Speaking & Workshops
The next time your conference, meeting, curriculum, or training event requires someone who can present expertly on effective written communication, please contact me. I have led workshops and multi-session classes for hundreds of professionals and aspiring writers, and have delivered presentations for dozens of professional organizations.
I will work with you to create a speech, breakout session, or workshop that’s custom tailored to your specific needs. The following are topics I can speak on, based on my 10 years of experience as a writer, editor, and marketing-communications professional.
- Business skills for freelance writers
- Business writing
- Common writing mistakes
- Communications
- Conducting research
- Copy writing
- Editing
- Effective business letters
- Effective e-mail
- Finding and keeping freelance clients
- Generating ideas for articles
- Grammar and style
- Journalistic interviewing
- Marketing
- Newsletter publishing
- Overcoming writer’s block
- Press releases and media pitches
- Query letters
- Writing articles effectively
- Writing for the Web
You may also like to choose from one of my pre-designed workshops. Each can be tailored to your specific time and content requirements.
Publish your way up the ladder ®
Publishing articles about your area of professional knowledge is an excellent way to position yourself as an authority in your field, expand your professional network, and increase your income. (Besides, seeing your name in print is just plain cool!) And it's simpler than you might think. This workshop is perfect for professionals and entrepreneurs of any age, industry, and level of experience. Participants will learn:
- What makes a compelling idea for an article
- Proven techniques for generating salable ideas
- How to find the publications that will buy your work
- How to successfully pitch ideas to editors
- How to get the most professional benefit from your publishing success
Business writing for every professional
Professionals of every stripe are doing more on-the-job writing than ever before. Whether it’s a short e-mail or a multi-page proposal, learning to write quickly and clearly (and to get it right the first time) is essential for personal and organizational productivity. In many cases, it’s also essential to career advancement. Don’t let writing assignments intimidate you—and don’t let them hold you back! This workshop will have you up and running in no time, even if writing has been a challenge in the past. Participants will learn:
- A basic (and painless!) review of English grammar
- Pre-writing techniques to help get you started quickly and easily
- Overcoming writer’s block
- The elements of composition for any writing assignment
- Recognizing and correcting commonly misused words and phrases
- Avoiding common forms of weak writing
- Improving tone and persuasiveness in writing
- Writing for special business concerns
