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Executive Writing for Leaders

Write with more authority, more clarity, and considerably less effort — in the emails, memos, and presentations that define how others see you.

Duration: 4 weeksFormat: Self-paced with weekly live Q&ALevel: All levels

Next cohort: September 8, 2026

Executive Writing for Leaders

Overview

What this program is

Senior professionals write constantly — emails, memos, board decks, performance reviews, LinkedIn posts, speeches. Most of them were never taught to write. They learned by doing, which means they also learned a lot of habits that make their writing harder to read and less persuasive than it should be.

This program addresses that directly. Over four weeks, you will learn the structural and stylistic principles that make professional writing work: how to open with your point, how to cut without losing meaning, how to calibrate formality to context, and how to write under time pressure without sacrificing quality.

The format is self-paced with weekly live Q&A sessions, so you can work through the material on your schedule and bring your actual writing challenges to the group.

Outcomes

What you will leave with

  • A structural framework for any professional document, from a two-line email to a board presentation
  • Editing techniques that cut word count by 30–40% without losing meaning
  • Templates for your most frequent communication types, customised to your voice
  • A personal writing audit identifying your specific patterns and how to address them
  • Frameworks for writing under time pressure — when you have 20 minutes, not two hours
  • Confidence in high-stakes written communication

Who this is for

Who this is for

  • Senior leaders who write frequently and want their writing to match their seniority
  • Executives preparing for board-level or investor communication
  • Professionals who have been told their writing is 'too long' or 'hard to follow'
  • Anyone who spends too much time on written communication and wants to spend less

Schedule

Week by week

Week 1

Structure — Lead with your point

The single most common failure in professional writing is burying the point. This week you will learn the Inverted Pyramid and its variants — how to open with your conclusion, structure supporting information in descending order of importance, and write documents that busy people can read in 60 seconds and still understand.

Module 1The Inverted Pyramid: why professional writing is not an essay
Module 2Document architecture: subject lines, openings, and the one-sentence summary
AssignmentRewrite three recent emails using the Inverted Pyramid. Bring the originals and rewrites to the live Q&A.
Week 2

Clarity — Cut everything that is not the point

Clarity is not about simplicity — it is about precision. This week you will learn the editing techniques that professional writers use to cut without losing meaning: eliminating throat-clearing, converting passive to active, removing redundancy, and choosing the specific word over the general one.

Module 3The editing pass: a systematic method for cutting 30% of any document
Module 4Precision vocabulary: choosing the right word, not the impressive one
AssignmentTake a document you wrote in the last month. Cut it by 30% without losing any meaning. Annotate every cut.
Week 3

Authority — Write like you mean it

Authority in writing is not about using longer words or more formal constructions — it is about conviction and precision. This week you will learn how to write with confidence: how to make recommendations rather than suggestions, how to handle uncertainty without hedging everything, and how to calibrate formality to context.

Module 5Hedging, qualifying, and when to stop — writing with appropriate conviction
Module 6Tone calibration: formal, professional, and direct — knowing which to use
AssignmentIdentify five hedged or weakened statements in your recent writing. Rewrite each with appropriate conviction.
Week 4

Speed — Writing well under pressure

The final week is about making these skills automatic. You will learn frameworks for writing quickly without sacrificing quality — how to plan a document in two minutes, draft in twenty, and edit in five. You will also complete your personal writing audit and receive individual feedback on your patterns.

Module 7The 20-minute document: planning, drafting, and editing under time pressure
Module 8Personal writing audit — your patterns, your templates, your plan
AssignmentFinal deliverable: your personal writing guide — a one-page reference capturing your key patterns, your templates, and your editing checklist.

Instructor

Daniel Osei

Academy Director, The Prose Haus

Daniel spent a decade as a management consultant before joining The Prose Haus, where he leads the professional writing programs. He has trained senior leaders at three of the UK's largest financial institutions and believes that clear writing is the most underrated executive skill.

FAQ

Common questions

Ready to do the work?

Next cohort starts September 8, 2026. Spaces are limited.

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