Program Content

What You'll Learn

This program will change how you communicate and how you evaluate others’ communication.

  • Learn the key elements of effective communication, including audience-centered communication
  • Gain acceptance for your proposals or ideas by learning how to use different techniques for compelling audiences to take action or change their attitudes
  • Understand the impact of non-verbal, vocal and message elements of communication and manage these elements to maximize your effectiveness as a speaker
  • Find and develop your own authentic style of communication by building on your strengths and embracing your opportunities for growth

Apply Everything You Learn in Real-Time 

In this 4-week program, you will see improvement in your communication in real-time. With feedback from Dr. Tannenbaum, highly trained coaches and your peers, you will have many opportunities to practice speaking in large and small groups and apply changes to your communication style. You will also receive at least three video analyses of your communication skills in action and two 1:1 coaching sessions.

“ Barbara Tannenbaum and her team have taught me how to communicate with any audience effectively. Whether I am speaking to senior leaders, introverts, extroverts, early-career hires, subject matter experts, my staff members, professional peers, or strangers, I can now apply her teachings and inspire transformational change across NASA. ”

Sara Dickens Head of Training and Development, OSPO, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Program Topics

The program curriculum includes the following topics designed to give you all the knowledge and tools you need to become an effective communicator.

Week 1: Principles of Effective Communication

  • What are the components of powerful professional presence?
  • How can we communicate in audience-centered ways?
  • What are tools to communicate in different contexts, including effective slide deck creation (online and in-person, with different audiences, etc)?

Week 2: Tactics to Persuade & Influence & Answering Questions

  • How can we be persuasive? 
  • How can we create trust with our audiences?
  • How do we answer questions with authority?

Week 3: Speaking to Get Action and Speaking to Change People's Minds

  • How do we change people's attitudes?
  • How can we get people to act?
  • What are tools for speaking to hostile audiences? 
  • How far can we move an audience?
  • How do we present to internal and external audiences?
  • How do we apply what we've learned?

Week 4: Application Activity in Small Groups & Wrap Up

A Speech to Persuade and Influence