Director of Artificial Intelligence Initiatives
Speaking and Presenting: Poise
What You'll Learn
- How to hold the attention of a wide range of audiences
- How to project a powerful combination of confidence, competence, and charisma
- How to arrange your content in clear, memorable packages
- How to use a well-tested suite of rhetorical rhythms to enhance your delivery and linguistic sophistication
4 Modules
12 Hours
3 hrs per module (approx.)
Rating
About Speaking and Presenting: Poise
Poise is not some elusive or innate characteristic. It’s a series of choices, all of which can help you better connect with your intended audience. This course will help you identify those choices and teach you how to make them in a way that consistently enhances the clarity of your message and the effectiveness of your delivery.
Skills You'll Gain
- Public Speaking Preparation
What You'll Earn
- Certificate of Completion
- Certificates of completion acknowledge knowledge acquired upon completion of a non-credit course or program.
Course content developed by U-M faculty and managed by the university. Faculty titles and affiliations are updated periodically.
Welcome Message
Welcome to Speaking and Presenting: Poise, the first course in the Good with Words: Speaking and Presenting Specialization. This course focuses on building a calm, confident presence when speaking. You will explore how word choice, silence, rhythm, and delivery shape credibility and attention. Through practical examples and exercises, you will develop strategies to speak with greater clarity, confidence, and composure in any setting.
This abbreviated syllabus description was created with the help of AI tools and reviewed by staff. The full syllabus is available to those who enroll in the course.
Course Schedule
Module 1: Poise: Vocabulary
- Video: Holding People’s Attention
- Video: P-R-O-D-U-C-T
- Video: P-R-O-D-U-C-T Element: Poise
- Video: Carpool Charisma
- Video: Speaking Stats: Harper’s Index
- Video: Speaking Stories: Poise
- Video: Speaking Sagacity
- Video: Poise and Pronouns
Module 2: Speaking Studies and Speaking Exercises
- Video: Speaking Studies: Poise
- Video: Speaking Exercise: “Pause Practice”
- Video: Speaking Exercise: “Moments of Silence”
- Video: Stage Fright and Choke Points
- Video: Zoom Fatigue (and Fixes)
Module 3: Rhythm: Vocabulary
- Video: P-R-O-D-U-C-T Element: Rhythm
- Video: Rap Rhythms
- Video: Speaking Stories: Rhythm
- Video: Good Sentences, Good Speeches
Module 4: Speaking Studies and Speaking Exercises
- Video: Rhythm: Speaking Studies
- Video: Speaking Exercise: Rhythm and Poise
- Video: Speaking Exercise: Poem Share
- Video: Context Matters
- Graded: Quiz: Module Four Review
Grading Policy
To pass this course and earn the certificate, learners must achieve an overall grade of 80% or higher. Course materials and assignments remain available for self-paced learning. The course grade is based entirely on four module review quizzes, each worth 25% of the overall grade. Each summative quiz covers the material from its respective module and includes multiple-choice and True/False questions with elaborative feedback. Learners have unlimited attempts on graded quizzes.
The four module review quizzes are weighted as follows: Module One Review — 25%; Module Two Review — 25%; Module Three Review — 25%; Module Four Review — 25%.
Beginner Level
No prior experience necessary
