William Delivers the Effective Communication Pitch

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From the course by University of Colorado Boulder

Effective Communication Capstone Project

23 ratings

University of Colorado Boulder

Effective Communication Capstone Project

23 ratings

Course 4 of 4 in the Specialization Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation

In the Effective Communication Capstone learners apply the lessons of Business Writing, Graphic Design, and Successful Presentation to create a portfolio of work that represents their mastery of writing, design, and speaking and that expresses their personal brand. The portfolio includes three individual elements—a written memo, a slide deck, and a presentation—integrated around a single topic. We provide the elements for a basic capstone, but we also invite our learners to create their own project if they so choose. This self-designed "Challenge Capstone" allows learners to engage meaningfully in their world by choosing a project relevant to their current job or by volunteering to write, design, and speak for a social organization of their choice. By successfully undertaking the Capstone, learners will accomplish three main goals: 1. They will hone their writing, design, and speaking skills and build a portfolio for a job search and/or professional application; 2. They will shape these skills into a unique brand identity; and, if they choose, 3. They will undertake a transformative effect in the world around them. Ultimately, the importance of Capstone portfolio is greater than the sum of its individual parts. Its true goal lies in each student’s personal transformation and expression of their best selves. We invite you to unleash your skills and we can't wait to see the results!

From the lesson

Capstone Introduction

Quentin, Dave, and William introduce learners to the Capstone, discuss options for the project, and provide learners with an overview of the elements necessary for completion.

Welcome to the Capstone3:20

A Message of Thanks from Quentin, Dave, and William2:02

William Delivers the Effective Communication Pitch6:52

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Quentin McAndrew
Instructor
Department of English, University of Colorado Boulder
David Underwood
Design and Media Teaching Consultant
PhET Interactive Simulations, Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder
Professor William Kuskin
Professor
Department of English, University of Colorado Boulder

Hello, my name is William Caskin and I'm delighted to speak with you today.

I think I know many of you and I think you know me

from a MOOC I did back in 2013 called Comic Books and Graphic Novels.

I'm here to tell you about a new specialization and

let me see if I can get this working Voila, perfect.

That specialization is called effective communication,

mastering business writing, graphic design, and successful presentation.

And I think this is a very powerful specialization.

I want to basically go through three main points.

The first is, I'd like to cover the MOOCs in the specialization and those MOOCs

they cover obviously, business writing, graphic design, successful presentation.

But more than that they bring together a skill set

that is greater than the sum of the parts.

And in the second part of my talk today I'd like to talk about that skill set,

talk about how powerful I think it is.

And that leads me into a larger in thinking about education and

about Coursera's really important role today.

But if you remember nothing else about my presentation remember this,

this specialization is a journey of self realization.

On this slide, you can see my pen here which represents knowledge,

it represents writing, and speaking, and delivering knowledge.

And knowledge is written there on my notebook.

And that's what this specialization is about.

It's about learning knowledge but more than that,

it's about internalizing that knowledge and using it to further who you are.

Knowledge is not a static thing and learning to communicate effectively allows

you to go to any field, and master it, and

dovetail it with who you are inside and deliver it outward.

So if you remember nothing else from what I say today remember this,

communication is more powerful than anyone knowledge subgroup.

Communication is who you are and how you express yourself to the world

that's what we're after in this specialization.

So, specialization has four courses the first by Quentin McAndrew.

A veteran of the University of Colorado in Boulder English Department and

I was chair of the department when she was teaching in it.

And at the end of every semester, clockwork I'd be hit by five, six,

10 emails from her students telling me how great a teacher she was,

and in fact the department got a little jealous.

She's going to teach business writing and

I think she'll really bring you an excellent course.

Dave Underwood is teaching graphic design.

About 10 years ago I first met Dave, and he taught me how to design a book.

That I was making for the English department.

And from that I learned that Dave has a quiet intensity, a caring, nurturing but

nevertheless directed sensibility.

Dave teaches in the prisons and he's a kind of mentor to people.

And I think that that will be expressed in his MOOC as well.

I'll teach successful presentation.

And the specialization wraps up in a capstone.

And the capstone is great because on the one hand it has an assignment, which

the students have to write, design, and present something out of that assignment.

But also there's a component that challenges them to go out in the world and

find their own assignment.

Engage, write, design and speak to the world.

I think that connects powerfully with the Coursera mission.

So, the thing about these four courses, these four individual MOOCs.

They all come together around the power of clarity,

the need for a formula, a framework in which to write, design,

and speak, and finally, the importance of revision.

Those three skills clarity, formula or scaffolding, and revision.

They carry through all media, whether it's a crisp document, a clear design or

a well spoken, powerful presentation.

Those three things carry through, and they carry through all content.

Whether you're a scientist or an accountant, a police officer or

an engineer.

You need to speak clearly and

in turn, if you don't it reflects badly on yourself as a person.

It fouls off your content.

Finally, whatever your career is and

you may have many careers and many jobs in your lifetime.

You need to be able to communicate.

Communication is something more fundamental than any individual skill set.

So that brings me to a larger point here.

This is a journey of self-realization.

It's about developing the self.

And that development occurs in a complicated way.

To really learning something is to transform who you are.

It's to take in something from the outside, some information and

to put it in you, and

then turn around and send it out with your own unique trademark, your own brand.

So hear me, learning is not simply parading,

learning is being willing to let yourself grow.

And I think that's at the heart of Coursera's mission.

How can I say this?

The world it's an evidently unjust world.

It's an evidently unjust world in which education is not meted out to everyone.

And it's simply unfair.

And Coursera's brilliance has been to recognize that the world can engage

around something other than blood and gold.

The world can engage powerfully around education.

Around lifting everyone up, and

Coursera's gone out to the world and offer this pattern.

This pattern of giving, and growing, and giving out.

And I see that directly in Coursera's infinity sign because

there is no end to the potential of education.

But at the heart of that, more than any individual lesson

is communication and so I pose to you,

I pose to you that effective communication is central to Coursera's endeavour.

It's central to learning itself because if people cannot

communicate then ultimately we are restricted to blood and gold.

We're restricted to fighting amongst ourselves the unfathomable gap

between cultures that we can never obtain without truly effective communication.

So my argument is simply this.

Coursera's mission is a bold and a noble one.

And I believe effective communication fits that mission well.

Thank you, thank you for hearing me out.

Onwards.

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