Advanced Communication Skills

Description

Summary

If you want to bring your communication skills to the next level and work on your personal development, then this course is here for you!

Two experienced professionals teach you the most valuable skills they have learned themselves over the past 20 years. This course takes you beyond the ‘basics’. You will, amongst other things, learn the highlights from principle-based negotiation, empathic & compassionate communication, critical analysis, influencing group dynamics and inspirational speaking. And, you will learn a lot about yourself.  But please don't expect long presentations. This course is highly interactive and experiential in nature. You will engage in many exercises that will help you shape your vision on communication and master invaluable skills. 

Over the past four years, the average rating from over 60 participants of this course was a 9.0 out of 10.

The content

Below you find a general overview of the topics we will be covering in this course. The programme will be finalized on the basis of the learning aims of the participants.

Week 1:

Day 1: The vibe – inspirational speaking and learning to motivate an audience

• Overview of the course and establishing personal learning objectives
• People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. So, what inspires you? What is your vision? What do you stand for?
• How to inspire your audience and establish a common ground

Day 2: The challenge – putting your communication and negotiation skills to the test

• Negotiation simulation 
• Personal reflection on three levels: personal leadership, communication and ethics
• Inquiry into collective action problems

Day 3: The connection – empathic communication in a professional context

• How to listen to others beyond opinions and positions for feelings and needs
• Which character strengths do you bring with you?
• Creating a balance between your needs and those of others

Day 4: The argument – critical analysis, investigating what’s true, what’s right and what’s valuable

• How to build your argument so your audience can understand them
• Using debates for better substantive discussions
• How to identify and address weakness in arguments

NB On this day there is an informal evening programme

Day 5: The source – the freedom of honest communication

• How to communicate openly and honestly in a professional context
• The power of vulnerability
• Creating deep connection with others 

Week 2

Day 1: The group – understanding group dynamics and your role in teams

• What role fits you in a team?
• How can you adjust your communication to people with different roles?
• How to avoid the false consensus effect?

Day 2: The peace – bridging differences

• How to deal with disagreements before it becomes resistance or even conflict?
• How to create decisions with a group that are truly supported by everyone.
• What do you do if others play it mean? And dealing with nasty discussion tricks.

Day 3: The practice – deepening empathy

• Effectively dealing with criticism 
• Personal leadership when you are under attack
• How to stay calm when the going gets tough?

Day 4: The jump – bringing it all together

• The difficulty with communication techniques is in applying them in your life, so let’s get real.
• Participants will present a personal case to practice with
• How to continue practicing and growing: the hero’s journey

Feedback from previous participants

This course has been organized since 2020. More than 60 participants from over 20 countries spanning 4 continents participated in the course. Their average grade for this course was 9 out of 10.

Some of their feedback:

• 'Being primarily exercise based, this course was highly effective for me. I expected I would be on my own to construct situations but this was infinitely better.'
• 'I learned how to express my feelings, how to stay rational during conversations, to present myself better, to be understanding, to negotiate and tools for presentation and most of all to connect to people on a new level.'
• 'Some of the most important things I learned: (1) Knowing myself even better: strengths, values etc (2) Appreciating my weaknesses and vulnerabilities (3) Argumentation techniques (4) Practicing non-violent communication (5) Learning what different needs people may have.'
• 'The instructors’ positive vibe and experience in the different topics as well as their willingness to go above and beyond their role and make a change. Additionally, I liked their rather innovative pedagogical methods which they used to make us comprehend the topics discussed.'
• 'I really appreciated how in-depth we went on an emotional level, how caring the teachers both are and how they managed to create a safe space and how this affected in a positive way to the connection of the group. I will remember the exercises we did for a long time.'
• 'Open respectful atmosphere, knowledgeable teachers, flexibility in subjects.'
• 'I really appreciated the honest feedback on communication and behaviors.'

Program Utrecht Summer School - ACS - 2024 (final).pdf

Target audience

This course is meant for advanced bachelor and master students, and professionals. The past few years, around two thirds of participants are (senior) professionals and one third are students. The maximum number of participants is 24. Participants will be admitted on a first come, first serve basis.

Study load

The courses will start at 10:00 every day, and end between 15:00 and 16:00. Often, there will be a homework assignment, for which between one to two hours are needed, to prepare for the next day.

Tags

• Communication Skills
• critical analysis
• effective communication
• empathic communication
• group dynamics
• principle-based negotiation