Professional Writing Skills: A Self-Paced Training Program

This book is essential for anyone who needs to write clear, concise letters, memos, reports, proposals or other business documents. A complete self-study program in a handy workbook format, it provides the same practical techniques and strategies Advanced Communication Designs instructors have taught to business and professional people since 1980. PROFESSIONAL WRITING SKILLS includes techniques for getting started, conveying the main point clearly, selecting and organizing information, using the right tone, using active, jargon-free language, and eliminating unnecessary words. Filled with practice exercises with immediate feedback, the book can be used for self-study or as the text for a class.

ADVANCED COMMUNICATION DESIGNS, INC. was founded to help people improve their business, professional and technical writing skills. Since 1980, Janis Fisher Chan and Diane Lutovich have taught writing skills to people in corporations, the professions, small businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit institutions. Our clients include KPMG Peat Marwick, the Bank of America, Fair Isaac, State Farm Insurance, the Federal Home Loan Bank, Bayer Corporation, Consumers' Union, Harding Lawson Associates, and many others. We're also on the faculty of the University of California Business Extension.

JANIS FISHER CHAN, M.A., co-author of four self-study workbooks, "Professional Writing Skills," "Grammar for Grownups," "Writing Performance Documentation," and "How to Write Reports and Proposals," is an expert in training program design and a skilled classroom teacher. She has developed and conducted a wide variety of classroom programs and self-study training materials. Her areas of specialty include business and technical writing; performance management and appraisal; planning and conducting meetings; managing projects; and interpersonal communication. In 1980, she co-founded Advanced Communication Designs, Inc., a training company that specializes in developing and conducting customized courses in business and technical writing, performance management, and other subjects. She is an instructor for the University of California Business Extension. Janis Fisher Chan is also the author of "Inventing Ourselves Again: Women in Midlife," published by Sibyl Publications, and the co-author, with Linda Mukai, of "Living With Dying: A Personal Journey," published by Butterfield Press.

DIANE LUTOVICH, M.A., co-author of four self-study workbooks, "Professional Writing Skills," "Grammar for Grownups," "Writing Performance Documentation," and "How to Write Reports and Proposals," is a professional writer and educator who has been a consultant to schools and businesses for over 20 years. A specialist in needs assessment and instructional design, she has developed a wide range of learning programs and instructional materials on technical and nontechnical subjects. In 1980, she co-founded Advanced Communication Designs, Inc., a training company that specializes in developing and conducting customized courses in business and technical writing, performance management, and other subjects. She is an instructor for the University of California Business Extension. In addition to her work in training and business publishing, Diane Lutovich is a poet, most recently published in the "Barnaby Mountain Review," "Lilith Magazine," and "The Atlanta Review." She is currently writing a book on grown children and parental loss.