
  7. Introduction
  8. Chapter 1: Writing to the Point
  9. Chapter 2: Getting Started: Stop Staring and Start Writing
  10. Chapter 3: It’s Not About You: Writing for Your Reader
  11. Chapter 4: The Right Package: Organizing and Evaluating Information
  12. Chapter 5: Don’t Obfuscate: Writing With Clarity and Precision
  13. Chapter 6: Leave Out the Commercials: Let the Sentences Sell the Message
  14. Chapter 7: Who Do You Think You Are? Tone and Style
  15. Chapter 8: Last Restroom for 300 Miles: Editing for Content and Structure
  16. Chapter 9: Don’t Trust the Spell-Checker: Proofreading Made Easier
  17. Chapter 10: E-mail: To Send or Not to Send?
  18. Chapter 11: Memo, Letter, and Report Guidelines
  19. Chapter 12: Instructions, Presentations, Proposals, and Resumes
  20. Appendix A: Business Letter Models
  21. Appendix B: Guidelines to Punctuation
  22. Appendix C: Grammar and Usage Review
  23. Appendix D: Often-Confused Words
  24. Appendix E: The Correct Use of Prepositions That Follow Certain Words
  25. Appendix F: Capitalization
  26. Appendix G: Plural Nouns
  27. Appendix H: Compound Nouns/Words
  28. Writing Aerobics: Review Exercises to Test Yourself
  29. Index
  30. About the Author
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