Chevron Left
Back to Business Writing

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Business Writing by University of Colorado Boulder

4.8
stars
4,651 ratings

About the Course

Writing well is one of the most important skills you can develop to be successful in the business world. Over seventy companies and thirty thousand students--from professional writers to new employees to non-native English speakers to seasoned executives--have used the techniques in Business Writing to power their ability to communicate and launch their ideas. This course will teach you how to apply the top ten principles of good business writing to your work, how to deploy simple tools to dramatically improve your writing, and how to execute organization, structure, and revision to communicate more masterfully than ever. From the very first lesson, you'll be able to apply your new learning immediately to your work and improve your writing today. Your ideas are powerful. Learn how to deliver them with the clarity and impact they deserve. "Thank you for giving me the knowledge I need in life. [Business Writing] was helpful, life changing, and has made a huge impact in my writing." -- Message from a Business Writing student The principles you'll learn in this course enable you to become a great business writer. They also provide the foundation for moving into Graphic Design and Successful Presentation, so that you can unleash your best professional self whenever--and however--you present your ideas in the workplace. This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Data Science (MS-DS) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The MS-DS is an interdisciplinary degree that brings together faculty from CU Boulder’s departments of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Science, and others. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the MS-DS is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience in computer science, information science, mathematics, and statistics. Learn more about the MS-DS program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-of-science-data-science-boulder....

Top reviews

YS

Jun 11, 2017

It was an exceptional course with lots to take away from. It taught basic building blocks of business writing and then built upon it which provided a great way to self learn the content of the course.

MA

Nov 29, 2020

THIS COURSE IS VERY HELPFUL FOR EVERYONE

WHO WANT TO LEARN HOW TO WRITE MEMO HOW TO DESIGN IT HOW TO ADD HEADING POINTS

I LEARNED HERE EVERY SINGLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE

GOOD COURSE

Filter by:

1 - 25 of 1,347 Reviews for Business Writing

By Jaima S

•

Jan 10, 2018

Even if English is your first language, this course was a great refresher of how to apply writing skills to email and business documents. I would recommend to anyone looking to sharpen their skills.

By Kevin G

•

Jul 8, 2020

One of my favorite classes on Coursera. If you need to polish your writing skills, I recommend this course. The instructor did an amazing job covering the challenges we have with grammar and style.

By Sergio R

•

Feb 6, 2019

The course did fulfill my expectations. Just a note for the future, the continuous camera angle changes caused me distractions. Except for that the contents were very clear and easy to follow.

By Muhammad F A ( D - M A

•

Jul 22, 2020

Most of the things are similar comes again and again in discussion. There is no solid course material provided, as to review. Not designed accordingly some industrial practical examples. Too much examinations at each step, of no use, as learning focus divert due to this. Asking plenty of examinations during the course, not reflect in terms of achieved learning requirement . Thanks

By Guillermo A

•

Jan 22, 2017

The writing instructor is great, and the ideas are good. I didn't like the interaction sessions with the other two instructors, i want to learn about writing not hear about other stuff or listen to some folks at a cafe. I thought it was a waste of time. Also, I didn't like that the example used was a memo for Coursera about their own course! They could have picked something more interesting. Good ideas, not ideal execution.

By Anuradha M

•

Feb 18, 2019

It was good but a bit basic for me. I was looking for help with writing bigger documents and reports. But some good insights gained.

By Jeremy W

•

Jul 2, 2019

This course does a great job of teaching fundamentals that apply to multiple types of business writing. The skills you learn in this course will help you communicate more effectively, and ensure that your voice isn't hampered by poor organization, design, or grammar. Dr. McAndrew is clear, personable, and presents the information in fun and memorable ways. Be aware however, that after taking this course, writing mistakes are going to stand out to you like a karate kick to the head.

By Duygu A G

•

May 28, 2018

I really enjoyed the course as it was easy to follow, to the point, no nonsense. I think I already started applying the most important ones. Though, it will take time to excel on grammar inputs, I started practicing already. I thank instructors for great structure, clarity and superb video teaching coupled with quizzes and notes. It was such a good experience.

By Hari B

•

Jul 11, 2020

The course is an excellent pick for those looking to polish their writing for professionalism. It takes a 360-degree approach to make writing more compelling, with clear-cut guidelines. The honors track assignments are a great place to practice what you've learned. Dr. Quentin is an excellent teacher who takes you through the process of writing with simple yet effective tutoring.

By Davin A

•

Jul 22, 2020

At first, I didn't really enjoy this course because it took hour-to-hour to finish all of the course material. Since the conversation on the cafe, for me, doesn't really important. However, as the time goes by, I really enjoyed what Mrs. Quentin simply delivered and packed all of the writing material so that I can easily understand the components of good writing. In addition, as non-native English speaker, I find it very useful because Mrs. Quentin often said the English vocabulary I haven't known before so that it could enrich my knowledge. Therefore, this course changed my perspective about what good writing was. To conclude, I do really recommend for the beginner to enroll this course.

By Courtney F

•

Mar 24, 2018

I know that some feedback on this course is that it is too basic, but I'd have to disagree. First of all, all writers of business documents are well-served to be reminded of "the basics" from time to time. Secondly, there are components of this course that are less intuitive than just applying pen to paper and scribbling away. The design and organization sections are something I haven't seen in prior business writing courses, and the grammar refresh was a part of the course I felt valuable, if only to dust off some cobwebs. I would encourage anybody looking to become more adept at a full suite of business writing skills to consider taking this course.

By Anant S

•

May 29, 2020

Thank You instructors: Quentin,William, and Dave.You all 3 made the course like watching my favorite movie. Madam Quentin, Your's lecture delivering style was perfect. Short video lectures, lots of quizzes made the course interesting. Heading to Dave's design course.

Thanks a lot

By Yogesh S

•

Jun 12, 2017

It was an exceptional course with lots to take away from. It taught basic building blocks of business writing and then built upon it which provided a great way to self learn the content of the course.

By Omar R A

•

May 10, 2020

We often overlook writing basics because we think they're easy. Thankfully, this course taught me that writing principles are the foundation of a solid memo, where clarity and conciseness are key.

By EzzAddin A W M M

•

Jan 19, 2019

excellent course - Quintin made the course simple and fun. This learning experience helped me to improve my writing. I recommend this course to everyone interested in writing. Excellent work.

By Hyun D P

•

Nov 2, 2018

This course is my favorite course because as the English learner, it teaches a lot of formal ways and practical methods how to deliver my message to others. Thank you very much for the teache

By Ramsha A k

•

Nov 24, 2018

this course has polished my writing skill and let me learned healthy moral values

By Jason N

•

Aug 15, 2020

Business Writing course is educational and straight to the point. I enjoyed the quizzes in the middle the weekly lessons. It helps retain information quicker instead of watching long videos and then trying to take a quiz at the end. Good information and I was able to apply lessons to my job as I took the courses. Simple and basic steps that I often over looked. As a professional, I did not apply basics I learned in school. A very good reminder of applying good basics is often more than enough.

By Polina S

•

Nov 26, 2018

I think this was the best course I've ever taken at Coursera (without 'I think' at the start:).

Business Writing from Colorado Boulder was perfect for me since the videos are short and followed by a small quiz: I am not into long-reads or 30-minute audio / video tutorials - those seem like lots of work, I rarely get to the end.

The course helped me look at my work from a different angle and fill in the gaps I had. I really appreciate the great work of Dr.McAndrew and the rest of the team.

By Sergei P

•

Jul 9, 2020

Business Writing has improved my writing skills. I recommend it to non-native English speakers already in possession of fair writing skills.

The course has taught me formula approach to writing, and has helped me to de-learn bad habits such as long and complicated sentences, indirectness, and non authoritative tone.

I am glad I have taken this on-online course.

By Paresh A

•

Dec 11, 2020

This course on Business Writing has convinced me about Unlearning and Relearning. Although I have more than 25 years of work experience, after taking this course, I have realized the increasing importance of business writing with rules and recommendations shared by the authors.

By Mishra A

•

Nov 30, 2020

THIS COURSE IS VERY HELPFUL FOR EVERYONE

WHO WANT TO LEARN HOW TO WRITE MEMO HOW TO DESIGN IT HOW TO ADD HEADING POINTS

I LEARNED HERE EVERY SINGLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE

GOOD COURSE

By ZHANG H

•

Jan 20, 2017

Thanks you very much for teaching this course!

You taught this course well. First, you introduced the vital principals of good writing. Second, you taught scaffolding, a useful tool to organise. Third, you taught techniques for revision. Lastly, you link course to design and presentation, a natural extension of writing in business world today (how i wish to go back to the old days when there are no presentations).

I found the videos slightly too brief to let the idea or technique to sink in. This can be augmented by additional reading material. Also, to allow techniques become second nature, it will be even better if there are more exercises. A option to do more exercises can be a good idea. You can consider putting this into a book!

by the way, my scaffold below lol

-principals

-scaffold

-techniques for revision

-it links to graphic design and presentation

-more examples and practices

By Yezdi P B

•

Apr 13, 2018

Some of the suggestions to make the sentences more concise do not appear to be following traditional English norms. For e.g. the term "office language" recommended is to my mind not the appropr

By Grzegorz M

•

Apr 23, 2020

While the material covered in the course was satisfactory, it seems that person responsible for quizzes has serious communication problem. Considering topic of the course, stating quiz answers in unclear way is not acceptable. Good example of this, is quiz which is supposed to let you know if you are judging your peers right. Information you get for selecting incorrect option could not be determined before submitting the answers.