3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

This class focuses on refining presentation skills required in professional settings, focusing especially on high stakes communication. All of us face moments when we simply must present a winning case. Agendas, lives, fortunes, and futures can depend on our ability to move an audience to act in our favor. What is the role of rhetoric in high-stakes communication? What visual, structural and oral strategies create strong, positive engagement in an audience? This experientially – based, interdisciplinary workshop examines the rhetorical strategies, verbal, oral and visual, underpinning successful messaging in crucial situations. We will explore the role of rhetoric in moving decisions in cases ranging from jury trials, campaigns and business pitches to negotiations, meetings and crisis communications. Using the case method, live simulations, and real-world examples, students will explore the relationship between audience analysis and the deployment of rhetorical tools. Working individually and in teams, students will create and deliver audience-specific decisive communication.