Why professional communications?

• Have you ever needed to write an email to your instructor but weren’t sure what to say?
• Have you ever wanted to email your boss asking for a promotion but not known how?
• Have you ever worked on a team project where you needed to send a teammate a difficult message asking for their late submissions, but felt stuck figuring out the right way to write the message?

If you answered ‘yes’ to one or more of these questions, this course – and this textbook – is definitely for you. The goal of this course is to help you build your writing skills and your communication confidence so you can be successful in your professional and academic life.

As you probably know from personal experience, effective communication is essential in every part of life. Whether it’s in your personal relationships, your college classes, or your professional career, the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively is a valuable skill that will benefit you greatly. By taking this written communications course, you will learn how your context impacts your communication, how to ensure your writing is suitable for different audiences and purposes, and how to more effectively organize and express your thoughts.

Read on to get started!