Online Business Writing Courses

Business Writing Courses with Instructor Guidance

The Business Writing Center has 45 online business writing courses taught by highly qualified instructors.

  • You may have an evaluation of your writing before you register so an instructor will tell you the course that would be best for you.
  • You decide how quickly or slowly you want to go through the course.
  • You have access to your instructor by email or phone when you have questions.
  • Your instructor reads your writing and writes extensive notes to help you learn the skills you need.
  • Your instructor coaches you through revising your business writing as you learn the skills.
  • The course materials remain online after you graduate so you can come back to them for reference.
  • You receive a graduation certificate when you complete the course.

Descriptions and tuition for our most popular courses follow. We invite you to call us for more information at 800.827.3770 (309.452.2831 outside the U.S.) or email the instructors at instructor@businesswriting.com.

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Most Popular Courses Based on Enrollments and Evaluations

BWC95 Business Writing Essentials

This business writing course teaches the essential business writing best practices business people are using today to write clear, effective, professional business writing, including email, memos, letters, reports, and other documents. The Business Writing Essentials course teaches a structured approach to business writing that makes writing easier and guides readers through the content. Graduates report that they receive high praise for their business writing, and other employees begin to copy their style.

The instructor evaluates three business writing examinations. As with all other Business Writing Center courses, you have unlimited access to the instructor to ask questions during the business writing course. The instructor evaluates the competency examinations and coaches you through learning skills so you consistently produce professional business writing.

Read course detail and syllabus . . .


BWC210 Business Writing Skills

The Business Writing Skills course teaches the best practices business people must know to be able to create clear, effective, professional business writing, including email, memos, letters, and reports. The Business Writing Skills course teaches a structured approach to writing that makes writing easier and guides readers through the content. Graduates report that they receive high praise for their business writing, and other employees begin to copy their style.

The course contains 12 business writing practice activities and four competency examinations. The online business writing lessons contain clear explanations and many examples. You go at your own pace and submit business writing assignments when you are ready. The instructor evaluates the activities and examinations, comments on skills you have learned and skills you still need polish, coaches you through learning the business writing skills, and certifies your competence. You receive a Business Writing Skills course graduation certificate at the end of the course.

Read course detail and syllabus . . .


BWC310 Basic Grammar and Business Writing

The Basic Grammar and Business Writing course contains grammar training, including punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure, and business writing training for email, memos, letters, reports, and other business writing documents. The focus of the Basic Grammar and Writing Skills for Business course is on providing the business writer who has some usage problems with the instruction to make his or her writing clear, effective, and correct. Business people with many business grammar skills problems should take BWC110 Basic Writing Skills Tutorial.

The Basic Grammar and Writing Skills business writing course materials remain online for the duration of the course and after the course is finished.

Read course detail and syllabus . . .


BWC85 Business Grammar Essentials and BWC95 Business Writing Essentials taken together

These two courses are in combination because they complement each other. They are designed for busy business people who want to have essential business grammar training and business writing training with fewer writing activities. The courses contain training in only the most important skills a businessperson needs to know to be able to write clear, effective business documents with correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, and sentence structure. The two courses provide the perfect combination of business writing and grammar skills, so the Business Writing Center discounts the tuition if students enroll for both at the same time.

Read courses detail and syllabus . . .


BWC110 Basic Grammar Course Tutorial

The Basic Grammar Course Tutorial provides grammar training for people who have problems in grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, or sentence structure. The course will help you learn new patterns to replace the old by using your own sentences as the grammar training examples. The teaching, practice, and tests are based on your own writing as much as possible. This grammar training course is highly individualized. The instructor carefully evaluates your business writing and prescribes grammar training and practice based on your unique needs. You receive grammar training on only the specific skills you need to learn, at your own pace. You have unlimited access to the instructor to ask questions.

Read course detail and syllabus . . .


BWC130 Business Writing Course for Nonnative Speakers of English

The Business Writing Course for Nonnative Speakers of English course is for nonnative speakers of English who have a good command of the English language, but have basic problems in language and grammar resulting from speaking English as a second language. This grammar course is a tutorial, so it focuses on the student’s writing to teach the grammar and language skills the student needs to learn. The instructor reads samples of the student’s writing thoroughly, identifies grammar and language skills the student needs to learn, lists the sentences with problems in each area, corrects the sentences to show the student how they should have been written, assigns readings from the grammar textbook and online training materials, answers questions about the grammar and language, has the student practice the skills, and provides an online quiz containing sentences from the original writing sample the student must correct to be sure he or she has learned the grammar and language skills. This course includes unlimited access to the instructor.

Read course detail and syllabus . . .


BWC130 Business Writing Course for Nonnative Speakers of English and BWC210 Business Writing Skills taken together

These two courses are in combination because they complement each other. They are designed for busy business people who want to have essential business language training, grammar training, and business writing training. The courses are individualized. The instructor reads writing samples and identifies the skills the student needs. During the course, the student learns those skills. The two courses provide the perfect combination of business writing and grammar skills, so the Business Writing Center discounts the tuition if students enroll for both at the same time.

Read course detail and syllabus . . .


BWC110 Basic Grammar Course Tutorial and BWC210 Business Writing Skills taken together

These two courses are in combination because they provide in-depth grammar and writing training. The instructor reads writing samples and identifies the skills the student needs in grammar, language, punctuation, spelling, word usage, sentence structure, organization, clarity, conciseness, professional presentation, and any other areas the student needs work on. The two courses provide the perfect combination of business writing and grammar skills, so the Business Writing Center discounts the tuition if students enroll for both at the same time.

Read course detail and syllabus . . .

Detailed Descriptions of These Courses

Business Writing Essentials (BWC95)


  • Business writing course in writing emails, memos, letters, reports, and other business documents
  • Three business writing document evaluations with instructor feedback on mastery of the business writing skills
  • Dozens of interactive business writing course exercises
  • PhD business writing college instructor
  • Extensive writing feedback and coaching
  • Tuition $175

Business Writing Course Syllabus:

This business writing course teaches the essential business writing best practices business people are using today to write clear, effective, professional business writing, including email, memos, letters, reports, and other documents. The Business Writing Essentials course teaches a structured approach to business writing that makes writing easier and guides readers through the content. Graduates report that they receive high praise for their business writing, and other employees begin to copy their style.

The instructor evaluates three business writing examinations. As with all other Business Writing Center courses, you have unlimited access to the instructor to ask questions during the business writing course. The instructor evaluates the competency examinations and coaches you through learning skills so you consistently produce professional business writing.

If you take the Business Writing Essentials course with BWC85 Basic Grammar Essentials to give you grammar training along with the writing training, the tuition is reduced to $225 for both. Click here to go to the page describing the registration for both BWC85 and BWC95.

Business Writing Course Content

  1. Use correct letter and memo formats in your business writing.
  2. Prepare notes with content that gives readers the right message.
  3. Organize your business writing to make it understandable.
  4. Introduce the content of your business email, letters, reports and other business writing
  5. Present the explanations so readers understand them.
  6. Present lists clearly.
  7. Write clear, complete explanations in your business writing.
  8. Write powerful, effective sentences with professional wording.
  9. Write paragraphs to provide readers with clear information.
  10. Prepare a polished, correct final draft of your business writing.
See instructor credentials

Business Writing Skills (BWC210)


  • More training exercises and instructor feedback than the Business Writing Essentials course
  • Training for all business writing: emails, memos, letters, reports, and other business documents
  • Four business writing sample evaluations with instructor feedback
  • Twelve business writing activities with instructor coaching
  • Dozens of interactive exercises to help you learn the business writing skills
  • PhD college of business instructor
  • Extensive feedback and coaching to learn the business writing skills
  • Tuition $295

Business Writing Course Syllabus:

The Business Writing Skills course teaches the best practices business people must know to be able to create clear, effective, professional business writing, including email, memos, letters, and reports. The Business Writing Skills course teaches a structured approach to writing that makes writing easier and guides readers through the content. Graduates report that they receive high praise for their business writing, and other employees begin to copy their style.

The course contains 12 business writing practice activities and four competency examinations. The online business writing lessons contain clear explanations and many examples. You go at your own pace and submit business writing assignments when you are ready. The instructor evaluates the activities and examinations, comments on skills you have learned and skills you still need polish, coaches you through learning the business writing skills, and certifies your competence. You receive a Business Writing Skills course graduation certificate at the end of the course.

BWC210 Business Writing Skills Course Content

Pre-write Your Business Writing

Follow email etiquette.
Set goals.
Choose strategies based on the goals and readers. 

Prepare the Business Writing Content.

Learn how to overcome writer’s block.
Prepare notes for your email, memo, letter, or report.

Organize the Business Writing.

Have an organizational pattern in mind.
Use special organizational patterns for some messages.

Introduce Your Business Writing Content.

For emails and memos, always write a clear, meaningful subject line.
Write a clear, complete introduction.
For emails, letters, and memos, write a cordial beginning or buffer.
State the contents.
For reports, state conclusions and recommendations in the introduction.

Write Clear Business Writing.

Write the explanations in blocks.
Check each block for focus.
Check each block for completeness.
Use headings to open blocks.
Create lists. 

Write Clear, Complete Explanations.

Write to build conclusions in the reader’s mind.
For reports, write clear, complete, relevant explanations. 

Write a Conclusion with Impact.

Write a conclusion that achieves your goals.

Write Well-Organized, Effective Sentences, Paragraphs, and Words.

Use paragraphs to organize information.
Write concisely.
Write clear, simple, active-voice sentences.
For reports, write clearly and simply for non-technical readers.
Use words the reader will understand.

Prepare a Polished, Correct Final Draft of the Business Writing

Use your spell checker and grammar checker.
Proofread.
Format the email to be readable.

See instructor credentials

Basic Grammar and Business Writing (BWC310)


  • Combines grammar course and business writing training
  • Contains training in the major business grammar rules
  • Teaches the best practices for business writing
  • Instructor is a college of business PhD professor
  • Extensive feedback and coaching on business writing and grammar
  • Clear, easily understood business writing lessons
  • Three business writing examinations
  • Grammar training pre-tests and post-tests to test grammar knowledge and progress
  • Dozens of grammar training and business writing training interactive exercises
  • Tuition $295

Grammar Course and Writing Course Syllabus:

The Basic Grammar and Business Writing course contains grammar training, including punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure, and business writing training for email, memos, letters, reports, and other business writing documents. The focus of the Basic Grammar and Writing Skills for Business course is on providing the business writer who has some usage problems with the instruction to make his or her writing clear, effective, and correct. Business people with many business grammar skills problems should take BWC110 Basic Writing Skills Tutorial.

The Basic Grammar and Writing Skills business writing course materials remain online for the duration of the course and after the course is finished.

Business Grammar Course Content

Grammar Course Pre-test

Lesson 1: Proofreading Business Grammar
Lesson 2: Using Active Voice in Business Writing

Practice Business Grammar Diagnostic Test

Lesson 3: Omissions, Additions, Typos
Lesson 4: Number Accuracy in Business Writing
Lesson 5: Transposition Errors

Session 1 Optional Grammar Course Practice with a Business Writing Sample

Session 1 Grammar Course Diagnostic Test

Lesson 6: Using Abbreviations in Business Writing
Lesson 7: Word Division
Lesson 8: Number Expression
Lesson 9: Capitalization

Session 2 Grammar Course Diagnostic Test on a Business Writing Sample

Lesson 10: Commas in Business Writing
Lesson 11: Other Punctuation
Lesson 12: Special Punctuation
Lesson 13: Spelling
Lesson 14: Confusing Words

Session 3 Business Grammar Course Diagnostic Test

Lesson 15: Subject/Verb Agreement in Business Writing
Lesson 16: Pronoun Agreement
Lesson 17: Using Defined Terms Consistently
Lesson 18: Citing Sources in Business Writing

Session 4 Diagnostic Test

Business Grammar Course Post-test

Business Writing Course Content

Pre-write Your Business Writing

Follow email etiquette.
Set goals.
Choose strategies based on the goals and readers. 

Prepare the Business Writing Content.

Learn how to overcome writer’s block.
Prepare notes for your email, memo, letter, or report.

Organize the Business Writing.

Have an organizational pattern in mind.
Use special organizational patterns for some messages.

Introduce Your Business Writing Content.

For emails and memos, always write a clear, meaningful subject line.
Write a clear, complete introduction.
For emails, letters, and memos, write a cordial beginning or buffer.
State the contents.
For reports, state conclusions and recommendations in the introduction.

Write Clear Business Writing.

Write the explanations in blocks.
Check each block for focus.
Check each block for completeness.
Use headings to open blocks.
Create lists. 

Write Clear, Complete Explanations.

Write to build conclusions in the reader’s mind.
For reports, write clear, complete, relevant explanations. 

Write a Conclusion with Impact.

Write a conclusion that achieves your goals.

Write Well-Organized, Effective Sentences, Paragraphs, and Words.

Use paragraphs to organize information.
Write concisely.
Write clear, simple, active-voice sentences.
For reports, write clearly and simply for non-technical readers.
Use words the reader will understand.

Prepare a Polished, Correct Final Draft of the Business Writing

Use your spell checker and grammar checker.
Proofread.
Format the email to be readable.

See instructor credentials

Business Grammar Essentials (BWC85) and Business Writing Essentials (BWC95) Taken Together


  • Business grammar course and business writing course discounted when taken together
  • Training in the essential business writing best practices
  • Grammar course that covers the major business grammar rules
  • Instructor is a college of business PhD professor
  • Extensive feedback and coaching for enhanced business writing training and grammar training
  • Clear, easily understood business writing and grammar course lessons
  • Three business writing training examinations
  • Grammar course pre-tests and post-tests to test knowledge and progress
  • Dozens of business writing interactive exercises
  • Tuition reduced to $225 when the courses are taken together

Grammar Course and Business Writing Course Syllabuses:

These two courses are in combination because they complement each other. They are designed for busy business people who want to have essential business grammar training and business writing training with fewer writing activities. The courses contain training in only the most important skills a businessperson needs to know to be able to write clear, effective business documents with correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, and sentence structure. The two courses provide the perfect combination of business writing and grammar skills, so the Business Writing Center discounts the tuition if students enroll for both at the same time.

BWC85 Grammar Course Content

Grammar Course Pre-testLesson 1: Proofreading Principles
Lesson 2: Using Active Voice
Lesson 3: Number Accuracy
Lesson 4: Transposition Errors
Lesson 5: Abbreviations
Lesson 6: Number Expression
Lesson 7: Capitalization
Lesson 8: Commas
Lesson 9: Other Punctuation
Lesson 10: Special Punctuation
Lesson 11: Spelling
Lesson 12: Confusing Words
Lesson 13: Subject/Verb Agreement
Lesson 14: Pronoun Agreement
Lesson 15: Using Defined Terms Consistently
Lesson 16: Citing Sources

Grammar Course Post-test

BWC95 Business Writing Course Content

Pre-write Business Writing

Follow email protocol.
Choose strategies based on the goals and readers. 

Prepare for Your Business Writing

Learn how to overcome writer’s block.
Prepare notes for your email, memo, letter, or report.

Organize Your Business Writing

Have an organizational pattern in mind.

Introduce the Content

For emails and memos, always write a clear, meaningful subject line.
Write a clear, complete introduction in all your business writing.
For emails, letters, and memos, write a cordial beginning or buffer.
State the contents of your business writing.
For business reports, state conclusions and recommendations in the introduction.

Write Clear Business Documents

Write the explanations in blocks.
Check each block for focus.
Check each block for completeness.
Use headings to open blocks.
Create lists. 

Write Clear, Complete Explanations in Your Business Writing

Write to build conclusions in the reader’s mind.
For reports, write clear, complete, relevant explanations. 

Write Conclusions in Business Writing that Have Impact

Write a conclusion that achieves your goals.

Write Clear, Effective Sentences, Paragraphs, and Words.

Use paragraphs to organize business writing.
Write concisely.
Write clear, simple, active-voice sentences.
For reports, write clearly and simply for non-technical readers.
Use words the reader will understand.

Prepare a Polished, Correct Final Draft

Use your spell checker and grammar checker.
Proofread.
Format email to be readable.

See instructor credentials

Basic Grammar Course Tutorial (BWC110)


  • Grammar course for people who need grammar training to take care of problems with grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, or sentence structure
  • Grammar course contains practice and tests based on the student’s own business writing
  • Instructor provides individual attention to grammar training needs
  • Students receive grammar training in only the specific grammar skills they need
  • Self-pacing, online grammar course that can be taken from anywhere in the world
  • Unlimited access to the instructor to ask questions about business grammar
  • Online quizzes containing sentences from the student’s original business writing sample
  • Instructor is a college of business PhD professor
  • Extensive grammar course feedback and coaching as part of the grammar training
  • Clear, easily understood explanations of English grammar

Grammar Course Tutorial Syllabus:

The Basic Grammar Course Tutorial provides grammar training for people who have problems in grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, or sentence structure. The course will help you learn new patterns to replace the old by using your own sentences as the grammar training examples. The teaching, practice, and tests are based on your own writing as much as possible. This grammar training course is highly individualized. The instructor carefully evaluates your business writing and prescribes grammar training and practice based on your unique needs. You receive grammar training on only the specific skills you need to learn, at your own pace. You have unlimited access to the instructor to ask questions.

You may purchase the grammar training textbook we use from a bookseller such as Amazon.com. However, the textbook is not required for the course. You will use online grammar training materials to learn the skills.

Grammar Course Timeline

You will go through the grammar course at your own pace, so you could complete it within a few weeks. However, you have up to four months to complete the grammar course so you can fit the study time into your schedule. All grammar training lessons must be finished within the four-month period.

Grammar Course Content

You will send business writing samples to your instructor. Your instructor will read each sample thoroughly, identify grammar skills you need to learn, list the sentences with problems in each area with corrections showing how they should have been written, assign readings from the grammar training textbook, answer any questions you have about grammar, have you practice the grammar skill, and give you an online quiz containing sentences from your original writing sample that you must correct in ten minutes to be sure you have learned the skills. You have unlimited access to the instructor in the course.

Your instructor will look for issues in any of the following areas and give you grammar training in the skills you need:

• Abbreviations • Active Voice • Adverbs • Affect – Effect • Apostrophes to Show Possession • Articles • Bolding • Capitalization • Colloquialisms • Colons • Commas and Periods with Quotation Marks • Comma Overuse • Commas in a Series • Commas with “However,” “Therefore,” “Thus” • Commas with Coordinate Adjectives • Commas with Coordinating Conjunctions • Commas with Dates, States, Addresses, and Numbers • Commas with Introductory Elements • Commas with Nonrestrictive Appositives • Commas with Nonrestrictive Elements • Commas with Parenthetical Elements • Commonly Confused Word Pairs • Conciseness • Consistency • Contractions • Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers • Ellipses • Errors Unique to Your Writing • Formatting • Fragment Sentences • Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles • Hyphens and Dashes • Hyphens with Compound Adjectives • Hyphens with Numbers • Hyphens with Prefixes and Compound Words • Idioms and Word Usage • Inversions • Lists • Modal Auxiliary Verbs • Mood Shift • Number (Singular or Plural) • Numbers Format • Omitting Space or Inserting Too Much Space • Parallelism in Lists and Sentences • Parentheses • Passive Voice • Periods • Plurals • Prepositions • Pronoun Reference • Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Pronouns • Proofreading • Questions • Quotation Marks • Run-on Sentences • Run-on sentences Using “Therefore,” “However” • Semicolons • Simple Sentence Structures • Simple Vocabulary • Slashes • Spelling • Subject/Verb Agreement • Tense Endings • Tense Shifts • Tense • “There,” “Their,” and “They’re,” • Using Case Correctly • Using Key Words • “Whom,” “That,” and “Which” • Word Choice • Word Omitted • Word Unnecessary • Wordiness • Wording Problems

See instructor credentials

Business Writing Course for Nonnative Speakers of English (BWC130)


  • Language and grammar course for nonnative speakers who have problems in language, grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, or sentence structure.
  • Grammar training, practice, and tests based on the student’s own writing
  • Instructor provides individual grammar training as necessary, especially for nonnative speaker language and grammar issues
  • Students receive grammar training in only the specific language and grammar skills they need
  • Self-pacing grammar course with lessons available from anywhere in the world
  • Unlimited access to the instructor to ask questions about business grammar
  • Online quizzes containing sentences from the student’s original business writing sample
  • Instructor is a college of business PhD professor
  • Grammar course contains extensive feedback and coaching to enhance the grammar training
  • Clear, easily understood explanations of English grammar and language
  • Tuition $345

Language and Grammar Course Syllabus:

The Individualized Business Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English course is for nonnative speakers of English who have a good command of the English language, but have basic problems in language and grammar resulting from speaking English as a second language. This grammar course is a tutorial, so it focuses on the student’s writing to teach the  grammar and language skills the student needs to learn. The instructor reads samples of the student’s writing thoroughly, identifies grammar and language skills the student needs to learn, lists the sentences with problems in each area, corrects the sentences to show the student how they should have been written, assigns readings from the grammar textbook and online training materials, answers questions about the grammar and language, has the student practice the skills, and provides an online quiz containing sentences from the original writing sample the student must correct to be sure he or she has learned the grammar and language skills. This course includes unlimited access to the instructor.

You may purchase the grammar course textbook we use from a bookseller such as Amazon.com. However, the textbook is not required for the course. You will use online training materials for the grammar training.

Language and Grammar Course Timeline

You will go through the language and grammar course at your own pace, so you could complete it within a few weeks. However, you have up to four months to complete the course so you can fit the study time into your schedule. All lessons must be finished within the four-month period.

Language and Grammar Course Content

You will send writing samples to your instructor. Your instructor will read each sample thoroughly, identify skills you need to learn, list the sentences with problems in each area with corrections showing how they should have been written, assign readings from the grammar textbook, answer any questions you have about the skill, have you practice the skill, and give you an online quiz containing sentences from your original writing sample that you must correct in ten minutes to be sure you have learned the skills. You have unlimited access to the instructor in the course.

Your instructor will look for issues in any of the following areas and give you the language and grammar training you need:

• Abbreviations • Active Voice • Adverbs • Affect – Effect • Apostrophes to Show Possession • Articles • Bolding • Capitalization • Colloquialisms • Colons • Commas and Periods with Quotation Marks • Comma Overuse • Commas in a Series • Commas with “However,” “Therefore,” “Thus” • Commas with Coordinate Adjectives • Commas with Coordinating Conjunctions • Commas with Dates, States, Addresses, and Numbers • Commas with Introductory Elements • Commas with Nonrestrictive Appositives • Commas with Nonrestrictive Elements • Commas with Parenthetical Elements • Commonly Confused Word Pairs • Conciseness • Consistency • Contractions • Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers • Ellipses • Errors Unique to Your Writing • Formatting • Fragment Sentences • Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles • Hyphens and Dashes • Hyphens with Compound Adjectives • Hyphens with Numbers • Hyphens with Prefixes and Compound Words • Idioms and Word Usage • Inversions • Lists • Modal Auxiliary Verbs • Mood Shift • Number (Singular or Plural) • Numbers Format • Omitting Space or Inserting Too Much Space • Parallelism in Lists and Sentences • Parentheses • Passive Voice • Periods • Plurals • Prepositions • Pronoun Reference • Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Pronouns • Proofreading • Questions • Quotation Marks • Run-on Sentences • Run-on sentences Using “Therefore,” “However” • Semicolons • Simple Sentence Structures • Simple Vocabulary • Slashes • Spelling • Subject/Verb Agreement • Tense Endings • Tense Shifts • Tense • “There,” “Their,” and “They’re,” • Using Case Correctly • Using Key Words • “Whom,” “That,” and “Which” • Word Choice • Word Omitted • Word Unnecessary • Wordiness • Wording Problems

See instructor credentials

Business Writing Course for Nonnative Speakers of English (BWC130) and Business Writing Skills (BWC210) Taken Together


  • The perfect combination of courses for polishing English language usage and learning how to write clear, well-organized business documents
  • In-depth, individualized language and grammar course
  • Business writing course contains four writing sample business writing examinations and twelve practice writing activities
  • English language and grammar course goes through several writing samples to identify and provide individualized training
  • Instructor provides individual attention to grammar training needs, especially nonnative writer issues
  • Students receive only the specific language and grammar training they need
  • Self-pacing, available from anywhere in the world
  • Unlimited access to the instructor to ask business grammar questions
  • Online quizzes containing sentences from the student’s original business writing sample
  • Instructor is a college of business PhD professor
  • Extensive feedback and coaching to enhance the language and grammar training
  • Grammar course contains easily understood explanations of English language and grammar
  • Tuition for the two courses: $595

Grammar Course and Writing Course Syllabuses:

The Individualized Business Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English course

The Individualized Business Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English course is for nonnative speakers of English who have a good command of the English language, but have basic problems in language and grammar resulting from speaking English as a second language. This grammar course is a tutorial, so it focuses on the student’s writing to teach the grammar and language skills the student needs to learn. The instructor reads samples of the student’s writing thoroughly, identifies grammar and language skills the student needs to learn, lists the sentences with problems in each area, corrects the sentences to show the student how they should have been written, assigns readings from the grammar textbook and online training materials, answers questions about the grammar and language, has the student practice the skills, and provides an online quiz containing sentences from the original writing sample the student must correct to be sure he or she has learned the grammar and language skills. This course includes unlimited access to the instructor.

You may purchase the grammar textbook we use from a bookseller such as Amazon.com. However, the textbook is not required for the course. You will use online training materials for the grammar training.

Language and Grammar Course Timeline

You will go through the language and grammar course at your own pace, so you could complete it within a few weeks. However, you have up to four months to complete the course so you can fit the study time into your schedule. All lessons must be finished within the four-month period.

Language and Grammar Course Content

You will send writing samples to your instructor. Your instructor will read each sample thoroughly, identify skills you need to learn, list the sentences with problems in each area with corrections showing how they should have been written, assign readings from the grammar textbook, answer any questions you have about the skill, have you practice the skill, and give you an online quiz containing sentences from your original writing sample that you must correct in ten minutes to be sure you have learned the skills. You have unlimited access to the instructor in the course.

Your instructor will look for issues in any of the following areas and give you the language and grammar training you need:

• Abbreviations • Active Voice • Adverbs • Affect – Effect • Apostrophes to Show Possession • Articles • Bolding • Capitalization • Colloquialisms • Colons • Commas and Periods with Quotation Marks • Comma Overuse • Commas in a Series • Commas with “However,” “Therefore,” “Thus” • Commas with Coordinate Adjectives • Commas with Coordinating Conjunctions • Commas with Dates, States, Addresses, and Numbers • Commas with Introductory Elements • Commas with Nonrestrictive Appositives • Commas with Nonrestrictive Elements • Commas with Parenthetical Elements • Commonly Confused Word Pairs • Conciseness • Consistency • Contractions • Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers • Ellipses • Errors Unique to Your Writing • Formatting • Fragment Sentences • Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles • Hyphens and Dashes • Hyphens with Compound Adjectives • Hyphens with Numbers • Hyphens with Prefixes and Compound Words • Idioms and Word Usage • Inversions • Lists • Modal Auxiliary Verbs • Mood Shift • Number (Singular or Plural) • Numbers Format • Omitting Space or Inserting Too Much Space • Parallelism in Lists and Sentences • Parentheses • Passive Voice • Periods • Plurals • Prepositions • Pronoun Reference • Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Pronouns • Proofreading • Questions • Quotation Marks • Run-on Sentences • Run-on sentences Using “Therefore,” “However” • Semicolons • Simple Sentence Structures • Simple Vocabulary • Slashes • Spelling • Subject/Verb Agreement • Tense Endings • Tense Shifts • Tense • “There,” “Their,” and “They’re,” • Using Case Correctly • Using Key Words • “Whom,” “That,” and “Which” • Word Choice • Word Omitted • Word Unnecessary • Wordiness • Wording Problems

BWC210 Business Writing Skills

The Business Writing Skills course teaches the best practices business people must know to be able to create clear, effective, professional business writing, including e-mail, memos, letters, and reports. The Business Writing Skills course teaches a structured approach to writing that makes writing easier and guides readers through the content. Graduates report that they receive high praise for their business writing, and other employees begin to copy their style.

The course contains 12 business writing practice activities and four competency examinations. The online lessons contain clear explanations and many examples. You go at your own pace and submit business writing assignments when you are ready. The instructor evaluates the activities and examinations, comments on skills learned and skills that still need polish, coaches you through learning the business writing skills, and certifies your competence. You receive a Business Writing Skills course graduation certificate for framing at the end of the course.

Pre-write

Follow email protocol.
Set goals.
Choose strategies based on the goals and readers.
Prepare the Information.

Learn how to overcome writer’s block.
Prepare notes for your email, memo, letter, or report.
Organize the Writing.

Have an organizational pattern in mind.
Use special organizational patterns for some messages.
Introduce the Content.

For emails and memos, always write a clear, meaningful subject line.
Write a clear, complete introduction.
For emails, letters, and memos, write a cordial beginning or buffer.
State the contents.
For reports, state conclusions and recommendations in the introduction.
Write a Clear Document.

Write the explanations in blocks.
Check each block for focus.
Check each block for completeness.
Use headings to open blocks.
Create lists.
Write Clear, Complete Explanations.

Write to build conclusions in the reader’s mind.
For reports, write clear, complete, relevant explanations.
Write a Conclusion with Impact.

Write a conclusion that achieves your goals.Write Clear, Effective Sentences, Paragraphs, and Words.

Use paragraphs to organize information.
Write concisely.
Write clear, simple, active-voice sentences.
For reports, write clearly and simply for non-technical readers.
Use words the reader will understand.
Prepare a Polished, Correct Final Draft

Use your spell checker and grammar checker.
Proofread.
Format the email to be readable.

See instructor credentials

Basic Grammar Course Tutorial (BWC110) and Business Writing Skills (BWC210) Taken Together


  • The perfect combination of courses with grammar training and learning how to write clear, well-organized business documents
  • In-depth, individualized grammar course focusing on language , punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, word usage, and writing business documents
  • Business writing course contains four writing sample examinations and twelve practice business writing activities
  • Basic grammar course goes through several writing samples to identify and provide individualized grammar training
  • Instructor provides individual attention to grammar training needs
  • Students study only the specific language and usage skills they need
  • Self-pacing, available from anywhere in the world
  • Unlimited access to the instructor to ask questions
  • Online quizzes containing sentences from the student’s original business writing sample
  • Instructor is a business college PhD professor
  • Extensive feedback and coaching
  • Clear, easily understood explanations of English grammar
  • Tuition discounted to $595 for both courses

Grammar Course and Business Writing Course Syllabuses:

The Basic Grammar Course Tutorial

The Basic Grammar Course Tutorial provides grammar training for people who have problems in grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, or sentence structure. The course will help you learn new patterns to replace the old by using your own sentences as the grammar training examples. The teaching, practice, and tests are based on your own writing as much as possible. This grammar training course is highly individualized. The instructor carefully evaluates your business writing and prescribes grammar training and practice based on your unique needs. You receive grammar training on only the specific skills you need to learn, at your own pace. You have unlimited access to the instructor to ask questions.

You may purchase the grammar training textbook we use from a bookseller such as Amazon.com. However, the textbook is not required for the course. You will use online grammar training materials to learn the skills.

Grammar Course Content

You will send business writing samples to your instructor. Your instructor will read each sample thoroughly, identify grammar skills you need to learn, list the sentences with problems in each area with corrections showing how they should have been written, assign readings from the grammar training textbook, answer any questions you have about grammar, have you practice the grammar skill, and give you an online quiz containing sentences from your original writing sample that you must correct in ten minutes to be sure you have learned the skills. You have unlimited access to the instructor in the course.

Your instructor will look for issues in any of the following areas and give you grammar training in the skills you need:

• Abbreviations • Active Voice • Adverbs • Affect – Effect • Apostrophes to Show Possession • Articles • Bolding • Capitalization • Colloquialisms • Colons • Commas and Periods with Quotation Marks • Comma Overuse • Commas in a Series • Commas with “However,” “Therefore,” “Thus” • Commas with Coordinate Adjectives • Commas with Coordinating Conjunctions • Commas with Dates, States, Addresses, and Numbers • Commas with Introductory Elements • Commas with Nonrestrictive Appositives • Commas with Nonrestrictive Elements • Commas with Parenthetical Elements • Commonly Confused Word Pairs • Conciseness • Consistency • Contractions • Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers • Ellipses • Errors Unique to Your Writing • Formatting • Fragment Sentences • Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles • Hyphens and Dashes • Hyphens with Compound Adjectives • Hyphens with Numbers • Hyphens with Prefixes and Compound Words • Idioms and Word Usage • Inversions • Lists • Modal Auxiliary Verbs • Mood Shift • Number (Singular or Plural) • Numbers Format • Omitting Space or Inserting Too Much Space • Parallelism in Lists and Sentences • Parentheses • Passive Voice • Periods • Plurals • Prepositions • Pronoun Reference • Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Pronouns • Proofreading • Questions • Quotation Marks • Run-on Sentences • Run-on sentences Using “Therefore,” “However” • Semicolons • Simple Sentence Structures • Simple Vocabulary • Slashes • Spelling • Subject/Verb Agreement • Tense Endings • Tense Shifts • Tense • “There,” “Their,” and “They’re,” • Using Case Correctly • Using Key Words • “Whom,” “That,” and “Which” • Word Choice • Word Omitted • Word Unnecessary • Wordiness • Wording Problems

BWC210 Business Writing Skills

The Business Writing Skills course teaches the best practices business people must know to be able to create clear, effective, professional business writing, including e-mail, memos, letters, and reports. The Business Writing Skills course teaches a structured approach to writing that makes writing easier and guides readers through the content. Graduates report that they receive high praise for their business writing, and other employees begin to copy their style.

The course contains 12 business writing practice activities and four competency examinations. The online lessons contain clear explanations and many examples. You go at your own pace and submit business writing assignments when you are ready. The instructor evaluates the activities and examinations, comments on skills learned and skills that still need polish, coaches you through learning the business writing skills, and certifies your competence. You receive a Business Writing Skills course graduation certificate for framing at the end of the course.

Pre-write

Follow email protocol.
Set goals.
Choose strategies based on the goals and readers.
Prepare the Information.

Learn how to overcome writer’s block.
Prepare notes for your email, memo, letter, or report.
Organize the Writing.

Have an organizational pattern in mind.
Use special organizational patterns for some messages.
Introduce the Content.

For emails and memos, always write a clear, meaningful subject line.
Write a clear, complete introduction.
For emails, letters, and memos, write a cordial beginning or buffer.
State the contents.
For reports, state conclusions and recommendations in the introduction.
Write a Clear Document.

Write the explanations in blocks.
Check each block for focus.
Check each block for completeness.
Use headings to open blocks.
Create lists.
Write Clear, Complete Explanations.

Write to build conclusions in the reader’s mind.
For reports, write clear, complete, relevant explanations.
Write a Conclusion with Impact.

Write a conclusion that achieves your goals.Write Clear, Effective Sentences, Paragraphs, and Words.

Use paragraphs to organize information.
Write concisely.
Write clear, simple, active-voice sentences.
For reports, write clearly and simply for non-technical readers.
Use words the reader will understand.
Prepare a Polished, Correct Final Draft

Use your spell checker and grammar checker.
Proofread.
Format the email to be readable.

See instructor credentials

Free email training

Reply to Requests So Your Readers Always Receive What They Want

Write Clear Email about Problems So Support Can Give You the Solutions Immediately

You may download and distribute this Business Writing Center training video freely.
Business Writing Course Certificate

Writing Coaching by Senior Instructor Dr. Robert Hogan

Business Writing InstructorDr. Robert Hogan teaches the coaching, tutoring, and individualized business writing courses. Dr. Hogan has been training writers for 40 years in universities, colleges of business, consulting companies, and professional writing companies. He has been a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County College, and Illinois State University College of Business. He was manager of communications in a telephone billing company and owner of a company writing documents on contract for government agencies and corporations.

More about Dr. Hogan and his courses you may take…

Worldwide Business Writing Training

Corporate and Government Training

Corporate discounts are available. Send an email to the Business Writing Center for more information: Email…

Government agencies and companies may purchase courses at the end of the fiscal year and defer registration of individuals in the courses for up to 12 months. Request information…

Dr. Hogan delivers workshops at company sites in general business writing, writing email, business report writing, writing letters, and principles of usage (grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentences, and word usage). More…

Worldwide Business Writing Training

6,600 Clients Worldwide

The Business Writing Center has trained staff from a broad range of organizations:

Companies – 5,768
Nonprofit organizations – 495
Military/government – 234
Colleges/universities – 143

See a sample list of the most recent 1,000 companies and agencies.

Writing Training Awards

Awards and Recognition

The Business Writing Center has been evaluated and has received awards or recognition from a number of organizations and media:

  • U.S. General Services Administration
  • Dun& Bradstreet
  • Department of Defense
  • National Association of Legal Assistants
  • HR-Wire
  • Florida Department of Health
  • Investor’s Business Daily
  • TechRepublic

See the list of awards