What is the Best Business Writing Course?
A business writing course helps develop business writing skills that help create relevant business-related content.
Regardless of how much technical writing experience you have, business writing requires a certain kind of experience and skills. That’s because business writing is more about relaying information in a clear, concise, and effective manner.
Usually, business writing helps in developing emails, reports, proposals, notices, and even memos. It’s a crucial skill to have in the workplace for effective communication.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the best online business writing courses you can opt for in 2022.
Let’s get started.
What is a Business Writing Course?
A business writing course helps develop business writing skills while providing a baseline for creating business documents.
Business writing is all about conveying relevant information to readers concisely, clearly, and in an effective manner.
There are four main categories of business writing:
- Instructional – This form of business writing helps readers complete a task. They usually list down instructions in steps.
- Informational – All business documents that aim to provide information come under this category. It can include documents that provide information on core functions, plans, compliance, and more. Furthermore, it can also include the financial statements of companies, along with organizational reports.
- Persuasive – These types of business documents aim to influence readers by conveying relevant information. The idea is to offer value and impress the reader. That means it usually has to do with sales and marketing. Some examples include press releases, proposals, and emails.
- Transactional – This form of business writing includes all sorts of day-to-day business communication in the workplace. That can include official letters, memos, emails, forms, and invoices.
Furthermore, business writing needs to be effective from all fronts. To ensure that, it should tick the following boxes.
- There should be clarity of thought
- The writing should be concise
- There should be correct grammar, formatting, and sentence structure
- The use of simple language is crucial
A business writing course helps develop the foundation of business writing by going over the things above. After helping you understand what constitutes effective business writing, you go through the different types of business writing.
Throughout that process, you learn how to write each type of business document through examples, templates, and practical exercises.
Furthermore, having a business writing course certificate also reflects well on your resume and CV.
5 Best Business Writing Courses in 2022
A good business writing course will help you understand what business writing is. Then, it will teach you how to counter different types of business writing.
By the end of the course, you should have a good idea of how to start.
The following are some of the best business writing courses you can start with.
1. Better Business Writing Skills on Udemy
Udemy is a massive online learning library that has tons of courses in various subjects and languages. The Better Business Writing Skills course on Udemy is one of the best-performing business writing courses on the site.
It’s ideal for both native and non-native English speakers as it starts with the basics. It continues to teach students how to write business emails, articles, reports, and marketing copy.
The course emphasizes the importance of writing clear, concise, and persuasive copy. On top of that, it provides several downloadable resources to assist students after they complete the course.
The course features Cicero Award-winning speechwriter Mark Morris. In total, the course runs for around 3.5 hours in videos. It also has 11 articles and 17 downloadable resources.
Students can also access all of the content on Udemy’s mobile app.
While the course provides professional writing tips, it also provides tips on becoming a more productive writer. That includes focusing on editing techniques, polishing your writing, and how to consistently test your work.
Here are some major pros of going for this course:
- The course is available on Udemy’s easy-to-use app
- There’s a 30-day free trial
- When you buy the course, you get lifetime access
The following are some cons of this course:
- There are no quizzes, assessment tools, or practice exercises
- You don’t receive any accredited certificates
The course currently costs $84.99. However, you can get a lower price if you wait for a discount.
You can check out the Better Business Writing Skills course on Udemy here.
2. Business Writing on Coursera (By the University of Colorado)
Coursera is another massive online library of courses from renowned universities and educators. The Business Writing course on Coursera is an extension from the University of Colorado Boulder.
The course helps students build a solid foundation in business writing. It takes them through the principles of good business writing through the four-week course.
The course is for business professionals and non-native English speakers. It goes over the top ten principles of good business writing, offering complete methodologies.
The course instructor is Dr. Quentin McAndrew of the Department of English at the university.
In total, the course consists of 52 videos and 16 quizzes that amount to around 13 hours. However, students have to complete the course over a period of four weeks to avoid information overload.
Regardless, it’s still a self-paced course; that means students can manage the completion according to their own schedule.
The course provides various practical applications of all business writing principles. It also provides simple tools to improve your professional writing skills. On top of that, it teaches you how to organize, structure, and revise your writing.
Here are some major pros of going for this course:
- You get a shareable certificate that you can add to your LinkedIn profile
- It’s a self-paced course
- There’s financial aid for students who can’t pay the whole amount
The following are some cons of this course:
- While you can enroll for free, most lessons are not available in the free version
- The course has subscription-based pricing
- Therefore, there’s no lifetime access
The current subscription price is $49 per month. However, you can utilize Coursera’s seven-day free trial and financial aid.
You can check out the Business Writing course on Coursera here.
3. Business Communication Skills: Business Writing & Grammar on Udemy
Another great business writing course on Udemy is the Business Communication Skills course. It’s essentially a business writing and grammar course available in one insightful and collective course.
Most business writing courses tend to focus on strategy and style. However, this particular course starts you off with basic grammar skills and then moves on to developing good writing skills.
That means it’s an ideal course for people who are learning English as a second language. However, even if it’s your first language, the course will help fine-tune your business English skills.
Meanwhile, it’s also a great course for freelancers that want to build upon their professional communication skills.
The course instructor is Alex Genadinik – a best-selling Amazon author. He runs through his course, focusing on the foundations of business English and grammar, including helping with common grammatical errors.
The course emphasizes its efforts on helping freelancers communicate better with their clients. That includes communication over email, phone, and chat. The idea is to help them run more efficient meetings and effectively manage and resolve conflicts.
In total, the course has around 15 hours of on-demand video, one article, and 157 downloadable resources.
Here are some major pros of going for this course:
- It’s available on the Udemy app
- You get lifetime access to the course materials when you buy it
- The course helps finesse your English grammar skills
The following are some cons of this course:
- There are no quizzes, practice exercises, or assessment tools
- You don’t receive any accredited certificates upon completion
The course currently costs $84.99 on Udemy. However, you get lifetime access, justifying the price. On top of that, you can get a 30-day free trial, allowing you to complete the course for free if you’re new to Udemy
You can check out the Business Communication Skills course on Udemy here.
4. Tips for Better Business Writing on LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) is a massive collection of courses, certifications, and articles from industry experts, enterprise organizations, and academic institutions.
The course focuses on helping business professionals improve their writing skills. As a result, the idea is to help them deliver clear messages while maintaining their professional image and stance.
The course instructor is liberal arts major Natasha Terk, an expert communication consultant who leads workshops and webinars globally. Her focus is on real-world exercises that help build practical experience. She provides ways to analyze and improve business communication in an organization and with diverse audiences.
The course has four modules that provide actionable tips on improving business writing for emails, reports, memos, and other documents.
Furthermore, the course also helps you develop a writing process to develop more persuasive writing skills. The course content also focuses on self-editing, proofreading skills, and a step-by-step process on how to create clear copy.
There are a lot of written examples throughout the course. You won’t be starting from a blank page. On top of that, the extra training materials and the broad range of new ideas and tips will help in writing clear and concise documents.
Here are some major pros of going for this course:
- A one-time purchase means you get unlimited access
- When you get a LinkedIn Learning subscription, you get access to all other courses as well
- There’s a 30-day free trial when you get a subscription
The following are some cons of this course:
- You don’t get any accredited certificate upon completion of the course
- There’s no detailed feedback or in-person help
- The lesson only focus on how to write specific documents
Currently, the LinkedIn Learning subscription costs around $26.99 per month.
You can check out the Tips for Better Business Writing course on LinkedIn Learning here.
5. Business Writing Strategies on LinkedIn Learning
Another LinkedIn Learning course is the Business Writing Strategies course by Judy Steiner-Williams of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
This is among the most popular courses because it consists of less than two hours of online training material. That makes it an excellent choice for students who are only looking to get a quick update on important skills rather than learn new skills.
The content provides strategies and tips on developing powerful writing skills, along with minor lessons on how to speak better.
You can complete the course at your own pace. At the same time, you can make use of the frequently asked questions section to get quick answers. However, it’s best to take notes in your own writing.
You’ll learn internal business communication, ways to create a writing plan, and how you can avoid common grammatical errors.
Once you are through, you’ll get a certificate of completion that you can share on your LinkedIn profile. However, this is not an accredited certificate.
Here are some major pros of going for this course:
- Covers important points of different business writing methods
- There’s a free trial and the subscription has monthly and annual pricing
- You get access to all other LinkedIn Learning courses too
The following are some cons of this course:
- There are no flexible deadlines; you can only access the course during your subscription period
- There are no accredited certificates
- Your access to the course ends with your subscription
The current price of the subscription is $26.99.
You can check out the Business Writing Strategies course on LinkedIn Learning here.
Wrapping It Up
There are a lot of online learning platforms today that provide courses in all shapes and sizes. However, finding the right courses with experienced instructors can be tricky.
You should always check out the rating of a course and find online reviews. It’s also best to contact someone who has enrolled in the course.
Most importantly, check whether a particular course is right for you based on where you are in your career.
