Courses

Regardless of the communication tasks or media, communication professionals need to learn how to write persuasively; in other words, write to make someone they don’t know do something they did not want (or know they wanted) to do. This course is ideal for the Public Relations or Marketing Communication professional with some practical writing experience wanting to focus and hone the skills needed to bring them to the next level, no matter what format or who they are writing for.

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To be a leader you need at least one follower. This also means the quality of the followers has a direct bearing on the success of the leader and his/her team. Since we play different roles at different times, we will explore and identify different Leadership and Followership communication styles.

The more specifically a Public Relations (PR) or Marketing and Communication (MarCom) professional identifies their target audience(s) by demographic or other means, and where they can be found, the easier it will be to find communication strategies and tactics that will reach those targets. This course is designed to give the PR or MarCom professional these tools and awareness. This course is ideal for the PR and MarCom professional looking to learn to better define a target audience and how to expose hot buttons for copy content and style, SEO/SEM keywords, hook development, and more.

The purpose of the “Building a Brand” course is to develop students’ fundamental understanding of the importance of brand equity as well as how to build, measure and manage brand equity. Topics will include understanding the role of Public Relations in building brand equity, keys to successful brand management campaigns, and measuring brand equity.

Much of workplace communication takes place in writing–your image as a professional is often formed by what someone is reading on a screen. This interactive and feedback-driven writing course addresses common challenges such as facing writer’s block, presenting clear messages quickly, formatting documents for readability, and using a positive tone.

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This course offers participants with an interest in organizational communications, public relations, or journalism the opportunity to gain insight into the practice of crisis communications. The primary goal of the course is to expose participants to the realities and demands associated with managing organizational communications across a range of crisis situations. The course will review case studies, best practices in the field, common methods, and call upon participants to execute the strategies learned.

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One hopes that a crisis never occurs within their organization, but the reality is that crisis planning and crisis communication are essential skills for a leader. This course will give participants the tools needed to effectively manage a workplace crisis.

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This course recognizes the advances in globalization and diversity and analyzes cultural variability and its impact on workplace communications. You will examine diversity and how it impacts successful cross cultural interactions, applying specific tools, knowledge, and skills needed to be an effective cross cultural communicator.

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The reality of organizations today is that you will likely work on a team, if not many! A highly functioning team arrives at solutions and results that are better than any individual could have achieved alone. A dysfunctional team can create challenges ranging from distrust and frustration to ineffective business decisions and outcomes. In this course you will learn the best practices for building and leading high-performing teams.

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The skills that a manager of people needs may be vastly different from the technical skills needed to perform day-to-day work. This course gives participants the best practices in management skills currently being used at leading organizations, including strategic hiring and interviewing, performance management, and employee engagement and retention.

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Most professionals face some level of apprehension when giving a presentation. This course will increase your confidence and verbal and non-verbal communication skills in situations ranging from giving an update at a team meeting to a large group presentation. Using technology offered through the online course system, participants will record their talks and receive constructive feedback from the instructor.

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In this course, public relations practitioners will be given the opportunity to explore theories of ethical reasoning and consider their implications for the dominant theories of public relations strategy and practice over the last century, from P.T. Barnum and Ivy Lee to Edward Bernays and Arthur Page. By the end of the course, each student will have prepared a statement of ethical principles and a practical guide to ethical reasoning, consistent with their personal values and appropriate to their practice of their discipline.

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Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is the way organizations plan and present unified and consistent messages to their target audiences. IMC incorporates advertising, public relations, direct marketing, promotions, and digital media through traditional and non-traditional channels to communicate to various publics. It is a holistic approach to marketing based upon an understanding of how consumers think, make decisions, and act. The purpose of this course is to assist professionals to learn how to develop a strategic IMC plan.

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The Interpersonal Communication course provides students with tools and strategies for increasing their effectiveness in communication interactions. This will help them in order to adapt messages to reach different listeners, get messages across more clearly, and build stronger relationships.

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This course is designed to help you recognize significant leadership and communication theories in order to guide you in integrating favorite elements of those theories into a set of personal best practices in leadership and communication.

With so many workplace interactions taking place virtually, leading a team of dispersed and often cross-cultural professionals is a skill 21st century leaders need. This course addresses team dynamics, team leadership, and virtual communication technologies and communication methods.

This course examines the intersections between organizational culture and leadership and how they impact successful change leadership, offering specific tools, knowledge and skills needed to be an effective change agent.

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Persuasion and negotiation are skills that are paramount to the successful professional. The course will help you to apply persuasive techniques to your verbal and written messages in the workplace. In addition, you will learn how to prepare for and conduct effective negotiation techniques in your interpersonal communication interactions.

The course will help students understand what drives CSR and why it is a fundamental part of major companies. By examining various CSR initiatives and analyzing the communications surrounding them, students will gain a thorough understanding of CSR communication methods, issues associated with delivering CSR messages, and learn how to effectively and efficiently communicate those initiatives.

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Today’s PR professional has the opportunity to practice much more than media relations; thanks to the blending of digital with traditional media, we not only have more ways to reach our audiences, we have more ways to measure the outcomes of our efforts as well. But far too many professionals are still wary of measurement. The truth is, it’s not tough, it doesn’t have to be complicated and, when done right, it can shine new light on how your strategy is working (or not). This course will teach you the strategic approach to putting an effective measurement program in place that supports business objectives, even if you’re on a shoestring budget.

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This course offers a comprehensive and focused new approach to communication and relationship building through the integration of new media. Companies today cannot afford to view social media through a traditional lens or with only tactical methods. Their approach must be strategic and include customized stories and meaningful content to share through new media channels. Stakeholders want direct engagement and to actively take part in conversations and collaboration with their favorite brands. Participants will learn how the approach to public relations and communications has changed, beginning with incorporating social media into the public relations planning process.

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The Strategic Communication Planning course is designed to help students think and act strategically, give them a working knowledge of the tools and techniques that will help them develop an action plan, and show them how to communicate it successfully.

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This course offers participants with an interest in public relations or organizational communications an opportunity to gain insight into the practice of strategic public relations. The lessons in this course are designed to help participants learn to see the PR process more strategically, including understanding research and planning, knowing how to make strategic choices, selecting from a multitude of tactical options, and evaluating program effectiveness.

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