With Clapping Oak Training you can grow—
- grow confident skill from tentative attempts
- change so-so to shiny
- move from confusion to clarity
- make awkward phrasing easier to read
Adults and Students
Adults and Students:
Writing is an essential communication skill. Individual tutoring and coaching provides support for excellence.
Increasing your skill level in anything also increases confidence. I want students to thrive. As your coach in the essential skill of writing, I want to help you succeed in the same way elite coaches work to bring out the best in their athletes, from beginner to Olympian.
The benefits of writing mastery extend into professional life. Communication skills rank high on the list of what employers want. But keep in mind, writing for work is different from writing academically.
Working with adult learners, my goal is the same as with students: coaching you to use your words to effectively open doors to the life you want.
“My son was beaming with confidence on his essay after meeting with Carol last night. We are grateful for her feedback and flexibility and will welcome her ongoing assistance.” –Parent of a high school student
Who I tutor:
- Students in middle school through college
- Adults seeking to develop skills
Topics:
- Grammar, including sentence structure
- The writing process, from idea generation through planning, drafting, revisions, and proofreading
- Writing: Essays, Proposals, College entrance essays
- Test prep: ACT and SAT
- Writing at work, from email communication to blog posts
- The “you” focus in business writing
- Writing to engage
How I tutor:
- I will treat you with respect as a unique learner.
- We will start where you are and grow success from there.
- I will challenge you to reach for your potential.
- I will celebrate your successes each step of the way.
- I will honor your story and voice.
- I will meet with you virtually.
Team Workshops
Team Workshops:
Whether internal or external, anything less than excellent communication makes your team less efficient, sabotages customer relations, and undermines your goals.
We offer corporate training to increase your staff’s communications skills. Our workshops and webinars are engaging, interactive, and adaptable for various skill levels and group sizes. Post-workshop clinics providing individual project coaching are optional.
Workshop topics include:
- Business writing, from emails to proposals
- Professional editing and proofreading techniques, including an English grammar refresher
- Inter-generational communication in the workplace
- Presentations with power (Planning, presenting, and presence – does not cover slide design other than some underlying guidelines.)
- Customized content to meet your organization’s needs.
Workshops
Trees communicate at the roots. Ground your group in healthy communication, and they too will grow strong, together. Our workshops are designed to develop your team’s communication skills.
Age Diversity Training: Provides tools to promote understanding. Useful at work but also in other settings. Defines generations, identifies challenges, highlights strengths. Includes a healthy dose of stereotype-busting and lots of participation. 4 hours
Memoir Writing Workshop: A small-group writing group focused on getting started and making progress on personal stories from life. A series of biweekly remote sessions, 75-90 minutes each.
Professional Email That Works: Etiquette, format, and tone, with a major emphasis on subject lines and first paragraphs. 1 hour
Clear, Concise, Cohesive Writing: Learn and practice professional editing and proofreading techniques. Make your writing stand above the crowd. 2 hours
Grammar Tune-up: Review of the structure of written English, from sentences to paragraphs, and the little mystifying marks called punctuation. 2 hours
Presentations with Power: Practical strategies to handle your nerves, boost self-confidence, and improve your presentation skills. 3 hours
Business Writing: Best practices for professional email, writing that is a carrier and not a barrier, editing like a pro, planning reports and proposals, and more. 5 hours
Customized workshops: Any of these workshops can be adjusted to fit your allotted time. Need a different combination of communications issues addressed? We’ll work with you to meet your team’s unique needs and opportunities.