Foundations of Writing

Improve your writing skills with ‘JASPER’

From writing emails to meeting notes and reports, there are many work contexts that require basic written communication skills.

On this two-week course, you’ll improve your writing skills using the mnemonic ‘JASPER’ – the six fundamental aspects of clear writing:

• Jargon: how to recognise it in your own writing, and the importance of removing it for effective communication
• Acronyms: the importance of spelling them out
• Short sentences and short paragraphs: conveying meaning in chunks for maximum understanding
• Plain English: avoiding ‘flowery’ and unclear language
• Editors: how to use other people and software tools to review your work
• Readers: the need to keep the reader in mind at all times.

Through practical exercises, you’ll finish the course with a checklist and toolkit to ensure your written communication is clear, concise and effective.

Learn crucial tips to develop your writing skills

You’ll be guided through the writing techniques of ‘JASPER’ to help you improve any written work you produce.

From removing corporate jargon for clarity to breaking down long sentences for readability, you’ll gain a solid understanding of the benefits of clear writing.

Explore editing tools to help you write in plain English

With an understanding of writing techniques, you’ll explore editing tools to help hone your writing skills further.

You’ll discover editing software and web-based apps that will become a crucial part of your writing toolkit.

This course is designed for anyone with a professional need to use written English.

It is suitable for both native and non-native English speakers.

• Introducing JASPER
• Introductions
• Jargon: "Six Hydrocoptic Marzlevanes"
• Acronyms: TLAs are NSFW
• Short: Sentences and Paragraphs
• Reflections on Week 1
• Moving ahead with JASPER
• Welcome to Week 2
• Plain English: not grandiloquent phraseology
• Editors: a helping hand
• Readers: step into their shoes
• Reflections and Further Resources