Essential letter & email writing skills for insurance and financial services professionals

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.
• Commonly confused words in insurance and financial services.
• The importance of correct word placement in a sentence so as not to change the meaning.
• 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.

By the end of the session participants will be able to:
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• 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 confused 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.