eLearning Certificate Program – Presentation Skills for Leaders

(This is an online course)

Conduct an Internet search for the “Top 10 Employee Skills” and see how often verbal communication comes up! Strong presentation skills are critical for anyone in a leadership role in an organization - whether a supervisor, manager, director, VP or CEO. High performance leaders communicate effectively with both individuals and groups.  

The reality is, however, that many employees in leadership positions have little or no formal training in presentation skills and are fearful about speaking in public. Time magazine reported in 2004 that most managers (68%) cannot lead an effective meeting.  Human Resource managers consistently report that training is largely ineffectual because employees do not know how to effectively communicate process or procedure.  Employee satisfaction levels regarding leadership communication are very low in the average company. 

The Presentation Skills for Leaders program is offered in a convenient 4-week, 16-hour self-paced yet highly interactive format.  Program participants experience the “best practices” of making presentations and advanced speaking tips including four intentional practice sessions. If you want to substantially improve you ability to conduct individual meetings with employees, customers or clients; group meetings with staff or board members; training workshops and seminars; and presentations at staff retreats or industry conferences, this learning program is for you.  Good communicators add value to their organization and contribute to individual employee effectiveness, team productivity and organizational success.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Develop strategies to overcome apprehension around speaking in public.
• Lead a meeting with confidence and poise.
• Develop your own effective style as a speaker.
• Successfully structure and compose an engaging presentation.
• Effectively utilize illustrations, stories, and examples.
• Create presentations for both small and large group settings as well as training workshops and seminars.
• Build rapport with the audience during all phases of your presentation.
• Identify effective uses of nonverbal communication in specific contexts.
• Vary vocal elements to engage and interest audience members.
• Create and effectively use relevant visual aids. 
• Incorporate previously developed strategies for positively handling challenges during a presentation. 
• Expertly handle questions from the audience.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Dates: May 11, – June 8, 2009
Week One: Audience Analysis, Credibility, and Research
Week Two: Introductions, conclusions, formatting and visual aids
Week Three: Nonverbal communication
Week Four:  Persuasion, Rhetoric and Motivation

Cost: $675.00 includes the book “Persuasive Presentations for Business” by Robert Bly.
 
Structure: 4 weeks of asynchronous work with several “real time” class sessions and lots of experiential learning. A key component of the course work is preparing, conducting, and recording four presentations.  Two presentations will be performed in front of a live audience (co-workers, friends, family, etc.) and the speeches will be sent (via the Internet) to class participants and instructor for review and feedback. 

Required Equipment: webcam and video compression software
(You don’t have to be a “techie” - detailed information is provided by the instructor regarding purchasing or utilizing your own equipment, acceptable video formats, compressing and uploading files, and resources for free software downloads.) 

Instructor:

Jeff D Borden is currently Senior Director of Teaching & Learning at eCollege where he assists faculty, administrators, and trainers from diverse fields in conceptualizing and designing their online courses as well as providing direction for total program success.  He is a sought after speaker and delivers keynote addresses and presents workshops and seminars on effective teaching, communication, presentation skills, learning styles, eLearning, and authentic assessment at national and international conferences.  Jeff earned an M.A in Rhetoric and Human Communication from the University of Northern Colorado and is currently working on a Doctorate from Argosy University.  He has extensive college level teaching experience in the field of Human Communications and has written a workbook for public speaking as well as developed a national seminar series on practical communication applications.  In addition to teaching, Jeff consults for government agencies, for-profit companies and non-profit organizations in the areas of organizational, small group, intercultural, and interpersonal communication.  Jeff’s combination of expertise in educational technology, online learning and human communication make him an ideal instructor for the online Presentation Skills for Leaders Certificate Program.