USC Marshall School of Business

Program

Leaders successfully communicate sensitive information and skillfully frame important written messages. Few business people, however, write well: “A survey of 120 major American corporations employing nearly 8 million people concludes that in today’s workplace writing is a ‘threshold skill’ for hiring and promotion among salaried (i.e., professional) employees. Survey results indicate that writing is a ticket to professional opportunity, while poorly written job applications are a figurative kiss of death. Estimates based on the survey returns reveal that employers spend billions annually correcting writing deficiencies” (The National Commission on Writing. College Board. September 2004).

This Executive Writing course puts business executives on track for hiring, promotion, and managing employees’ writing. This brief, practical three-session on-line approach offers writers of all levels techniques to generate more professional writing.

Writing professionally is a skill that can be taught. Learning about writing in an online class provides the opportunity to review the lectures as well as the opportunity to learn from other professionals who share their writing experiences.

Topics

Executive Communication and effective writing

• Writing's importance
• Communication theory
• Pre-writing
• Organization
• Document choices
• Design and Style
• Spiral process

Style and tone, plain language

• Pre-writing and critical thinking
• Spiral process
• Design
• Plain Language
• How to manage jargon

E-mail

• Importance-time, money, security
• Organizational communication decisions
• Netiquette
• Format
• Alternatives to e-mail
• Case study--impact on organization

Fee

$975 per person includes tuition and course materials. There is a 10% discount for three or more registrants from the same company.

Who Should Take This Program

The program is geared to executives seeking to improve their business writing and communicate more effectively.

Online Teaching Method & Experience

Designed to fit your busy schedule, this approximately 12 to 18-hour “on demand” online course can be taken at your own pace over a three-week period. It includes online video sessions, reading and case studies, interactive exercises and discussions with faculty. For more detailed information click here.

Faculty

Dr. Sandra Chrystal, Ph. D., Director of the Center for Management Communication and Associate Professor of Clinical Management Communication, teaches classes including "Using 21st Century Technologies to Achieve Strategic Goals," Advanced Writing for Business, Communication Strategy for Business, and Public Communication in Ethics and Research for the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. She also teaches ethics-in-business classes for the Leventhal School of Accounting at USC and ethics micro seminars for freshman orientation. She has taught at USC since 1999. Prior to teaching at USC, Dr. Chrystal taught at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Clayton State College & University, and at the University of Notre Dame.

Prior to university teaching, she taught for the American Institute of Banking, and worked at Data General, Singer, WJVA, and Alert Paging. She has received university teaching awards, including Teaching Has No Boundaries, Good Neighbor Faculty Award, and the Evan C. Thompson Teaching and Learning Innovation award from the Marshall School of Business. Previous awards include a Lilly Grant for Teaching and a National Endowment for the Humanities research award.

Dr. Chrystal focuses on learner-centered courses which integrate technology and community-based experiences. She designed USC’s first online/blended Advanced Writing for Business course and has used personal response clickers, video-conferencing, Face Book, YouTube, and Second Life in classes. Her writing classes collaborate with not-for-profit agencies in order to create business documents that the agency needs.

Dr. Chrystal currently serves as a member on the Committee for Academic Programs and Teaching, Technology Enhanced Learning and Distance Education, the Community Based Learning Collaborative, and the University Writing Committee.

Her most recent publications include a chapter, “Nudging Academic Boundaries: Business WritingStudents Partner with Not-for-Profit Agencies” in Mary Moore & Phylis Lan Lin’s book, Emerging Service-Learning Paradigms in Higher Education, and a chapter, “Technology Leverages a Community University Collaboration” in Janet Salmons and Lynn Wilson, eds. Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy.

Dr. Chrystal received her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Notre Dame and her B.S. from Miami University. For more detailed information on Dr. Chrystal’s background, click here.

For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact our offices at 213.740.8990.