To be an effective speaker you don’t need to overwhelm people with your intellect. You don’t need to dazzle them from start to finish. You simply need to give them the sense that what they are receiving was especially prepared with their interests and needs in mind. This course will help you develop the judgment and dexterity needed to craft a perfectly tailored message.

The materials this week will take us from a Tony-award-winning play, to a family-owned business, and to one of the most famous cases in the history of the United States Supreme Court. Tact, we’ll see, plays a big role in a wide range of places.

Firing people can be hard. So can apologizing. So the “Speaking Studies” this week offer some useful tips on good ways to navigate each of these difficult situations. They’ll also touch on a related topic: forgiveness.

Nice work! You’re almost done with the fourth and final course in “Good with Words: Speaking and Presenting.” We’ll close out the series with a review exercise and a nice story about one of my students building up the courage to speak to an audience at the United Nations Human Rights Council, while interning in Geneva, Switzerland. We also make time for an exercise that explores the important link between tact and tragedy.