Communication Skills - Arnold Library - Adult Learning

This course will help you communicate with confidence and connect more effectively with the people around you. Across six sessions, you’ll explore how to express yourself clearly, listen actively, read between the lines, adapt to your audience, and communicate with impact. As you learn to communicate effectively, you will discover the psychology behind how messages are received and how we influence each other. From navigating workplace conversations to managing difficult discussions, this course helps you become not just a better communicator – but a more confident you.

You’ll gain insight into both the science and art of communication – including how nonverbal behaviour, persuasion and conformity theories can explain how we’re understood and influenced by others. You'll discover what holds people back, how to overcome barriers, and how to better communicate with empathy, clarity and influence in a variety of situations.

This course is perfect if you want to:

• Build your self-confidence and personal presence,

• Prepare for job interviews, speeches or presentations,

• Enhance your public speaking or PowerPoint delivery,

• Communicate with clarity and purpose,

• Improve written and digital communication skills,

• Better handle feedback, conflict or misunderstandings

By the end of the course, you will be able to do several of the following:

• Identify personal communication strengths and areas for improvement to support your professional development.

• Describe and explain common barriers to effective communication and suggest strategies to overcome them.

• Demonstrate the use of different active listening techniques.

• Apply effective questioning strategies in a simulated workplace task to gather information and build rapport.

• Analyse the differences between assertive, passive, and aggressive communication styles using case studies to handle conflict constructively.

• Construct and deliver a short verbal presentation with appropriate structure.

• Use nonverbal communication effectively to reinforce verbal messages and improve presence.

• Evaluate the impact of communication choices (such as tone and body language).

• Demonstrate the ability to give and receive constructive feedback using agreed techniques during a practical exercise.

What you will need to bring to the course:

Suggested Reading for the course:

Recommended books:

The Art of Social Excellence by Henrik Fexeus

Be Exceptional by Joe Navarro

Rapport by Emily Alison and Laurence Alison

Influence by Robert Cialdini