Essential Letter & Email Writing Skills for Insurance Professionals

Cost: Free including buffet lunch pre-lecture
Trainer: Jeff Heasman, Managing Director, Jeff Heasman Training & Consulting

To book your place email: ian.stockley@i.tescobank.com

The letters and emails that a company produces are its 'public face'. However, very little formal training is devoted towards the fundamental issue of email and letter writing skills. This is a practical session that focuses on the following key areas:
• Assessing the specific aims and objectives of correspondence
• Email etiquette
• Form, style and layout of correspondence
• The importance of correct spelling, punctuation and grammar and the pitfalls of getting it wrong
• Ensuring the correct tone, with a particular focus on the language of delivering bad or unexpected news, the language of persuasion and the language of advice and reassurance to retain confidence
• Regulatory requirements for plain English
• How to achieve plain English in correspondence whilst still getting the message across
• Paraphrasing skills - how to paraphrase complicated regulatory and legal requirements to a customer to ensure understanding and avoid concern
Throughout the course, participants will be asked to proofread and edit letters to create perfect versions

Learning Objectives
By the end of the seminar you will be able to :
• Understand the need to properly assess the aims and objectives of correspondence and plan appropriately before drafting
• Identify the appropriate styles, form and language for the different types of correspondence, depending on whether the aim is to, for example, provide advice or to persuade a third party
• Appreciate the importance of plain language and be able to identify commonly confusing words, as well as the pitfalls of incorrect spelling, punctuation and grammar
• Recognise the need for proofreading and editing to produce perfect correspondence
• Be able to recognise the importance of plain language and use paraphrasing skills to communicate complicated matters in a clear and concise manner

Trainer Biography
Jeff Heasman is a former senior liability adjuster with Crawford & Company and has also acted for claimants in litigation at some of the UK's leading law firms. With many years of industry experience in law and insurance, he has dealt with litigation up to the Court of Appeal in London and handled claims arising from various worldwide jurisdictions. Jeff is also a qualified English language trainer and has taught international negotiation skills to directors and MBA students at a private university in Spain. Jeff has also taught legal and academic English at Swansea University and he is a lecturer in the law of torts, having taught at a private university in Africa where he was Dean of the Faculty of Law. In addition, he frequently provides training in plain English, letter and email writing skills and insurance law for leading insurers and brokers throughout the world.

To book your place email: ian.stockley@i.tescobank.com
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ian on the above email.