Get the support you need to level up your presentation skills

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Overview

Interested in a promotion?  Build your public speaking and presentation skills.

For the last 10 – 15 years, the most important skill that employers are looking for their employees to demonstrate is the ability to effectively communicate.

Presentation skills – be it public speaking as we traditionally think of it, managing an online or in-person meeting or persuading clients or leadership of a decision – are essential in the workplace today.

With more and more work being outsourced to AI and automation, it is critical that we start using our human communication skills to demonstrate our value to our organizations.

Why are these skills constantly lacking in today’s workforce?  Because they are hard.  Because they are not often taught in degree programs, and a lot of employees are expected to just magically show up for work with these abilities.

Communication and presentation skills don’t come by magic.

They require dedicated attention and work.  And building these skills usually requires support from a trusted coach or instructor.

If you’re looking to stand out in the crowd and get that promotion, land that big client, or get your foot in the door, you need to build your presentation skills too.

I’ve researched the leading public speaking and presentation courses out there and identified the pros and cons of each to make your search for a valuable coach easier and less overwhelming.

For each course, I provide an overview of the main curriculum, the length of the course, and some pros and cons of each alongside links to their sites.

Robin Roberts’ Effective & Authentic Communication

Robin Roberts, formerly of Good Morning America, has a long career in broadcasting with a charismatic and friendly approachable style. Her public speaking course emphasizes communication skills broadly, and is hosted on the Masterclass platform, including over 2 hours of video lessons.

Pros

Roberts’ class is broad, providing support for a wide range of critical communication skills that employers regularly wish were stronger among their employees, making it an intriguing option.

1. Broad scope – Lessons in this course focus on emotional intelligence, interpersonal communication skills, public speaking, interviewing and creating meaningful connections with the audience. These skills are incredibly valuable and Roberts’ warm and conversational style drives home her approach. Working with an instructor you like and connect with is priceless when developing a skills such as presenting and public speaking.
2. Diverse learning resources – Each module of the course features a video lesson where the primary content is delivered. However, you can also listen to the lesson via an audio recording, and use downloadable class guides to take notes and support your learning from the lessons.
3. Masterclass platform – To access the course, you purchase a monthly Masterclass membership, giving you access to the entire catalog of courses. If you’re interested in other topics, this membership can get you in the door to a wide range of courses and upskill opportunities.

Cons

Despite the value provided in this course, it isn’t necessarily the right fit for everyone.

1. Irrelevant content – For most people, modules about working on Good Morning America or interviewing people on TV aren’t going to be directly applicable. If they aren’t relevant, about a third of the course isn’t going to be useful for you, decreasing the value you get from the investment.
2. Focus on connection – While TV anchors and presenters must creating meaningful connections with the audience, the style of those connections may differ significantly, depending on your presenting goals and tasks. Obviously Roberts’ experience is focused on her work in television, as is reflected in the course content.

Presenting Well from Andrea Hamilton

Hey wait, you say, this is your course.

Yes, it is.

And I put it on the list for several reasons. Hear me out.

Presenting Well is an online asynchronous course designed to leverage a new framework for planning, preparing for, and executing presentations for professionals. It was designed from the ground out to support professionals for the type of presentations you’re giving everyday at work – presenting new ideas to leadership, reporting on sales results, and managing meetings. It isn’t the answer for everyone, but it could be the solution you’ve been looking for, because I designed it for you.

Pros

There are several reasons the Presenting Well course might be a great match for you and your needs.

1. Designed for you – This course was strategically developed to help professionals upskill their presenting at work and overcome public speaking anxiety which holds a lot of people back.
2. Modest time commitment – I’ll be honest, if you aren’t willing to put in the work, be vulnerable, try and fail, you aren’t going to become a more successful presenter, no matter what happens. Presenting Well is designed for you to complete the entire courses in a month. You work on your own time, around your family time and commitments.
3. Expertise matters – Not only am I a professional just like you, but I spent nearly 20 years as a professor of communication, teaching university communication courses to undergraduate and graduate students at several campuses. I’ve taken the best of those course and condensed them into a course built just for professionals, not undergraduate students.

To learn more about Presenting Well and join the wait list, click here.

Cons

1. Cost – Like most things of value, you’ll have to pay to get a high quality product. Presenting Well is priced competitively, designed to support you on your journey, but recognizing that times are a bit tight for most of us. Enrolling in Presenting Well will run more than free or massive online courses, but less than a semester course at your local community college (see below).
2. Course format – Presenting Well is an online asychronous course. This means you can work through the material at your own pace in the privacy of your own home. This format works good for many, but not for everyone. Some students need more one-on-one support (if that’s you, reach out, I’d love to work with you!).
3. Not a quick fix – The curriculum in this course was designed to guide you through the presentation preparation process, from assignment to final product. If you have a presentation you’re preparing for, great! If not, it can be a bit awkward to imagine a presentation you haven’t yet been assigned. Also, if you have limited time from assignment to presentation, Presenting Well might not be the best option for you. Working with a coach might be a better solution to support your development as a presenter.

TED’s Official Public Speaking Course

This masterclass is a set of 11 videos offered from the champion of public speaking events, TED. This course is offered as a series of videos in YouTube, which runs $19.99 plus tax online. The course emphasizes finding your voice, explaining complicated ideas, and being a persuasive speaker.

Pros

TED is a known name in the public speaking game and here are some advantages to taking their course.

1. Targeted content – This course is highly targeted, offering upskilling in only 2 hours, focused on very specific public speaking skills. If you’re looking for a brush up or a few tweaks to integrate into your speaking, this course might be a good option for you.
2. Broad appeal – One of the things that has made the TED speaking series so irresistible is the broad appeal of the speakers and the topics they shared with us. This course leverages the TED brand coupled with a general appeal to offer you public speaking tips and tricks.
3. Affordable – This course costs less than a meal at a restaurant. If you’re on a budget or are short of time, TED’s class is a great option.

Cons

While the TED Official Public Speaking Course has a lot of advantages, there are some drawbacks that can mean you won’t actually end up where you want to be with your presenting after completing the course.

1. Narrow scope – The focus of the TED course is targeted on translating your personal message into a presentation, a luxury presentation assignment few professional speakers will ever receive. If you’re aim is to become a motivational speaker, or you are primarily speaking about your own research, this course might move you along. For others, it’s a bit off the mark.
2. Exclusively video – Course content is delivered via YouTube. No supplemental materials are available to support your success in the course. If you’re not a video learner, this might limit your skill development.
3. Lack of personal touch – TED isn’t actually a person who can answer your questions, support your learning and success, or who you can work with moving forward. It’s just an organization with a video series you can buy access to for a few dollars.

Public Speaking at your Local College or University

No matter where you live, your local college or university offers a public speaking course (trust me).

If an online course isn’t your thing (it requires a lot of internal motivation to complete a free online asynchronous public speaking course) reach out to your local college or university for what offerings they might have for face-to-face public speaking courses.

These are typically designed around a public speaking textbook from a big publisher and emphasize general public speaking theory and techniques – designed to meet students with a wide range of skills and abilities where they are.

Pros

There are several advantages of taking a course locally from a real person, live. It’s up to you weigh these against the cons, however.

1. Experienced professors – Public speaking professors are generally pretty skilled at teaching public speaking. Most of them have been teaching the course since they were graduate students. This won’t likely be their first rodeo.
2. Time-tested curriculum – The texts used in traditional college classes are written by some of the field’s strongest names. Many of these books have been in publication for decades, enduring the cuts by many publishing houses, and are regularly updated. What they’re doing resonates with instructors (and hopefully students) so they keep the machine running.
3. Personalized attention – Meeting an instructor face-to-face every week helps them get to know you as a student. They can better support your strengths and weaknesses and provide customized feedback on your speaking skills and performances.

Cons

The disadvantages of this type of course are the same no matter where you are looking to take the course.

1. Expensive – College courses for non-degree seeking students are priced per credit hour and nearly ever public speaking course ever offered by a university is a 3 – credit course. This means, a community college public speaking course will run at least $450 before fees which often add at least $100 to the cost of a course. Four-year colleges and universities often charge two or three times this amount.
2. Time consuming – Although some campuses offer alternative schedule courses, the majority of public speaking courses are a semester in length (12 weeks). For an in-person course, you’ll be in physical class at least 3 hours a week, with more time expected for out of class work. Many of these courses meet during the workday which is difficult for many professionals
3. Lowest common denominator curriculum – College courses are designed to have broad reach and most the students in any given college course are traditional students (read, 22 and under). If you’re looking for courses designed for professions or those who already have a bachelor’s degree, you’ll have to dig a bit deeper.

Toastmasters International

Toastmaster’s isn’t exactly a class, but it is readily in most urban areas and is generally very affordable. It is also often recommended by people at work when you share you’d like to level up your public speaking skills or master your public speaking anxiety. For these reasons, I decided to include it in this list for you.

The Toastmaster’s program offers in-person meetings (some clubs are offering virtual meetings) where members give various types of short presentations and speeches related to random, assigned or chosen topics. Members are encouraged to give each other feedback and provide support for each other as they practice their public speaking skills.

Pros

Toastmasters offers some features that make it an attractive option for many professionals with specific needs or goals.

1. Face-to-face speaking opportunities – If most of your presentations have been online, or you are particularly anxious about speaking in front of a live audience, Toastmasters gives members regular opportunities to stand in front of the membership and rehearse. For some speakers, this is an incredibly valuable opportunitiy.
2. Widespread reach – Pretty much every major community has at least one Toastmaster’s club, with meeting dates and times that can work for a lot of schedules. Within 25 miles of my house, I found at least 20 different Toastmaster’s clubs.
3. Build community – If you’re looking to network and connect with others in your local area, Toastmasters can certainly provide those opportunities. Also, members who attend the same club for a meaningful period of time can create close connections that are beneficial and supportive.

Cons

On the other hand, Toastmaster’s isn’t for everyone. After attending a few meetings in my local community, I found it just wasn’t for me for several reasons.

1. Presenters seemed unprepared – Toastmaster’s attendees are generally professionals or new graduates looking for public speaking opportunities. However, this means they are also busy and speakers aren’t necessarily prepared to give killer presentations, making it difficult to invest time and energy into their speaking as an audience member.
2. Audience feedback was limited – Because the other members of the meeting are also speakers, who are anxious and worried about performing well, most of the attendees were hesitant to point out the speaker’s weaknesses or provide critical feedback. This holds the entire group back from improving, and defeats the purpose of the in person meetings in the first place.
3. Memberships costs – Costs are affordable, but are not accessible for everyone for the long term.

Conclusion

When you’ve made the important decisions to invest in yourself by leveling up your public speaking skills, you have many options. By understanding what you need you can make a choice that best aligns with the outcomes you’re looking for.

What is clear is that high quality, impactful presentations will remain a cornerstone of professional work. If you’d like to be a stronger speaker, your career will forever benefit from the financial and time investment you make today.

Don’t wait to start presenting well.

To ensure you’re getting the best advice, this post was written by a human, not AI.

~Andrea

Updated by Andrea Hamilton, Jan 28, 2025

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Everyone has a voice. Use yours by Presenting Well.