This course is part of the Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization

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Professor William Kuskin

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Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation SpecializationUniversity of Colorado Boulder

About this Course

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Few kinds of communication can have the effect of a powerful presentation.  Even a short speech can motivate people to change long-held beliefs or to take action, and a wonderfully delivered speech can transform a normal person into a leader.
In this course, Prof. William Kuskin provides a series of pragmatic videos and exercises for successful public speaking and presentations. The course develops through four themes—mastering fear, developing a creative formula, using verbal and body language, and anticipating the room—so that you can discover your personal power as a speaker and give excellent presentations.  

Successful presentations do not rely on perfect teeth, a deep voice, or an army of scriptwriters.  They depend largely on the same skills as successful Business Writing and Graphic Design: clarity, structure, and revision. The goal of the course, therefore, is to enable you to discover your own internal power as a speaker and express it to the world.  After this course, with some practice, you will be able to go into any situation and command the room for as long as you like.

This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Data Science (MS-DS) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The MS-DS is an interdisciplinary degree that brings together faculty from CU Boulder’s departments of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Science, and others. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the MS-DS is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience in computer science, information science, mathematics, and statistics. Learn more about the MS-DS program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-of-science-data-science-boulder.

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Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

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Course 3 of 4 in the

Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization

Beginner Level

A means of recording yourself

Approx. 20 hours to complete

English

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What you will learn

Execute a public performance of the private self.

Skills you will gain

Communication
Business Writing
Presentation
Public Speaking

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

Learn more about Coursera Labs

Course 3 of 4 in the

Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization

Beginner Level

A means of recording yourself

Approx. 20 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.76/5 (1,197 Ratings)

Professor William Kuskin

Professor

Department of English, University of Colorado Boulder

117,412 Learners

5 Courses

Offered by

University of Colorado Boulder

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating99%(16,253 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

5 hours to complete

Getting Started with Public Speaking

In this module William tackles the one element that makes public speaking difficult: fear. Unlike writing a memo or designing a slide deck, presenting a speech puts you directly in front of an audience. Public speaking is wrapped up in the fear of immediate judgment and of lasting rejection. Yet the skills of writing and design are exactly the same as those of public speaking: clarity, structure, revision, and above all, storytelling. By applying these skills you can control your fear and take center stage in public. The results will astound you.

5 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 35 min), 6 readings, 1 quiz

10 videos

Welcome to Effective Communication (For New Learners)3mWhat’s so Great About the Capstone? (For New Learners)3mWelcome to Successful Presentation3mUnderstanding Fear4mThe Code Rule: Survival Reactions4mThe Paradox of Public Speaking3mWe've All Felt Fear4mSuccessful Presentation is Storytelling3mStories and Storytellers2mPerformance2m

6 readings

Welcome and Where to Find Help 10mAbout the For-Credit Version of this course 10mAbout Successful Presentation15mKuskin's Top Ten Best Practices15mKeith Code's Twist of the Wrist10mSuccessful Presentation Assignment, Part 1: Telling a Two-Minute Story1h 10m

1 practice exercise

Rethinking Public Speaking25m

Week2

Week 2

4 hours to complete

A Formula For Successful Presentation

Like the Second Module of Business Writing, this module zeroes in on a practical formula for successful presentations. William establishes this structure, and then breaks down it down into modular elements, so the most complex presentations can be created easily, revised effectively, and delivered confidently. Still, no one-size-fits-all outline, no rigid set of rules, is capable of expressing your own personality and unlocking your own brilliance, and so William goes beyond the basic formula to teach you the secret ingredient to public speaking: creativity.

4 hours to complete

14 videos (Total 54 min), 4 readings, 2 quizzes

14 videos

The Basic Formula5mThe Secret Ingredient: Creativity8mWhat Is Creativity?5mThe Central Importance of the Introduction1mThe Introduction: The Salutation4mThe Introduction: The Review of the Structure1mThe Introduction: The One Compelling Point3mKuskin Receives His Assignment for Coursera Presentation1mIntro: The Modular Content Unit1mPushing Each Unit (Thinking in Circles)3mBuilding Transitions3mHow Do You Push Yourself?3mThe Conclusion4mThe Entire Talk Is a Circle6m

4 readings

The Formula15mRaymond Chandler, Trouble Is My Business15mSuccessful Presentation Assignment, Part 2: Crafting an Introduction1hSuccessful Presentation Assignment, Part 3: Building Modules1h

2 practice exercises

The Introduction30mThe Conclusion25m

Week3

Week 3

5 hours to complete

Practicing Your Self

We’ve all sat through presentations that had solid content but just didn’t seem to work. Sometimes it’s hard to define why a speaker fails to deliver. The key is practice. Practice is tricky, however, because poor practice techniques actually make a dull presentation even duller—further from the inspiring, passionate experience you want to create for your audience. In Module Three, William redefines the notion of practice as a dynamic process of verbal and physical language, and then teaches you how focus your language to express your personal style of passion. Module Three teaches you to put passion in a bottle and release it when you want.

5 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 45 min), 1 reading, 3 quizzes

Week4

Week 4

7 hours to complete

Engaging with the World

You’ve put away your fear. You’ve used the formula to write a clear talk, and you’ve tweaked it with the secret ingredient of creativity. You’ve rehearsed and mastered your personal verbal and physical language. Still, a conference room or a lecture hall is an unpredictable arena, one that contains an uncontrollable amount of variables: the layout of the space, the mood of the audience, the complexity of the questions—these are the elements of a presentation for which you can never fully prepare. How do you actually get ready to walk out on stage? The last module of “Successful Presentation” teaches you how to anticipate the field of the play so you are flexible, agile, and confident. It lays out, in simple terms, how to deal with interruptions and hostility alike, concluding the course by looking ahead to how you develop your own identity not merely as a public speaker, but as powerful individual.

7 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 39 min), 1 reading, 3 quizzes

10 videos

Anticipating the Field of Play2mA Chaucerian Interlude4mAttending to Your Audience4mSlides vs Handouts4mWhat Is a Question?3mBeing Soft3mAvery's Demo Presentation: "Frankenstein and Science"7mBuilding a Public Portfolio from the Private Self2mThe Paradox of the Public Self2mEffective Communication3m

1 reading

Chaucer Manuscript15m

2 practice exercises

Building a Portfolio of the Self25mRubric Training Quiz30m

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About the Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization

Over seventy companies and tens of thousands of students worldwide have used Effective Communication to deliver ideas powerfully in the workplace. By taking Business Writing, Graphic Design, and Successful Presentation, you’ll hone your written, visual, and verbal business presentation skills. You'll learn to write well-organized, clear business documents; to design elegant presentation slides, reports, and posters; and to present and speak with confidence and power. In the final Capstone Project, you'll develop a portfolio of work—including a memo, a slide deck, and a presentation—to showcase your communication skills and represent your personal brand. The Effective Communication Specialization takes you on a journey of self realization. You’ll learn that excellence in communication involves the ability to express who you are—your best self—in everything you do.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
What is the refund policy?
If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
What software or hardware will I need to complete this course?
The ability to record and upload short videos will be useful (a phone video camera or built in camera in a computer will be suitable).

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.

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