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Business Writing Training

Workshops conducted remotely or in person at your location

Syntaxis business writing workshops teach professionals to express their ideas with greater clarity and power. Every writing workshop is taught by Ellen Jovin, the firm’s co-founder and a bestselling author of several books on writing and grammar for the workplace. The workshop format is interactive, with lively discussion, questions, and in-class exercises to reinforce the course principles.

Our business writing workshops:

Business Writing Workshop: Tips and Tricks from a Professional Writer

Business Writing Workshop: Tips and Tricks from a Professional Writer

This business writing workshop covers the most important principles of effective workplace writing: getting to the point quickly, writing economically but courteously, extracting simple points from complex situations, letting go of details you don’t need, and creating a more dynamic, accessible style. Specific examples underscore common writing problems and provide practical solutions for future use. Course principles are relevant for memos, reports, proposals, email, web content, social media, and more.

  • Target Audience: Anyone who writes at work; can be adapted for writers at different skill levels
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 hour to 1 day for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • BookWriting for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin
Email Writing and Etiquette Workshop

Email Writing and Etiquette Workshop

This email workshop helps participants present the best version of themselves in writing—through clear, professional, personable email that focuses tenaciously on the needs of the reader. Email examples and makeovers illuminate how to extract simple points from complex situations, present your main idea gracefully, use bulleting more effectively, and let go of details you simply don’t need. Even small changes can transform email and help professionals better achieve their business goals. 

  • Target Audience: People who want to improve the professionalism and effectiveness of their email
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 4 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • Book: Writing for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin
Better Business Writing: Error Reduction Workshop

Better Business Writing: Error Reduction Workshop

This fast-paced, interactive writing workshop focuses on eliminating the most common errors in grammar and word choice from email, reports, and other business documents.

  • Target Audience: Professionals who would like to polish their prose and reduce errrors
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • BookEssential Grammar at Work or Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin
Writing Effective Performance Evaluations

Writing Effective Performance Evaluations

This interactive seminar for managers covers key principles of effective written employee feedback in performance evaluations—content, organization, word choice/diplomacy, specificity, and more. How much detail should you include? How do you deliver negative feedback? How can you formulate diplomatic suggestions that will promote professional growth?

  • Target Audience: Managers responsible for writing performance reviews
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 60 to 90 minutes for in-person or remote training
  • Book: Writing for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin
Grammar Seminar for Attorneys

Grammar Seminar for Attorneys

Syntaxis principal Ellen Jovin is the proprietor of the internationally acclaimed Grammar Table and the author of Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian (HarperCollins), a 2022 national bestseller about grammar and communication. Bring Ellen in through your sponsoring bar organization or law firm to run an entertaining and educational grammar program for your attorneys. Ellen’s program can easily be approved for CLE credit.

  • Target Audience: Attorneys interested in advancing or refreshing their knowledge of grammatical points relevant to their writing
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 50 to 90 minutes for in-person or remote training
  • BookRebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin
Grammar Workshop for Managers

Grammar Workshop for Managers

Are you confounded by commas? Perplexed about pronoun forms such as “me,” “myself,” and “I”? Tired of arguing with colleagues about which words can or cannot begin or end a sentence? This grammar workshop provides executives with solutions to persistent challenges in grammar, punctuation, and word choice. Greater confidence about the details leads to improved precision, control, and authority in written communications. Questions are always welcome in class. 

  • Target Audience: Managers who want to improve their grasp of grammar and enhance the effectiveness and professionalism of their written communications
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • BookEssential Grammar for Business: The Foundation of Good Writing or Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin
Punctuation Seminar for Attorneys

Punctuation Seminar for Attorneys

Bring Syntaxis co-founder Ellen Jovin in through your sponsoring bar organization or law firm to run a lively advanced punctuation program for your attorneys. Ellen is the proprietor of the internationally acclaimed Grammar Table and the author of Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian (HarperCollins), a 2022 national bestseller about grammar and communication. The focus will be on advanced problems commonly encountered—and debated—by attorneys. Ellen’s program can easily be approved for CLE credit.

  • Target Audience: Attorneys interested in advancing or refreshing their knowledge of advanced punctuation points relevant to legal writing
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 50 to 90 minutes for in-person or remote training
  • BookRebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin
Punctuation Workshop for Executives

Punctuation Workshop for Executives

This Syntaxis punctuation workshop covers common punctuation errors in workplace writing. It's a great teambuilding option for a monthly meeting or other corporate event. Bond over dashes, colons, ellipses, exclamation points, and more! Where one puts a comma or apostrophe affects meaning, sometimes dramatically. Errors in commas, colons, and their grammatical cousins can also distract the reader from the writer’s message. This specialized business grammar course covers the fundamental rules of punctuation and mechanics, as well as common errors in their application.

  • Target Audience: Anyone who punctuates, but especially those who don't
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • Book: Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian or Essential Grammar for Business: The Foundation of Good Writing by instructor Ellen Jovin
Grammar Workshop: Error Reduction for Nonnative Speakers of English

Grammar Workshop: Error Reduction for Nonnative Speakers of English

This lively business writing workshop is designed specifically for nonnative speakers of English. The goal is to eliminate some of the most common workplace writing errors in grammar and word choice. Instructor Ellen Jovin has studied 25+ languages herself and is intimately familiar with the challenges of language acquisition. During the workshop she covers specific errors as well as techniques to help attendees advance skills on their own time. After the class, students can use the instructor’s entertaining self-study book English at Work: Find and Fix Your Mistakes in Business English to continue to work on their skills at home.

  • Target Audience: Nonnative speakers of English who would like to produce more error-free prose
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • BookEnglish at Work: Find and Fix Your Mistakes in Business English by instructor Ellen Jovin
Proofreading Workshop

Proofreading Workshop

Our proofreading training helps attendees learn to find and fix mistakes in their email and other writing. Participants learn techniques used by professional proofreaders, and engaging, fast-paced exercises allow them to test their skills. Greater confidence about writing details leads to improved precision, control, and authority in written communications.

  • Target Audience: Employees who want to improve their editing and proofreading skills
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training,
  • Book: Essential Grammar for Business: The Foundation of Good Writing or Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin
Investment Committee Memo Writing Workshop

Investment Committee Memo Writing Workshop

This interactive workshop tackles the most common writing weaknesses in investment committee memos. Goals include improved memo clarity, organization, simplicity, and persuasiveness. Participants learn to make their purpose clearer right away, drop unnecessary details, avoid repetition within and across memo sections, and rely on simple, clear language.

  • Target Audience: Professionals who would like to improve the quality and effectiveness of their writing in investment committee memos
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • Book: Writing for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin
Internal Audit Report Writing Workshop

Internal Audit Report Writing Workshop

This workshop develops writing skills relevant for the types of documents that internal audit professionals produce most frequently: audit reports, planning and engagement memos, meeting minutes, writebacks, and walkthroughs. In an interactive format, participants consider topics ranging from organization and conciseness to style and word choice. By getting to the point quickly, reducing passive voice, simplifying sentence structure, and minimizing unnecessarily ornate language, attendees can create clearer, more useful documents that benefit their organizations.

  • Target Audience: Internal audit professionals who would like to improve the writing quality of their reports and other professional writing
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 4 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • Book: Writing for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin
Contact us about business writing training

Business Writing Workshop: Tips and Tricks from a Professional Writer

This business writing workshop covers the most important principles of effective workplace writing: getting to the point quickly, writing economically but courteously, extracting simple points from complex situations, letting go of details you don’t need, and creating a more dynamic, accessible style. Specific examples underscore common writing problems and provide practical solutions for future use. Course principles are relevant for memos, reports, proposals, email, web content, social media, and more.

  • Target Audience: Anyone who writes at work; can be adapted for writers at different skill levels
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 hour to 1 day for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • BookWriting for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin

Email Writing and Etiquette Workshop

This email workshop helps participants present the best version of themselves in writing—through clear, professional, personable email that focuses tenaciously on the needs of the reader. Email examples and makeovers illuminate how to extract simple points from complex situations, present your main idea gracefully, use bulleting more effectively, and let go of details you simply don’t need. Even small changes can transform email and help professionals better achieve their business goals. 

  • Target Audience: People who want to improve the professionalism and effectiveness of their email
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 4 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • Book: Writing for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin

Better Business Writing: Error Reduction Workshop

This fast-paced, interactive writing workshop focuses on eliminating the most common errors in grammar and word choice from email, reports, and other business documents.

  • Target Audience: Professionals who would like to polish their prose and reduce errrors
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • BookEssential Grammar at Work or Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin

Writing Effective Performance Evaluations

This interactive seminar for managers covers key principles of effective written employee feedback in performance evaluations—content, organization, word choice/diplomacy, specificity, and more. How much detail should you include? How do you deliver negative feedback? How can you formulate diplomatic suggestions that will promote professional growth?

  • Target Audience: Managers responsible for writing performance reviews
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 60 to 90 minutes for in-person or remote training
  • Book: Writing for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin

Grammar Seminar for Attorneys

Syntaxis principal Ellen Jovin is the proprietor of the internationally acclaimed Grammar Table and the author of Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian (HarperCollins), a 2022 national bestseller about grammar and communication. Bring Ellen in through your sponsoring bar organization or law firm to run an entertaining and educational grammar program for your attorneys. Ellen’s program can easily be approved for CLE credit.

  • Target Audience: Attorneys interested in advancing or refreshing their knowledge of grammatical points relevant to their writing
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 50 to 90 minutes for in-person or remote training
  • BookRebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin

Grammar Workshop for Managers

Are you confounded by commas? Perplexed about pronoun forms such as “me,” “myself,” and “I”? Tired of arguing with colleagues about which words can or cannot begin or end a sentence? This grammar workshop provides executives with solutions to persistent challenges in grammar, punctuation, and word choice. Greater confidence about the details leads to improved precision, control, and authority in written communications. Questions are always welcome in class. 

  • Target Audience: Managers who want to improve their grasp of grammar and enhance the effectiveness and professionalism of their written communications
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • BookEssential Grammar for Business: The Foundation of Good Writing or Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin

Punctuation Seminar for Attorneys

Bring Syntaxis co-founder Ellen Jovin in through your sponsoring bar organization or law firm to run a lively advanced punctuation program for your attorneys. Ellen is the proprietor of the internationally acclaimed Grammar Table and the author of Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian (HarperCollins), a 2022 national bestseller about grammar and communication. The focus will be on advanced problems commonly encountered—and debated—by attorneys. Ellen’s program can easily be approved for CLE credit.

  • Target Audience: Attorneys interested in advancing or refreshing their knowledge of advanced punctuation points relevant to legal writing
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 50 to 90 minutes for in-person or remote training
  • BookRebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin

Punctuation Workshop for Executives

This Syntaxis punctuation workshop covers common punctuation errors in workplace writing. It's a great teambuilding option for a monthly meeting or other corporate event. Bond over dashes, colons, ellipses, exclamation points, and more! Where one puts a comma or apostrophe affects meaning, sometimes dramatically. Errors in commas, colons, and their grammatical cousins can also distract the reader from the writer’s message. This specialized business grammar course covers the fundamental rules of punctuation and mechanics, as well as common errors in their application.

  • Target Audience: Anyone who punctuates, but especially those who don't
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • Book: Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian or Essential Grammar for Business: The Foundation of Good Writing by instructor Ellen Jovin

Grammar Workshop: Error Reduction for Nonnative Speakers of English

This lively business writing workshop is designed specifically for nonnative speakers of English. The goal is to eliminate some of the most common workplace writing errors in grammar and word choice. Instructor Ellen Jovin has studied 25+ languages herself and is intimately familiar with the challenges of language acquisition. During the workshop she covers specific errors as well as techniques to help attendees advance skills on their own time. After the class, students can use the instructor’s entertaining self-study book English at Work: Find and Fix Your Mistakes in Business English to continue to work on their skills at home.

  • Target Audience: Nonnative speakers of English who would like to produce more error-free prose
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • BookEnglish at Work: Find and Fix Your Mistakes in Business English by instructor Ellen Jovin

Proofreading Workshop

Our proofreading training helps attendees learn to find and fix mistakes in their email and other writing. Participants learn techniques used by professional proofreaders, and engaging, fast-paced exercises allow them to test their skills. Greater confidence about writing details leads to improved precision, control, and authority in written communications.

  • Target Audience: Employees who want to improve their editing and proofreading skills
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training,
  • Book: Essential Grammar for Business: The Foundation of Good Writing or Rebel with a Clause: Tales & Tips from a Roving Grammarian by instructor Ellen Jovin

Investment Committee Memo Writing Workshop

This interactive workshop tackles the most common writing weaknesses in investment committee memos. Goals include improved memo clarity, organization, simplicity, and persuasiveness. Participants learn to make their purpose clearer right away, drop unnecessary details, avoid repetition within and across memo sections, and rely on simple, clear language.

  • Target Audience: Professionals who would like to improve the quality and effectiveness of their writing in investment committee memos
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 3 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • Book: Writing for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin

Internal Audit Report Writing Workshop

This workshop develops writing skills relevant for the types of documents that internal audit professionals produce most frequently: audit reports, planning and engagement memos, meeting minutes, writebacks, and walkthroughs. In an interactive format, participants consider topics ranging from organization and conciseness to style and word choice. By getting to the point quickly, reducing passive voice, simplifying sentence structure, and minimizing unnecessarily ornate language, attendees can create clearer, more useful documents that benefit their organizations.

  • Target Audience: Internal audit professionals who would like to improve the writing quality of their reports and other professional writing
  • Format: In-person or remote
  • Length: 1 to 4 hours for in-person training, 60 to 90 minutes for remote training
  • Book: Writing for Business: Professionalism, Integrity & Power by instructor Ellen Jovin
Contact us about business writing training