by Sharon Ernst | Feb 17, 2025 | Business Writing Class
I finally published the basic business writing course this weekend. Whew!! You have no idea what a relief it was to finally get that done! It takes me a long time to get these online classes pulled together. And there’s always the doubt that they are as helpful as I want them to be. Are you wondering why I even went to all the work to make this class happen? Yes, me too, if I’m honest. But I have a strong desire to share basic tips and advice to help people improve their writing at work. The work behind the classes Every online...
by Sharon Ernst | Nov 25, 2024 | Business Writing Skills
Why are we so short on business writing skills anyway? Mark Twain supposedly said, “Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” Obviously, he was being sarcastic because there’s a lot more to writing than crossing out the wrong words, right? But what? What are we missing? What do we not know? Well, it turns out there’s a lot we don’t know about writing…especially business writing. One study found 26.2% of employers think college graduates have deficient business writing skills—not weak but deficient. As for...
by Sharon Ernst | Sep 4, 2024 | Business Writing Skills
Originally published June 2020; updated February 2025 How does advice on how to write better paragraphs relate to COVID? Hang on. You’ll see. During the pandemic and people working from home, we all heard about the empty highways and lack of traffic. At my house, I probably heard more about it than most because my husband was commuting each day—and enjoying the easy drive. (He works in aircraft maintenance, so WFH was not an option.) As our stay-at-home order ended and people hit the road once more, my husband’s commute...
by Sharon Ernst | Jul 22, 2024 | Business Writing Skills
What’s the easiest writing tip ever? Don’t start with “we” or “I.” This makes me crazy in copywriting, because any time a marketing piece–be it an email, a web page, a print piece–starts with “we” or “I,” we’ve turned off the potential customer. Why? Because people only care about themselves, and that includes you and me, so I’m not dissin’ on anyone here. We are all only human. But, here’s the deal: This is also a turnoff in business...
