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Which Course is Right
for You?


 


Too Finer Point?

 

Reduce Your
Rewrite Workload
Choose a course that is right for your staff
and register them.

Make sure you get them to download our free ebooklets Decision, Windfall Recall,  Punc. and
The New Old-Fashioned English Text Book.
 

Managing Writing for the
Australian Public Sector
'Managing Writing' helps you to write and manage various documents that meet high standards and achieve excellent outcomes. More ...

Office Writing for the
 Australian Public Sector
 'Office Writing' gives you increased confidence to write letters, simple reports and submissions. You will polish your skills in grammar, punctuation and stylistic conventions. More ...
 
 


 
Office or Managing:
not sure which?
If you are unsure whether you should attend
'Office Writing' or 'Managing Writing', try our
self-testing exercise.

It will help you make the right choice.
 

 

 


Evaluation Comments

'Fantastic. Much more informative, fun and engaging than I expected it to be.'

'Great interaction. Francis is courageous.'

'Brilliant presentation.'

'Best course I have attended ever.'

'Well structured. Very useful.
A truly caring presenter.'

'I could do another week of this.'

'Francis is passionate.'

'Great guy. Great personality. Very funny.'

'Excellent. Really beneficial.'

'Amazing. Brilliant. Enlightening.'

'An inspiring two days.'

'Thank you so much. '
 

Check the statistical summary of evaluations.


 

 

 

 
  
Dear Minister

'Dear Minister' shows you how to avoid the pitfalls and to achieve excellence in ministerial correspondence, question time briefs and ministerial 'For Action' briefings. More ...
 



 

  
 Public Sector Editing and Proofreading 
(Red Pen)

'Editing and Proofreading' shows you the classic, three-level editing technique used by professionals. You will also practise proofreading using the Commonwealth Style Manual and other key editing resources. More ...

E-writing: from web pages to emails
'E-writing' allows you to develop high-level skills in the three key electronic writing styles for Internet and intranet publications. You will learn how to refine your email writing skills to achieve improved results. More ...
From Musters To Meetings
'From Musters To Meetings' gives you the opportunity to identify various types of meetings and to practise the appropriate skills to ensure your point of view is heard. More ...


President Obama's
Inaugural Address



Here are the statistics.

Sentences per paragraph: 3.1
Words per sentence: 21.9
Characters per word: 4.4
Passive sentences: 11%
Flesch Reading Ease: 67.1
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level: 8.4

Read the speech.
 
Too Finer Point?

'Compare with' and 'Compare to'

You can use these words correctly once you understand comparisons.

You can compare items from the same class (e.g., two oranges) or you can compare items from different classes (e.g., an orange and a child's swing).

When you compare items from the same class, use 'compare with'. When comparing items from different classes, use 'compare to'.

Always remember Shakespeare's great line from Sonnet 18:

'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'

Lovely though you are, you are not in the same class as a summer's day (except metaphorically, of course).

Do you have a question you need answered?

Ask Francis.

Terrific Typos*
and other slip-up hiccups

'AGL has urged the Govt to quickly its proposed emissions trading scheme, but the Greens disagree.'
ABC News website
2.25 pm, 21 April 2009

The government is urged to be quick but, about what, we do not know.

'Not paid for using taxpayer funds.'
Queensland Election Advertising

18 March 2009

Did this candidate mean that he or she was not paid when they used taxpayer funds? Did they mean that their election brochure was privately funded. Oh dear! What a mess.

'Woolworths chief executive Michael Luscombe,has announced the retail giant will create 7,000 new jobs over the next four months.'
abc.net.au/news
lead story
1.10 pm, 27 February 2009

Good news. Pity about the comma and the spacing after 'Luscombe'.

'His fortune's been slashed, he's selling off the family jewels. So what's going on in the Packer empire.'
The Australian Financial Review
January 31 to  February 1, 2009

The subheading under the headline on page one has punctuation problems aplenty. That comma after 'slashed' creates a comma splice. A full stop or a semi-colon is the right way to go. The second sentence isn't a sentence. It's a question so it needs a question mark.

'You have 2 new messages in mailbox (phone number).
Call (phone number)
to retrive your messages. Call charges apply.'
Mobile Phone Message
18 January 2009

Who cares? As long as those call charges apply!

 

'Tourism hopes for new Austrailia film'
BBC News website
7.30 pm, 18 November 2008

Maybe they'd just watched a trailer. They were certainly on the trail of something.

'Complimentary Pool Water Sample Bottle'
How many issues can arise from a pool shop freebee? Incorrect word use and ambiguity are striking features of this labyrinthine label on a little plastic bottle.
13 November 2008

'These reports spark further speculation there is serious unrest within the Republican party since it's presidential defeat on Tuesday.'
 smh.com.au
6.55 am, 6 November 2008

The Government has been asked to urgently reconsider a bill to lift the single age pension.
www.abc.net.au/news/
1.30 pm 25 September 2008

Are you sure you want to completely split the infinitive?

Beijing smog get worse
smh.com.au
7.19 am, 8 August 2008

 Mobility scooter collision
kils man
theage.com.au
7.15 am,  8 August 2008

This contract shall be effective as of the singing of this agreement.
 Can I do a solo or do I need a choir?

'Are you sure you want
to permanently delete all items in this folder?'
Microsoft Office Outlook Query Box

Okay. Maybe I will give up worrying about split infinitives. To split or to dramatically split, that is the question.

  

 

* Please note that many people commit these errors:
  me, too.

In fact, the interesting point of debate seems to be our growing tolerance of typos and other troubles, which parallels our ability to fix them rapidly on web pages like this one.

Francis

© Rushworth Consultancy Pty Ltd 2010