About this course

When you approach a new writing task, do you know what will make your final product “good” and exactly how to make that happen? Or, have you learned your professional writing skills through trial and error, hoping for the best, or getting heavy edits from others? Maybe you like the idea of improving the “flow” or “tone” of your writing, or reducing your “wordiness” and being “engaging”—but what do those things really look like in action? Where can you actually find them in a draft?

Communications professionals need incredible versatility to switch between different writing tasks, genres, tones, and styles in the course of a single day at work. Yet many of them haven’t had formal writing training on their approaches to writing and editing—they’ve picked them up on the fly.

In this course, you will learn to use a three-part framework for better edits that Bold Type LLC instructors have taught to thousands of professionals in our training programs. 


Learn how to grab and hold the attention of busy, distracted readers.

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We explores these key topics

  • How to apply the ART (Audience, Response, and Tone) tool for audience awareness to any writing task or genre

  • Why you must think about usability and non-reading behaviors first when designing your drafts

  • How to grab and hold the attention of busy, distracted readers 

  • Where to focus your editing attention for clarity, brevity, and word choice at the sentence level


  • When and how to use tools for readability measurements and proofreading as part of your editing arsenal

Course Outline

    1. Your Instructors

    2. Your Writing & Editing Course

    3. Review your writing with an instructor

    4. Your Writing & Editing Checklist

    1. Video lesson: How to get your first draft

    2. First draft guide

    1. Lesson 1: Start with the ART

    2. ART Worksheet

    3. Lesson 2: Audience

    4. Lesson 3: Result

    5. Lesson 4: Tone

    6. Module 1 Quiz

    7. Module 1 Practice: Upload your ART

    8. Module 1 Practice: Use your ART to identify key info

    1. Lesson 1: Your audience & information overload

    2. Lesson 2: Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF)

    3. Lesson 3: Headings / clear content labels

    4. Lesson 4: Lists

    5. Lesson 5: Content chunking

    6. Lesson 6: Visually emphasizing key info

    7. Example: Email

    8. Example: Longer documents

    9. Optional: Further reading

    10. Module 2 Quiz

    11. Module 2 Practice: Upload the "before" version of a document

    12. Module 2 Practice: Upload the "after" version of a document

    1. Lesson 1: Introduction

    2. Lesson 2: Break up long sentences

    3. Lesson 3: Focus on the first 8 words

    4. Lesson 4: Use the active voice

    5. Lesson 5: Use everyday words

    6. BONUS: Download the Clutterbust Guide

    7. Module 3 Quiz

    8. Module 3 Practice: Upload rewritten sentences

    1. Lesson 1: Introduction

    2. Lesson 2: Proofreading on your own

    3. Tutorial: Hemingway App

    4. Tutorial: Grammarly

    5. Tutorial: Difficult & Extraneous Word Finder

    6. Tutorial: MS Word Review Features

    7. Tutorial: WebFX Readability Test

    8. Module 4 Quiz

    9. Module 4 Practice: Upload a "before" image of your text in a testing tool

    10. Module 4 Practice: Upload an "after" image of your text in a testing tool

    11. Optional next step: Review your draft with an instructor

Course Details

  • $649.00
  • 45 lessons
  • 2 hours of video content

Learn where to focus your editing attention for clarity, brevity and word choice at the sentence level.

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Who should take this course?

  • Communications and public relations professionals

  • Corporate and business leaders

  • Digital marketers and social media experts

  • Nonprofit leaders and advocacy professionals

  • Consultants, solo practitioners, and agency team members

  • Professionals in employee and Internal communications

  • Role changing professionals who have recently taken on a new project or role that requires more writing or a fast development of their written communication skills

  • Anyone who writes a lot at work or needs to be a “jack of all trades” in terms of producing a wide variety of documents with different audiences and purposes




When you complete all four modules and one quiz, you'll earn our exclusive Communications Writing & Editing Professional Certificate that you can add to your LinkedIn profile, personal website, or email signature to showcase your new skills. Hiring managers and recruiters often look for Professional Certificates, treating them as preferred qualifications and added credentials.


Learn when and how to use tools for readability measurements and proofreading

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Thank You

Course Instructors

Casey Mank

Instructor

Casey Mank is the Co-founder of Bold Type, a women-owned communications training firm based in Washington, DC. She has worked with writers from organizations including Kellogg’s, Sephora, MasterCard, Viacom Media, the Kauffman Foundation, the Aspen Institute, the PR Council, the PR Society of America, and the National Association of Government Communicators. Casey serves on the Board of Directors at the nonprofit Center for Plain Language and teaches writing at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and School of Nursing and Health Studies. She is proud to have helped thousands of students and professionals get to the point and reach their audiences with greater impact.

Grace Aldridge Foster

Instructor

Grace Aldridge Foster, Bold Type Co-Founder, has been training writers for over a decade. Her clients include organizations like Capital One, UPS, Johnson & Johnson, Biogen, the U.S. Special Operations Command, the Aspen Institute, and the DC Public Education Fund. Grace is a frequent lecturer at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. Her writing has appeared in Forbes, Smithsonian Insider, and more.