Designed to deliver the skills your employees need to effectively communicate in the workplace with confidence.

Two to three weeks before the course begins, participants receive a welcome email that explains what to expect. It includes the digital course materials, prework if applicable, and a meeting link if the course is virtual. It also includes an email introduction to the facilitator (and producer, for virtual courses). Participants are welcome to reach out to them before the course with any questions, concerns, or special requests.

We know it’s important to understand what individual participants need, so before each course, we ask participants to complete a questionnaire to tell us about their communication habits and their learning objectives. Participant responses are automatically sent to the facilitator, and the facilitator uses them to tailor the content and messaging in advance.

Finally, the email asks participants to bring along samples of their own work to review as they go through the course. In a writing course, participants can either work on a new document or revise one of their existing documents. For presentation courses, we ask participants to bring a real-world, work-related presentation topic to work on during the session. Similarly, for Communicate With Impact and Making Meetings Work, we invite participants to come with an upcoming conversation or meeting.

We teach participants strategies to communicate effectively. Participants can expect to practice using these skills one at a time, then finally put them together as they work on their own documents, presentations, conversations, or meetings.

Our courses each include a culminating activity. For writing courses, participants have an opportunity to revise and workshop one of their documents in small groups where they give and receive supportive feedback. For presenting courses, participants deliver one or two practice presentations, then receive feedback from their peers and coaching from the facilitator. In Communicate With Impact, participants practice having a high-consequence conversation, and for Making Meetings Work, participants lead a short meeting they’ve designed. A lot of learning happens when participants receive thoughtful feedback from the instructor and their peers, and when participants review someone else’s work with the critical framework we provide.

Participants receive a comprehensive manual and handouts designed for use during the course and to refer to as a post-course resource. The manuals provide support when participants need help preparing for a high-impact presentation, document, meeting, or conversation.

The manuals:

• Are comprehensive at 100 plus pages
• Are designed for self-directed learning: full of best practices, examples, explanations, exercises, and suggested answers. Participants can test themselves and continue to practice skills they want to strengthen after the course is completed
• Are full of current business phrases and sample documents
• Contain checklists to help edit real work
• Contain a list of reference books and websites to learn more
• Are sustainable. We provide them in an easy-to-navigate digital format with fillable fields and instant feedback. Hard copies are available
• Contain tip sheets that summarize best practices and course content at a glance for an on-the-go resource

We keep participants busy and ensure there’s as little lecture as possible. We want participants to play an active role in their own learning and we ask for their input.

Throughout the learning experience, we encourage participants to add ideas to their Personal Action Plan. Taking notes is a powerful way to cement the learning, articulate best takeaways, and commit to using new techniques going forward.

As the course wraps up, we send participants a link to a post-course evaluation survey. We ask for feedback about the learning, how participants will apply the skills learned, and if participants see ways we can continue to improve the learning experience.

To support the transfer of learning to the workplace, participants are welcome to reach out to the facilitator up to four weeks after the course ends to ask questions or receive casual coaching.

If your company has chosen to opt in, we enroll your participants in our Learning Booster Program after the course to help retain and implement the new skills. The program includes six post-course microlearning emails. The first five weekly emails each contain a reminder to use one strategy and a practice activity. The sixth and final email in the series asks participants to share changes in their skill level. Then, we send the survey results to your organization in a summarized report.

After this final email, participants begin receiving our regular blog posts, which are full of tips and ideas to keep the learning alive. They can opt out of any of these follow-up programs at any time.

• Participants enjoy greater confidence as communicators, thanks to strategies that help in all kinds of situations.
• Participants gain a common language and common criteria to share with their colleagues so they can support each other when they return to their real-world work.
• Participants leave the course with a real work document, planned conversation or a presentation recording that captures their growth. Participants can share their before and after versions with their managers and keep them as a record of their progress.
• Participants receive materials and resources before, during and after the course that enhance the learning and are excellent tools for post-course use.
• Participants learn from facilitators who are adult-learning experts with solid business experience in industries like yours. Our team also consists of certified instructional designers, expert coaches, professional writers, and a helpful client service staff.
• Participants benefit from our 55 plus years of experience consulting, designing, and delivering communication skills training. We offer a wide variety of delivery formats so we can give your participants the training they need, delivered in the format they need it in. Choose from virtual, blended and in-person group training, or one-on-one coaching . Our courses can be tailored or customized, from adding small custom examples to adapting the entire program delivery.

• Master a reliable, repeatable process that can be applied apply to any communication.
• Create better documents, presentations, meetings and conversations in less time, every time.
• Gain confidence knowing your participants have the resources they need to excel at the high-consequence communications that help them advance in their career and help your organization succeed.