About Us
The Company
Write It Well (formerly Advanced Communication Designs, Inc.) was founded in 1980 to help people in the workplace communicate clearly and work together effectively. We provide practical, relevant information, techniques, and strategies that people can use immediately to improve their business communication skills.
We teach step-by-step writing techniques in our on-site workshops. We develop our business writing books, facilitator kits, and computer-based training programs to make these techniques available to a geographically dispersed audience.
Our blended learning solutions incorporate the best aspects of instructor-led training with the convenience and cost-effectiveness of computer-based learning.
Contact Information
Write It Well is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. To e-mail us, please use this easy online form or call us at (510) 655-6477.
Our Clients
Most of our clients are located in San Francisco, the East Bay, or Silicon Valley but we do travel outside California. Our clients and customers include IKEA, Hewlett-Packard, the City of Palo Alto, Chevron Corporation, Hitachi Data Systems, Granite Construction, National Semiconductor, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Bank of the West, Lumetra Healthcare Consulting, FedEx Corporation, CheckPoint, Equity Risk Partners, Huron Consulting Group, Farm Bureau Financial Services, the Port of Oakland, the University of California, and many other corporations, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions.
Read case studies about the blended learning programs that Write It Well has recently developed for Berkeley-based Satellite Housing and a Fortune 15 computer manufacturer and distributor.
The People
Natasha Terk, President
Author of Professional Writing Skills: A Write It Well Guide, Writing Performance Reviews: A Write It Well Guide, co-author of The Due Diligence Tool, and contributing editor of E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide, Natasha Terk, president of Write It Well, leads the firm’s business operations and strategy.
A recognized expert on business communication in the workplace, Natasha leads workshops, webinars, and consulting engagements for clients including IKEA, Hitachi Data Systems, Hewlett Packard, Granite Construction, National Semiconductor, and the Port of Oakland. Her focus is on developing job-relevant, engaging training solutions that help people work more effectively and efficiently.
Natasha served as program officer at the Packard Foundation, as a management consultant with La Piana Consulting, and taught Business Writing at the University of California at Berkeley. Natasha holds masters degrees from the University of San Francisco and the University of Manchester, UK. She serves on the board of the Ronald McDonald House of San Francisco.
Program Development and Delivery
Melanie Wise, Trainer, Instructional Designer, Writer and Editor
Melanie Wise has worked for over a decade as a business writing coach, workshop leader, copywriter, and editor for corporations, nonprofits, and educational institutions.
Melanie draws on years of classroom experience when she designs learning programs and leads training sessions. She holds an MA in English with a Certificate for Teaching Composition from San Francisco State University. In addition to her consulting work, Melanie has been a senior lecturer and master teacher in the Department of English and College of Business at San Francisco State University since 1994.
Janet Bailey, Instructional Designer and Trainer
Janet Bailey has more than 20 years of experience as a writer, editor, instructor, and coach. Drawing on her background in journalism, the performing arts and public relations, she has taught hundreds of leaders and line workers in corporate settings throughout the U.S. and U.K. Her columns and articles have appeared in leading publications including Chief Executive, Bottom Line Personal, Glamour, Health, and Reader’s Digest. As a corporate writer and editor, she has helped high-tech companies, educational institutions, public agencies, and many other organizations reach their audiences effectively.
Janet holds a degree in Journalism and Psychology from Stanford and has taught writing at New York University. Her entertaining history of San Francisco, The Great San Francisco Trivia & Fact Book, was an Amazon bestseller. She has served in leadership roles for the National Speakers Association and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
Janis Fisher Chan, Instructional Designer, Trainer, and Author
Janis Fisher Chan has been developing training programs, writing training materials, and conducting classroom training in business writing and other subjects for more than 25 years. She wrote many of the books in the Write It Well series.
She is also the author of several books and self-study guides on business writing, technical writing, meeting planning, supervising and planning, interpersonal communication, and other topics.
Her American Management Association’s Self-Study Division titles include Managing Your Priorities, Making Successful Presentations, Communication Skills for Managers, 5th ed., and Successful Delegating for Managers. For Jossey Bass-Pfeiffer, she wrote An Academic Manager’s Guide to Meetings, served as developmental editor for The Global Executive Leadership Inventory, and is currently a developmental editor for the highly acclaimed Leadership Challenge series and other publications.
Editing Services
Christopher Disman, Editorial Specialist
Christopher Disman is Write It Well’s editorial specialist. He holds a master’s degree in history and is a published researcher and writer. He is the membership coordinator of the Bay Area Editors’ Forum, and holds a certificate from UC Berkeley’s Professional Sequence in Editing program. He has been a developmental editor or copyeditor for books, grant proposals, blog posts, video scripts, newsletters, websites, magazine articles, scholarly articles, biographical essays, travel guides, marketing copy, resumes, organizational correspondence, and a very broad array of business documents.
Christopher brings a fresh eye to every text he reviews. He respects a writer’s voice, puts himself in the shoes of the intended audience, and delivers a final document that communicates its message clearly and effectively. He helps organizations and individuals feel proud of the writing they send out.
Testimonials
The training was great!
Patriece Paige, Management Analyst
HUD
The webinar was informative and helpful! A valuable tool to improve professionalism at work.
Jeannette Collette
St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center
The webinar was informative and timely!
Mary L. Calhoun
LA County office of Ombudsman
Excellent Presentation!
Christy Bedell
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Your Effective Email webinar was informative and filled with immediately applicable tips. In short, it was great!
Patricia McNeal
Association of National Advertisers
I enjoyed the Effective E-Mail webinar. Each time I send an e-mail, I stop and think. What you said really does work!
Ruby Pence
Cleveland County Healthcare System
The Webinar provided strong guidance for effective e-communication and
writing in general.
Jan Kearney-King
HUD
I really enjoyed the Effective E-Mail webinar and picked up some great
points.
Pat Whitaker, Financial Analyst for the Revenue Cycle
Mission Hospital Inc.
Thank you for a fabulous workshop. I have already implemented many of the suggestions in my own e-mail correspondence, and have since recommended the book to others.
Marie Coppola
International Association of Business Communicators
Very valuable training — look forward to more.
The knowledge of the presenter was excellent.
Write It Well transformed a crucial but often overlooked topic [e-mail communication] into a lively, fascinating, and extremely useful presentation. Members of our staff contine to aproach me to say how grateful they are for your advice on drafting clear and effective e-mail messages. Your program was exemplary and your materials were extremely helpful to individuals of all experience levels. As Director of Training, I was most impressed with your interactive teaching style and you use of vivid examples to illustrate your most important points. I have also noticed that, since the program, the clarity of e-mail messages exchanged within the office has improved!
Adine Varah, Deputy City Attorney and Director of Training,
City of San Francisco
We live in an era where hundreds of millions of professionals have put down the pen, and now relyon e-mail as a primary form of communications. This book should be required reading for both Internet newbies and new entrants to the workplace, who may be making the transition from paper to computer or from instant messaging and e-mail between friends, to more formal electronic communications.
David Krane, Director of Corporate Communications
Google, Inc.
