Compelling Cover Letters
An intentional focus on the client’s vision and concerns for their project should be the goal of any proposal cover letter. But, all too often it’s a version of, “This is who we are. This is what we do. This is why we’re great.” It’s the “We-We Show.”

What if we created the “You You Show” instead — a letter that speaks to what the client cares about? In this workshop, we’ll explore the importance of writing with “You Attitude” and then practice with the Help Your Reader Story Structure as a template to craft a cover letter that really speaks to your client!

Then What Happened? How to Create a “Lessons Learned” Story
It’s inevitable. Whether it’s in the “invitation to the shortlist” questions or in the Q&A portion of the interview, a client is bound to ask about “lessons learned.” Learn how to help your team craft short stories about their experiences that not only answer the question but let the personality and smarts of your team shine through.

Writing Proposals with Your Whole Brain
We’ve all read the proposal blah-blah, haven’t we? “This is who we are, and this is what we do.” It’s self-centered, and it’s boring, and it’s just plain blah-blah! Ditch the dinosaur language and learn to use Whole Brain®Thinking to craft proposals that are more about them and less about you. Let’s make The Human Connection® on paper!

Effective Email
Emails can be helpful or horrible. Rather than dumping our thoughts into a message and hitting “send,” it pays to focus first on what will be helpful for the reader by thinking about content, tone, organization and language. We’ll dig into the do’s and don’ts of writing emails that are clear, useful and something the receiver wants to read.

Fat-Free Gracewriting
In our lightning-fast business environment, no one has time to read wordy letters, confusing reports or boring website copy. Learn to be clear, concise and correct with a healthy plate of fat-free writing.

Writing Champions: The Basics of Better Editing and Proofreading
We spend a lot of time talking about authors, but we spend very little time considering the champions of the writing process — editors and proofreaders. We’ll take a look at the basics of editing and proofreading and how to undertake that process with a little (or a lot) of grace.

Powerful Proofreading
Become a proofreading superhero! Put a little “POW!” in your proofreading punch for error-free documents. We’ll look at some of the many tools available to you as reference materials as well as tips, techniques and tactics to improve your proofreading process. Plus, you get to practice finding some of those sneaky errors.

Grammar Slammers
Grammar, punctuation and usage can throw us curve balls. We find ourselves standing at home plate, worried whether or not a sentence needs a colon, a semicolon or a comma. In Grammar Slammers, we’ll review the common errors that most challenge your team, so they’ll have the confidence they need to hit a home run!

Better Letters and Other Stuff
Are you struggling with a cover letter? Do you need to communicate complicated information to everyone on your staff? Want to get your boss on board with a new project? Learn to use our templates as a resource to make your writing better organized, more persuasive and more effective.

Gracewriting: Words with Power and Grace
Are you frustrated by poor writing skills? In our half-, full- or 1.5-day program, Gracewriting® teaches you to write with power by being clear, concise and correct. We help you write with grace by putting your reader’s needs first.

These hands-on workshops are designed as a series of modules, which we customize for your specific writing woes. Whether it’s business or technical writing, be ready to be big and bold as you experience Gracewriting®!

From proposals to planograms, let us know how we can adapt Gracewriting® to meet your needs.

Fat-Free Gracewriting
In our lightning-fast business environment, no one has time to read wordy letters, confusing reports or boring website copy. It’s time to put your writing on a diet! Learn to be clear, concise and correct with a healthy plate of fat-free writing.

Grammar Slammers
Grammar, punctuation and usage can throw us curve balls. We find ourselves standing at home plate, worried whether or not a sentence needs a colon, a semi-colon or a comma. We’ll review the common errors that challenge us and could cost us the game.

Effective Email
Emails can be helpful or horrible. Rather than dumping our thoughts into a message and hitting “send,” it pays to focus first on what will be helpful for the reader by thinking about content, tone, organization and language. We’ll dig into the do’s and don’ts of writing emails that are clear, useful and something the receiver wants to read.

Better Letters and Other Stuff
Are you struggling with a cover letter? Do you need to communicate complicated information to everyone on your staff? Want to get your boss on board with a new project? Learn to use our templates as a resource to make your writing better organized, more persuasive and more effective.

Writing Proposals with Your Whole Brain
We’ve all read the proposal blah-blah, haven’t we? “This is who we are, and this is what we do.” It’s self-centered, and it’s boring, and it’s just plain blah-blah! Ditch the dinosaur language and learn to use Whole Brain®Thinking to craft proposals that are more about them and less about you. Let’s make The Human Connection® on paper!

Writing Champions: The Basics of Better Editing and Proofreading
We spend a lot of time talking about authors, but we spend very little time considering the champions of the writing process — editors and proofreaders. We’ll take a look at the basics of editing and proofreading and how to undertake that process with a little (or a lot) of grace.

Powerful Proofreading
Become a proofreading superhero! Put a little “POW!” in your proofreading punch for error-free documents. We’ll look at some of the many tools available to you as reference materials as well as tips, techniques and tactics to improve your proofreading process. Plus, you get to practice finding some of those sneaky errors.

Then What Happened? How to Create a “Lessons Learned” Story
It’s inevitable. Whether it’s in the “invitation to the shortlist” questions or in the Q&A portion of the interview, a client is bound to ask about “lessons learned.” Learn how to help your team craft short stories about their experiences that not only answer the question but let the personality and smarts of your team shine through.

Put it All Together
We’re going to take learning with LEGOs™ to a whole new level – it’s time to play the Extreme LEGO™ Game! Spatial concepts and fine motor skills are nothing compared to composing succinct documents that help your partner reconstruct your LEGO™ creation. This capstone module stacks all the Gracewriting® concepts into one great game!

Why is business writing so awful? Have we run out of fresh things to say? Are we too focused on trying to sound professional or smart? Is it the product of an education system that rewards length over clarity?

Business writing would be a lot better if we focused on the reader instead of on ourselves, the writers. Whether it’s an email, proposal or technical white paper, what if our writing looked at things from the other person’s point of view, emphasized what the other person wanted to know, and took risks that grabbed the other person’s interest?

No more wimpy, self-centered writing! You risk losing clients if they have to muddle through your messages. Murky writing certainly isn’t going to get you from the RFP to the shortlist. Gracewriting: Words with Power and Grace teaches you to write with power by being clear, concise and correct. We help you write with grace by putting your reader’s needs first. It’s just good business to write succinctly and correctly, creating energized documents that connect with the reader.

In addition to our virtual workshops, we offer on-site large group sessions as well as half-day, full-day or 1.5-day classes for approximately 10 – 20 people.

All our Gracewriting workshops are ideal for:

• Marketers, rainmakers, principals and project teams that write to win work.
• Technical writers who convey plans, procedures or processes
• Anyone who is tired of their boss’s dreaded red pen.

For in-house training, we tailor Gracewriting® for your unique needs. Participants submit writing samples, and we use their work to build a customized program. We can address:

• Improving grammar and punctuation.
• Writing clearly and concisely.
• Developing client-focused stories.
• Communicating persuasively.
• Creating powerful proposals.
• Practicing editing and proofreading.
• Generating effective processes, procedures or reports.

Our workshops involve a lot more than just putting pen to paper. We play games. We compete. We make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! Our techniques include teaching and discussion, Whole Brain® Thinking, individual and group exercises, and a little friendly competition throughout the day. We provide personalized feedback and a workbook or handouts with examples and illustrations pulled from participants’ writing samples and your in-house materials.

The benefits of this training flourish with structured follow-up. Let’s face it, people need to practice new skills or bad habits sneak right back into the mix. After your workshop, we can send additional assignments, which we review and return with personalized feedback, minus the dreaded red pen!

While we tailor each workshop to meet your individual needs, Gracewriting® courses touch on these core concepts:

• Help Your Reader
  Business and technical writers tend to focus on the wrong person — the writer, not the reader. Whether you’re writing an email or a non-profit grant, you want to ask yourself, how can I help my reader? We’ll help you do just that!
• Cut the Fluff
  Your time is limited; you want your information fast! Tone and voice matter, but every word you write counts! We’ll help you cut the fluff with Keys to Conciseness and tips on KISS-ing Technical Documents.
• Resources Rock
  Need to write effective emails, better cover letters or reader-friendly technical procedures? With any type of writing, we could use helpful resources that make it easier to build on our existing skills. So, we’ve put together a few templates to make your writing easier and faster.
• Use Your Whole Brain
  How do you write winning proposals and reports? We’ll take a look at getting to know your audience and using Whole Brain®Thinking to craft messages that speak to your reader’s thought and communication preferences.
• Woo-Hoo for White Space
  Embrace the line break! Make bulleted lists! Select smart graphics! Let’s create reader-friendly documents that help your audience find information quickly and easily.
• Spell-check and Grammar-check are not Enough!
  Have you repeatedly proofed a document, but it still went out with a typo? Those pesky errors can be hard to catch. There are specific things we can do to help you round up those tricky buggers before they embarrass you.

Is being a good writer really that important? The simple answer is yes! Poor writing costs you money, time and relationships. Improving your skills is a huge step towards improving your bottom line. After working with us, you can expect to:

• Win more work with reader-friendly writing.
• Spend less time redlining employees’ documents.
• Increase productivity and quality of work.
• Improve client relationships.
• Better your in-house communications.