Certificate in Business Communications

Courses included in this Suite

• Effective Emails, Memos, and Letters

  Communicating clearly and concisely in written formats like email, memos, and letters is very important in a workplace setting. This course, Effective Emails, Memos, and Letters, will help you improve your use of these common business communication vehicles by providing best practices and effective tips and techniques. After completing this course, the student should be able to:

  • Recognize when it's appropriate to use an email, a memo, or a letter
  • Explain the parts of an email, a memo, and a letter, and format each so that the communication is effective
  • Consider primary and secondary uses for the email, memo, or letter
  • Explain how to facilitate both primary and secondary uses
  • Create a sample email, memo, and letter employing best practices
• Effective Public Speaking

  Confidence is a key to delivering an effective speech or presentation. This two-module course, Effective Public Speaking, helps you to develop the skills you'll need to become an outstanding and confident public speaker. It reviews the seven stages of public speaking through games, interactive exercises, and videos. The tools and techniques in this course can ensure that you'll excel when speaking in any situation, from the start of your speech or presentation to its successful end. After completing this course, the student should be able to:

  • Describe the seven stages of giving a speech or presentation
  • Discuss the elements of establishing your purpose for speaking (Stage One)
  • Recognize the need to consider your audience (Stage Two)
  • Describe how to develop your central message (Stage Three)
  • Explain how to employ evidence in supporting your main points (Stage Four)
  • Discuss how to craft your speech (Stage Five)
  • Explain how to rehearse for your speech (Stage Six)
  • Describe techniques for delivering your speech (Stage Seven)
  • Recognize best practices for employing slides in your presentation
  • Describe key techniques for dealing with speech anxiety
  • Discuss how to handle difficult questions
  • Describe effective responses when things go wrong
• Communicating Collaboratively

  Communicating effectively with team members and groups has become more important as organizations have relied on collaborative work to advance their goals. This course, Communicating Collaboratively, will help you improve your collaborative communication by providing best practices and effective tips and techniques. After completing this course, the student should be able to:

  • Identify the factors in interpersonal communication
  • Modify communication strategies to be successful in small and large groups
  • Devise a strategy for working effectively in remote settings, including in telework settings
  • Explain the purpose of various types of meetings and explain the outcomes expected
  • Attend a meeting and perform the role of an effective communicator in the meeting
  • Prepare for, moderate, and follow up after a meeting to ensure effective use of organizational resources
  • Clarify the role of stakeholders such as the project sponsor in determining general and specific details of the project charter
  • Document a meeting and distribute minutes or a meeting summary as appropriate
• Effective Business Writing

  The ability to write clearly and directly is highly prized in organizations. This course focuses on improving business writing. The ideas, techniques, and checklists in this course apply to all forms of business writing: memos, reports, brochures, proposals, presentations, catalogs, and websites. Other topics include formal and informal outlining techniques, how to revise for wordiness, unnecessary phrases, redundancy, and jargon, and the appropriate use of email in an organizational setting. After completing this course, the student should be able to:

  • Recognize the difference between ineffective and effective writing
  • List and define the four major factors of effective writing (clarity, tone, organization, and delivery)
  • Recognize the role of the audience in effective communication and the importance of understanding an audience's needs
  • Employ formal and informal outlining techniques
  • List and recognize techniques for overcoming writer's block
  • Recognize the importance and dangers of writing quickly
  • Revise for wordiness, unnecessary phrases, redundancy, and jargon
  • Write more effective emails and recognize the appropriate use of email in an organizational setting
  • Employ checklists for organizing, writing, and revising
• Effective Presentations

  The ability to communicate clearly and effectively is increasingly important in organizational settings. This course helps learners organize, structure, and create effective presentations. Since many organizations use PowerPoint as a way of communicating information, this course offers advice and guidance on the most effective and persuasive uses of PowerPoint. After completing this course, the student should be able to:

  • Recognize what makes communication effective
  • Understand the elements in the communications process
  • Organize your communications and presentations
  • Understand PowerPoint graphic rules of thumb
  • Create an effective summary slide
  • Describe and employ the four steps of purposeful communication in your presentations
  • Recognize key visual considerations for PowerPoint slides and presentations
  • Understand how to organize and create PowerPoint presentations
  • Revise PowerPoint slides to make them more effective
  • Understand the success factors for face-to-face presentations