Presentation Skills Suite

Presentation Skills Suite

One of the most important and useful skills you can learn in your career is the ability to present your ideas in front of others and obtain buy-in. Build good presentation skills step-by-step and learn to confidently persuade audiences of any size as you conquer any fears you may have about public speaking. Then take your PowerPoint skills from ordinary to extraordinary by mastering the use of Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 and learning to create professional-quality slide presentations that will hold your audience's attention. Finally, you'll learn the power of humor and how you can use it to transform interactions with others.

72 Course Hrs
  • Details
  • Requirements
  • Instructor
$350.00
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Instructor-Moderated
72 Course Hrs
Study online with Instructor moderated discussion boards.
Select a start date for each course below:
$350.00
Instructor-Moderated

Details

Mastering Public Speaking

You can become an effective public speaker! In this fun and hands-on course, you'll find out how to talk confidently and persuasively to both large audiences and small groups. You'll learn how to plan and deliver your presentations skillfully and how to manage one of the most common public speaking barriers—fear.

As you build your skills step-by-step, you'll find out how to present a short or long speech, how to handle questions and manage conflict in meetings, and even how to shine in a job interview. You'll get tips for training your voice and learn how to use both verbal and nonverbal communication effectively.

By the time you finish this course, you'll have an entire set of skills you can use on the job, in social settings, and in any other situation where you need to communicate with ease and authority. Along the way, you'll explore many real-world examples and have lots of opportunities to practice your new skills.

Introduction to Microsoft PowerPoint 2016

Take your PowerPoint presentations from ordinary to extraordinary! In these lessons, you'll learn how to use Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 (now available through Office 365) to create professional-quality slide presentations that grab and hold your audience's attention from start to finish.

You'll start by learning how to plan and create dazzling slide presentations using a variety of slide and layout masters that make global changes to your presentation in a snap. You'll also see how to embellish your slides with pictures, shapes, WordArt, and SmartArt, as well as multimedia effects such as animations, slide transitions, audio, video, and text and object hyperlinks.

And that's just the start! You'll explore the options on the PowerPoint Ribbon, including the new Tell Me feature (an enhanced Help feature) and Smart Lookup, which allows you to look up definitions of a word or phrase. You'll explore the File menu options and Backstage View, and learn how to print slides, handouts, and even an outline. And you'll discover the best view for creating and editing your slides and running your presentations, including how to use Reading View to proof your work.

You'll have fun creating a PowerPoint photo album with your digital pictures, and become acquainted with OneDrive and PowerPoint Online to save, edit, and share your presentations online. Finally, you'll add versatility to your PowerPoint skills as you learn how to use the Share and Export commands to save presentations as PDF files, videos, and more.

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced user, these lessons will teach you how to turn simple slides into a polished and exciting presentation that will make your message memorable. If you want to take your PowerPoint skills to a higher level, this is the course for you!

Get Funny

The ability to create humor is a skill many people don't have, yet wish they did. If you're interested in learning how to come up with jokes or witticisms on the fly, punch up dull material for an audience, or make a living as a comedy writer, this course will get you going.

Your instructor, an experienced comedy writer and working actress, will guide you through a wide range of comedic sources. You'll learn how to write a one-liner, use physical humor, target your audience, find the humor in everyday events and much, much more.

Once you've learned some of the methods of creating humor, you'll be ready to apply it to all aspects of your life. Punch up speeches and presentations so that the audience is instantly on your side. Mix laughter with learning in the classroom, and watch your students' attention spans grow. Add some humor to your web page and watch the hits explode as word gets out. Use your newfound sense of humor to entertain your friends, meet interesting people, and even make new friends!

For the aspiring comedy writer, there are invaluable techniques for finding the methods that work consistently and without the worries of whims, moods or blocks. There is even a section on marketing your humor, giving you the inside information you'll need to find your niche.

Learning should be fun, and this course is no exception. Filled with opportunities to laugh as you learn, "Get Funny" promises an entertaining and informative six weeks.

Suite bundles are not eligible for partial drops or refunds. Transfers to other open sessions of the same course are available. Please refer to your school for additional details regarding drops, transfers, and refunds on Suite bundles.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.


Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

  • This course must be taken on a PC. It is not suitable for Macs.

Software Requirements:

  • PC: Windows 8 or later.
  • Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge is also compatible.
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
  • Microsoft Office Home and Student 2016 or a subscription to Office 365 (not included in enrollment).

Other:

  • Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Instructor

Curt Simmons

Curt Simmons is a teacher and freelance writer. Curt holds a master's degree in Education and numerous technical industry certifications, and he is the author of more than 50 books on a wide variety of topics including computer training, test preparation, and public speaking. He has written custom courseware for a number of major U.S. companies as well as iPhone applications.

Kathy Van Pelt

Kathy Van Pelt has been involved in education for many years, teaching and assisting students with microcomputer application courses. Kathy specializes in Microsoft Office applications, Google Drive and Google Applications, the Windows and Mac operating systems, and keyboarding. For the past 25 years, she has taught computer courses at a community college, teaching both in the classroom and online. Before that, she spent nine years teaching word processing and business classes at a private business college. She loves being in the ever-evolving educational field, and she's especially excited about the flexibility that online learning offers students.

Joanna Sandsmark

Joanna Sandsmark graduated with honors from The University of Wisconsin - Madison with a degree in Communication Arts: Radio/TV/Film. As a voice actress, she's appeared in numerous commercial, industrial and animated projects, including the popular animated television series, "Rugrats". As a writer, she has written for DC Comics, was a staff writer on TV's "Weird Science", and has written five books, including "The Wisdom of Yo Meow Ma', and 'A Girl's Best Friend: Why Dogs Are Better Than Diamonds". She has taught both writing and voice-over in various formats, in the classroom and out, and is a member of the Writer's Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild, and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Instructor-Moderated Course Code: B8579