Best Free MOOCs In Business For January

Why do so many speeches fall flat? Blame poor delivery for one. Who wants to hear a speaker trip over every line or drone on without making a point? Letā€™s face it: public speaking is an exercise in respecting the audienceā€™s time and IQ, not to mention the spirit of the gathering. While passion and pageant can hold an audience early on, it is no substitute for the most important element of any speech: Strategy.

Indeed, many speeches are doomed to fail long before a speaker strolls to the lectern? Why? Maybe it was poorly structured, with ideas scattered here-and-there without any logical path or clear destination. It couldā€™ve opened slow and soft, failing to stir the imagination or connect with the audienceā€™s experiences or aspirations. Perhaps the main idea was mentioned once or twice, rather than acting as the backbone and subtly weaved into every point. The worst sin of all? The speech lacked the stories that people remember or the gut punch that moved them to action.

Think you possess the moxie to lead? Public speaking is often the bellwether. While failed speakers may be tempted to blame the audience and venue, the reality is that speakers hold the power. It is their job to rattle and rally, to entertain and enlighten. It all starts with planning, prioritizing, testing, and tuning. Those are exactly the skills that students will gain in an impressive new MOOC opening in January: Speaking to Inform: Discussing Complex Ideas with Clear Explanations and Dynamic Slides.

PROFESSOR HAS TAUGHT PUBLIC SPEAKING TO 500K STUDENTS ONLINE

Developed by Matt McGarrity, senior lecturer in the communications department at the University of Washington, the course makes one point clear: everyone will eventually need to deliver a speech, in one form or another. Question is, how do you get your audience to pay attention, retain key points, and (best case scenario) embrace your ideas? Training students to achieve those goals is a special gift for McGarrity, whose online ā€œIntroduction to Public Speakingā€ MOOC has already enrolled nearly 500,000 students. A past recipient of the National Speakerā€™s Associationā€™s Outstanding Professor Award, McGarrity has taken a different tact to this course, focusing on speech development and leaving delivery to other courses he teaches online. As a result, students can focus on fundamentals like design, insightfulness, and clarity to achieve their goals.

The course also pairs students, so they can provide feedback to each other on what works and what doesnā€™t in their speeches. For McGarrity, the online milieu, at once more intimate and distant, actually can make it easier for students to learn the speaking craft by creating a less threatening environment than a live audience. ā€œHaving it online can be, on one hand, better than it ever would be in class,ā€ he states in a 2015 interview. ā€œWhy? There are some people who are so afraid of public speaking, so apprehensive, that they will never come into my classroom. They are the ones who need an opportunity to engage the material more than anyone else. They may be more likely to do so in an online environment where they can practice at home.ā€

GET A JUMP ON YOUR NEW YEARā€™s RESOLUTION WITH OVER 30 COURSES

If your New Yearā€™s resolution is to deepen your skill sets, January is bound to give you a fast start to achieving that very goal. Looking to learn the inā€™s and outā€™s of finance so you can speak the language of business? You wonā€™t find a better place to start than the University of Michiganā€™s Financial Markets and Institutions or Rice Universityā€™s Global Financial Markets and Instruments. Hoping to get a handle on the technologies shaping your firm? Check out the University of Virginiaā€™s Marketing Analytics to find out how you can mine for patterns and trends that can clarify your decision-making. If operations is your passion, MIT ā€”the leader in logistics education ā€”is launching Supply Chain Technology and Systems to help you make sense of how new innovations can fit with your frameworkā€¦and give you a competitive advantage in the process.

Were you dreaming of starting a business instead of sugar plums over the holidays? MIT is also coming out with Becoming An Entrepreneur, which delves into idea creation, market research, launch, and funding ā€” and everything in between. If youā€™re hoping to take that big step into management, January is packed with options to help you avoid the big mistakes, including the University of Michiganā€™s Leading Teams, HEC Parisā€™ Leading Organizations, Stanfordā€™s Organizational Analysis, and Northwesternā€™s Leadership Through Social Influence.

To learn more about these courses ā€“ and register for them ā€“ click on the links below.

FINANCE

Financial Markets and Institutions / January 17 / University of Michigan

Business Accounting Basics / January 10 / Purdue University

Global Financial Markets and Instruments / January 2 / Rice University

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Becoming An Entrepreneur / January 9 / MIT

Foundation of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China / January 16 / City University of Hong Kong

Lean Startup Principles for Social Impact / January 10 /Ā Acumen

Social Entrepreneurship 101: Discovering Your Passion and Path to Change the World / January 10 / Acumen

MARKETING

Speaking to Inform: Discussing Complex Ideas with Clear Explanations and Dynamic Slides / January 24 / University of Washington

Marketing Analytics / January 2 / University of Virginia

LEADERSHIP

Unethical Decision Making in Organizations / January 9 / University of Lausanne

Organizational Analysis / January 2 / Stanford Graduate School of Business

Women in Leadership / January 9 / Case Western Reserve University

Leading Teams / January 2 / University of Michigan

Leading Organizations / January 2 / HEC Paris

Leadership Through Social Influence / January 9 / Northwestern University

The Power of Team Culture / January 2 / University of Pennsylvania

Self Awareness and the Effective Leader / January 2 / HEC Paris

Understanding Modern Business and Organisations / January 23 / University of Strathclyde

Foundations of Everyday Leadership / January 2 / University of Illinois

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Anticipating Your Next Battle, in Business and Beyond / January 2 / HEC Paris

Networking Leadership 101: Building Your Core Professional Network / January 10 / Acumen

OPERATIONS

Supply Chain Technology and Systems / January 25 / MIT

ADDITIONAL COURSES

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