Archive: craft of writing
By Ken O’Quinn
Focus on Them
Perfect Phrases for Business Letters (McGraw-Hill)
TD at Work — Business Writing for Managers

As a contributing author in this book on leadership, Ken offers insights and tips for managing difficult conversations, providing effective feedback, and being authentic. Order here.
Perfect Phrases for Business Letters (McGraw-Hill)

Provides the right words and phrases for any situation - quickly. The book was reprinted in Japanese because of high-volume sales there.
TD at Work — Business Writing for Managers

The Association for Talent Development invited Ken to write this 22-page booklet for the TD at Work series.
Current Blog Post
Passive Voice is Not Always Wrong
The passive voice remains an easy target of business writing critics, but sometimes it is preferable to an active sentence. …
Praise from Clients
What a teacher you are. In your brief session, you taught me four valuable things.
Chet Burgerone of the pioneers of PR in America
Ken O’Quinn is the best writing coach I have ever worked with.
Karen BartuchGlobal Operations LeaderPricewaterhouseCoopers
Participating in your course was one of my best experiences in the past few years. It was such a pleasure to be in a room full of people whose goal was to strengthen their writing, and you did a fantastic job of leading the class.
Jerry PetrieRaytheon
I learned more helpful tips than in any other writing course in the past 40 years. As an engineer, knowing the “why” is important.
David EiermanMotorola Solutions
Ken’s writing workshops received the highest evaluations of any training we’ve done in my five years here.
Kristi WilkinsSenior Director of Marketing CommunicationsPacific Gas & Electric
I learned more about writing in your six-hour session than I learned in four years at Northwestern. Your seminar has given me a renewed interest in good writing and confidence I can improve.
Liz KoreyCushman Amberg Public Relations
Ken gave one of the best courses I’ve ever taken. He teaches staff how to write properly, clearly and concisely, from e-mails to major planning documents.
Debby ArnoldManagerVisa International
The feedback from the 40+ communicators who participated in the workshops was overwhelmingly positive. He is passionate about good writing, and it is contagious when he presents. We’re already planning to have him back.
Jill HollingsworthInternal Communications ManagerQwest
I am pleased to announce we will be modifying our press release format. The new format is in line with the recommendations of Ken O’Quinn, who has conducted the writing workshops for worldwide PR. While they may seem subtle, the changes are powerful when it comes to conveying a strong, clear message.
Kristin HollinsVice President of CommunicationsOracle
My team had some great feedback on the time they spent with you. They really learned a lot and you received rave reviews.
Susan LintonsmithVice President of CommunicationsRed Robin Gourmet Burgers