This course is part of the UBC Micro-certificate in Writing and Communication Skills for the Workplace.
When you speak with workplace colleagues, you often do so to convince or inform. To communicate effectively – share information, provide input into a decision, or get buy-in for your ideas – your written and oral communications must be accessible, concise and precise.
Learn how to write and deliver effective presentations, emails and briefs. Focus on five types of communications commonly used in the workplace:
- Slide presentations, with a focus on PowerPoint
- Executive summaries
- Briefs / Briefing notes
- Emails and other short documents
- Short oral presentations.
Through hands-on written exercises, learn what you need to do before you start writing, how to focus on your audience, and identify and correct common writing problems. You also have the opportunity to deliver a short presentation and oral briefing to your instructor and classmates.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
- develop an influential PowerPoint presentation
- write three kinds of briefs: meeting preparation, informational, and input into decisions
- structure and deliver an effective two-minute oral briefing for a manager, colleague or decision-maker
- develop talking points for senior leaders or executives.
Come away from this course with powerful written and oral communications skills to convey your message quickly, precisely and professionally.
How am I Assessed?
This course is marked complete/incomplete, and is based on your attendance. Your instructor provides you personalized feedback on the assignments you complete.
Expected Effort
Expect to spend 4–5 hours per week participating in a 2.5-hour online class and completing course activities.
Technology Requirements
To take this course, you’ll need access to:
- an email account
- a computer, laptop or tablet
- the latest version of a web browser (or previous major version release)
- a reliable internet connection
- a video camera and microphone.
Textbooks
There are no textbooks required for this course.
Recommended textbooks include:
Atkinson, Cliff. (2011). Beyond Bullet Points. Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate and Inspire. 3rd Edition. Pearson Education.
Duarte, N. (2008). Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media.
Gallo, Carmine. (2015) Talk Like Ted. St. Martin’s Griffin.
McCormack, Joseph (2014) [brief] Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less. Wiley.
Course Format
This course is 100% online and instructor supported. Live online lectures are held Wednesdays from 5pm – 7:30pm Pacific Time. Course work is done independently and at your own pace within deadlines set by your instructor. Log in anytime to your course to access the lessons as they become available.
Online materials will be available for three weeks after the course ends, after which time you will no longer be able to access the course.