Improving Communication Skills
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Improving Communication Skills
This course is part of Achieving Personal and Professional Success Specialization
Instructor: Maurice Schweitzer
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2,126 reviews
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There are 4 modules in this course
Learn how to communicate more effectively at work and achieve your goals. Taught by award-winning Wharton professor and best-selling author Maurice Schweitzer, Improving Communications Skills is an essential course designed to give you both the tools you need to improve your communication skills, and the most successful strategies for using them to your advantage. You'll learn how to discover if someone is lying (and how to react if they are), how to develop trust, the best method of communication for negotiation, and how to apologize. You'll also learn when to cooperate and when to compete, how to create persuasive messages, ask thoughtful questions, engage in active listening, and choose the right medium (face-to-face conversation, video conference, phone call, or email) for your messages. By the end of the course, you'll be able to understand what others want, respond strategically to their wants and needs, craft convincing and clear messages, and develop the critical communication skills you need to get ahead in business and in life.
In this module, you'll learn when to compete and when to cooperate to achieve success. Youβll explore the three key principles of cooperation and competition: scarcity, sociability and dynamic instability, and learn how to determine which approach to use based on your situation. You'll also discover how to use comparisons to provide motivation, and how to avoid "invidious" comparisons which can lead to discouragement or unethical behavior. By the end of this module, you'll be able to attain a better balance between competitive motivation and cooperative satisfaction to make your interactions more productive and successful.
What's included
8 videos1 reading3 assignments1 discussion prompt
8 videosβ’Total 54 minutes
- Introductionβ’1 minute
- The Thin Line Between Cooperation and Competitionβ’7 minutes
- The Three Principles of Cooperation and Competitionβ’3 minutes
- The Mechanics of Comparisonsβ’8 minutes
- The Misery of Upward Comparisonsβ’12 minutes
- Comparisons and Motivationβ’7 minutes
- Comparisons and Cheatingβ’6 minutes
- Comparisons: Finding Your Balanceβ’9 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Module 1 Slidesβ’10 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 90 minutes
- Module 1 Practice Quizβ’30 minutes
- Practice Quiz #1β’30 minutes
- Module 1 Quiz: Comparisons, Cooperation, and Competitionβ’30 minutes
1 discussion promptβ’Total 10 minutes
- Module 1 Discussionβ’10 minutes
In this module, you'll explore how to gain and built trust to develop cooperation, and understand why this critical step can be so challenging. You'll examine the factors that develop a trusting relationship: demonstrating vulnerability, building rapport, and expressing warmth, and learn how to increase trust by uncovering common goals, common enemies, and interdependence. You'll also learn how to communicate with team members, friends, and opponents in a way that encourages trust. By the end of this module, youβll understand how to build trusting relationships to achieve cooperation and mutual satisfaction.
What's included
7 videos1 reading3 assignments1 discussion prompt
7 videosβ’Total 55 minutes
- The Cooperation Challengeβ’11 minutes
- Building Trust: Vulnerabilityβ’5 minutes
- Building Trust: Rapport, Warmth, & Equalityβ’9 minutes
- Building Trust: Interdependence, Common Goals, & Common Enemiesβ’5 minutes
- Building Trust: Communication and Institutionsβ’7 minutes
- Signaling and Trustβ’7 minutes
- Trust, Emotion, and Limited Feedbackβ’10 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Module 2 Slidesβ’10 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 90 minutes
- Module 2 Practice Quizβ’30 minutes
- Practice Quiz #2β’30 minutes
- Module 2 Quiz: Building Trust and Cooperationβ’30 minutes
1 discussion promptβ’Total 10 minutes
- Module 2 Discussionβ’10 minutes
In this module, youβll learn what deception is, how to detect it, and what to do once you know it's taken place. You'll examine the most common cues that indicate deception and explore practical steps to take when you discover deception. You'll also be able to evaluate deceptions and transgressions to determine whether they are core or non-core violations. Finally, you'll analyze the components of successful apologies, so you can create your own, if necessary. By the conclusion of this module, you'll be able to better detect deception, and devise an appropriate reaction that will help you achieve your objectives.
What's included
9 videos1 reading3 assignments1 discussion prompt
9 videosβ’Total 66 minutes
- Fundamental Truths about Deceptionβ’7 minutes
- The Challenge of Lie Detectionβ’5 minutes
- Cues to Detect Deceptionβ’9 minutes
- Matching the Content and Contextβ’9 minutes
- Practical Stepsβ’8 minutes
- Nature of Violationsβ’9 minutes
- Learning from Bad Apologiesβ’7 minutes
- The Apology Formulaβ’6 minutes
- Preparing the Apologyβ’5 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Module 3 Slidesβ’10 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 90 minutes
- Module 3 Practice Quizβ’30 minutes
- Practice Quiz #3β’30 minutes
- Module 3 Quiz: Deception and Apologiesβ’30 minutes
1 discussion promptβ’Total 10 minutes
- Module 3 Discussionβ’10 minutes
This module was designed to teach you both the key principles of effective communication, and how to harness the power of setting goals to improve your performance. Youβll learn how to create memorable and persuasive messages, ask thoughtful questions, engage in active listening, and choose the right medium (face-to-face conversation, video conference, phone call, or email) for your messages. You'll also learn the how to use goal setting for maximum benefit while avoiding the common pitfalls of overly ambitious targets. By the end of this module, you'll be able to communicate effectively using the right medium, and use goal-setting to increase your productivity and boost your performance.
What's included
13 videos1 reading3 assignments1 discussion prompt
13 videosβ’Total 88 minutes
- Conveying Ideasβ’4 minutes
- Make Messages Memorableβ’8 minutes
- Asking Questionsβ’3 minutes
- A Deeper Look at Questionsβ’10 minutes
- Active Listeningβ’5 minutes
- Nonverbal Communicationβ’7 minutes
- Communication Mediaβ’7 minutes
- Threatsβ’15 minutes
- The Benefits of Goalsβ’4 minutes
- Goal Setting Pitfallsβ’12 minutes
- Making the Most of Goal Settingβ’5 minutes
- Crossing the Finish Lineβ’6 minutes
- Course Conclusionβ’1 minute
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- Module 4 Slidesβ’10 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 90 minutes
- Module 4 Practice Quizβ’30 minutes
- Practice Quiz #4β’30 minutes
- Module 4 Quiz: Effective Communication and Strategiesβ’30 minutes
1 discussion promptβ’Total 10 minutes
- Module 4 Discussionβ’10 minutes
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Reviewed on Feb 24, 2019
Great material, the professor does a great job explaining complex topics in a straightforward and plain way. You will get very insightful takeaways for your life and work afterwords.
Reviewed on Jan 5, 2021
I liked so much this course. The examples were so good to connect the concept and the real scenarios. Soft skill are so important and I'll use it to increase my communication with my colleagues.
Reviewed on Jul 6, 2020
Very interesting course, not just about the skills, also a lot theories behind the communications. Professor also gave a lot interesting example to help you to understand the theories.
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When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you canβt afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, youβll find a link to apply on the description page.
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