• Royal Observatory Greenwich

Become a Better Presenter: Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

Learn how to improve your presentation skills and add personality into your presentation style on this three-week course.

28,891 enrolled on this course

An image of a microphone in front of an audience

Become a Better Presenter: Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

28,891 enrolled on this course

  • 3 weeks

  • 3 hours per week

  • Accreditation available

  • Digital certificate when eligible

  • Introductory level

Find out more about how to join this course

The CPD Certification Service

The content of the following course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles. Find out more.

Improve your presentation skills and learn how to engage with your audience

Presenting to an audience, either online or in person, can be a daunting prospect, and requires specific skills in order to be successful.

It doesn’t matter what your level of experience is, this course will help build your confidence and give you the tools you need to improve your presenting style.

Build presentation skills based on your strengths and weaknesses

You’ll reflect on your own presentation style, identifying aspects where you feel you excel as well as areas where you need to improve.

You’ll learn how to add personality and life into your presentation style, and you’ll also decipher how to explain information clearly and effectively to your audience without needing to rely on jargon or them having pre-existing subject knowledge.

Understand how to sharpen and improve your public speaking

Whether you’re presenting to a formal meeting or speaking to 500 people from a stage, you’ll find out how to sharpen your presenting skills and pitch to whomever your audience may be, specifically through improvisation and storytelling.

You’ll also learn what to do when things go wrong and will learn how to tackle difficult and controversial questions as well as how to manage challenging audience behaviour.

Finally, you’ll apply what you have learned in theory and put it into practice, and will share and discuss your thoughts and fears with other learners.

Learn from The Presenter Network at the Royal Observatory Greenwich

The Presenter Network - founded by the Royal Observatory Greenwich - brings people together to provide a supportive space where members can share experiences and techniques to help everyone grow and develop as presenters.

You’ll learn from a range of experts within the presentation field, and will be able to tap into a vast and experienced network of presenters.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 17 seconds Hello and welcome to the course. Become a better presenter. This is a three week course designed to help you become the best presenter you can possibly be. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got buckets of experience already or next to none. This course has got something for everyone. When we think about presenters, we tend to think about people that might work in the media, so you might see them on TV or hear them on the radio. But the reality is presenting comes into lots of our professional lives now and it’s become increasingly more important to us. Throughout this course, we’ll be looking at digital presenting as well as face to face and how the two confuse together as well.

Skip to 0 minutes and 55 seconds We’re going to start off by looking at how our own personal presenting style thinking about things we like, things we maybe not quite so keen on. And then we’re going to look at lots of different presenting styles so that we can cherry pick the best bits for inspiration. We then going to look at developing skills. These might be skills you already have or they might be new skills. And then in the final week of the course we’re going to Fuze everything together. So we’re going to put the theory that we’ve learned earlier into practice. Along the way. We’ll meet loads of different people who have absolutely buckets of experience to share with you. That sounds like a lot to do.

Skip to 1 minute and 35 seconds So I think we better get cracking.

What topics will you cover?

  • How to identify your presenting strengths and weaknesses.
  • How to add personality and life into your presenting style.
  • How to engage with your audience whoever that may be from formal meetings to full-blown theatre shows.
  • How to sharpen your presenting skills, specifically when it comes to improvisation, storytelling and weaving a narrative through your presentations.
  • Activities that will allow you to put the theory you have learned into practice.
  • What to do when things go wrong.

Who is this accredited by?

The CPD Certification Service
The CPD Certification Service:

The content of the following course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Reflect on your own presenting style identifying aspects where you feel you excel as well as where you need to improve.
  • Explain information clearly and effectively to your audience without needing to rely on jargon or them having pre-existing subject knowledge.
  • Apply what you have learned in theory and put it into practice.
  • Share and discuss your thoughts and fears about presenting with other learners in a similar position to see what their concerns are about presenting too.
  • Learn how to interact effectively with your audience covering everything from tackling difficult and controversial questions to dealing with challenging behavior.
  • Identify networks and sources you can tap into to keep your skills sharp.

Who is the course for?

This course is best suited to people from a whole range of sectors who need to present or speak as part of their jobs.

It will also be relevant to anyone who needs to present digitally now and is unsure where to start, as well as those who have experience of presenting but feel that they could improve.

Who will you learn with?

Senior Manager: Astronomy Education at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Founder and leader of The Presenter Network.

Who developed the course?

Royal Observatory Greenwich

The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was founded by Charles II in 1675. Today it is a museum and science centre offering inspiring, curriculum-linked experiences delivered by real astronomers.

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Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$39.99

For your first month. Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

  • Access to this course
  • Access to 1,000+ courses
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$54/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

  • Access to this course
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

  • Access expires 27 Dec 2024

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 29 December 2024 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 29 December 2024 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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