Soft Skills Workshop

Become a better communicator to advance in your career

The Soft Skills workshop, offered both in-person as well as virtual format, will help you gain a better understanding of essential soft skills and how they can complement your existing skill set. Soft skills, often referred to as Power Skills, are multifaceted and can include interpersonal skills, social skills, communication skills, attitudes, and teamwork and leadership abilities. Typically, soft skills are more difficult to measure, but they are immensely valuable, especially as your career progresses.

Many professionals undervalue spoken communication as its own medium. As a result, they overload content, blur key claims, or rely on material that does not translate well when delivered out loud. Speaking is a distinct professional skill; it requires an understanding of how listeners process information, sound judgment in the moment, and the ability to communicate effectively in high-stakes business settings.

Upcoming Seminar Dates

May 19, 2026 – In Person
November 17, 2026 – In Person

Benefits of attending

Soft skills are in high demand. Employers value professionals who can communicate effectively, handle difficult conversations, and make impactful presentations. Discover your communication tendencies and preferences at the Soft Skills Workshop and watch how this newfound self-awareness transforms your interactions at work. Learn to read your audience and adjust your communication style accordingly, which is an important skill to have in diverse workplaces where understanding and respecting different communication styles is crucial. Whether you’re pitching an idea or presenting a project, this workshop will teach you how to capture attention and persuade effectively. Expect hands-on exercises and real-life scenarios that let you immediately apply what you learn.

Effective leaders are often described as “clear” or “confident,” but those qualities are rooted in speech. This workshop helps professionals understand how spoken communication works and how listeners process information in real time. With that understanding, communication becomes more efficient. Messages are clearer, key ideas stand out, delivery feels more controlled, and communication becomes easier for both the communicator and the listener.

During this workshop, we will focus on helping you:

• Gain a better understanding of your own communication style and the styles of others.
• Develop strategies to have more productive difficult conversations.
• Adapt messages for spoken delivery rather than written documents read aloud
• Identify and emphasize clear, memorable takeaways for listeners
• Structure spoken messages so audiences can easily follow key ideas
• “Write for the ear” in ways that support confident, effective speaking

Course Overview

Communication Signals and Styles
Poor or miscommunication in the workplace can lead to frustration and loss of productivity. In order to become a better communicator, it is important to understand your communication style and how it interacts with the styles of others.

The workshop begins with becoming more self-aware of your communication tendencies and preferences and how they can be perceived by others. The course then moves on to learning how to read your audience to identify their communication styles. Different ways of communicating can unintentionally cause friction. Once you have a firm grasp of your communication style and how it can complement or clash with other styles, you will be able to adjust your methods to convey your thoughts and ideas more powerfully. Insight into your communication style and those of others enables more impactful, effective communication.

We will then apply what we have learned about communications styles and explore ways to approach difficult conversations. We will take examples submitted by the class participants to focus on common scenarios and delve deeper through targeted hands-on exercises.

Communicating Clearly in Business Settings: Making Messages Work When Spoken
Across the workshop, participants apply these concepts by developing a short practice talk. They draft, revise, rehearse, and deliver this message during the session, using each segment of the workshop to refine clarity, structure, and delivery, with targeted feedback throughout.

Many workplace messages fail not because the ideas are weak, but because listeners struggle to follow what the communicator is trying to convey. The workshop begins by addressing common misunderstandings about how spoken communication works and how listeners process information in real time. This foundation supports better decisions about emphasis, structure, and delivery.

Participants then work on clarifying key ideas, distinguishing main takeaways from supporting detail, and sharpening phrasing so important points are more memorable.

Listeners can still struggle if clear ideas are not organized clearly. Participants next focus on structuring spoken messages so audiences can follow the progression of ideas without effort, emphasizing audible organization, pacing, and clear signaling.

The workshop also addresses common challenges related to speaking under pressure. Participants focus on core delivery fundamentals such as voice, pacing, movement, and eye contact to communicate with greater clarity and confidence in professional settings.

Finally, participants work on writing for the ear rather than the page. This section emphasizes phrasing, rhythm, and chunking to support natural spoken delivery, using manuscripting strategies that help speakers sound controlled and conversational rather than scripted.

Registration and Fees

Program fee includes instruction and learning materials. In-person pricing also includes parking on campus, lunch, and refreshments. Payment is due prior to the course start date and accepted by check, credit card, or purchase order. Early registration is strongly encouraged as space is limited. View discount and cancellation policies.

Download program brochure