Course Outcomes

This assertiveness and interpersonal communication skills course will:

  • Outline how aggressive, passive, passive-aggressive, and assertive communication differ.
  • Suggest words and phrases for building trust and rapport.
  • Explain the nuances of verbal and nonverbal communication.
  • Provide strategies for navigating conflict, giving feedback, and receiving feedback.

Course Overview

As the old saying goes, it’s not so much what you say but how you say it. Word choice is important and so are the tone, nonverbal cues, and the actions we take. How we use those elements directly affects our ability to build trust, establish credibility, navigate conflict, and achieve positive outcomes. This two-part course addresses fundamental skills for communicating with confidence. The first segment looks at the communication process and how various choices can influence outcomes. Segment two takes a deeper dive into disagreeing and declining, navigating difficult situations, and defusing angry people.

This interactive program works well when it’s run as a four-hour course with a break on a single day or when the segments are separated by a day or more.

Segment One Objectives

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Identify behaviors that build trust and rapport.
  • Explain the communication process and how to improve understanding.
  • Discuss assertiveness and its value in the workplace.
  • Differentiate passive, aggressive, and assertive communication.
  • Explain nonverbal communication.
  • Avoid blunt wording that creates resistance and defensiveness. 

Segment One Modules

  • First Connections: Building Trust and Rapport
  • A Model of Communication: Understanding the Process
  • Your Choice: Four Approaches to Communication
  • What You Don’t Say: Nonverbal Communication
  • Repackage the Message: Rephrasing for Better Results

Segment Two Objectives

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Professionally disagree or decline a request when necessary.
  • Give feedback that is direct yet diplomatic.
  • Receive feedback graciously.
  • Describe a five-step process for managing conflict.
  • Demonstrative techniques for defusing anger.
  • Address negative feelings.

Segment Two Modules

  • Stepping Back: Declining and Disagreeing Diplomatically
  • From Me to You and You to Me: Effective Feedback
  • Thorny Situations: Difficult People and Interactions
  • Staying on Track: Defusing Anger and Dealing with Negative Feelings

By the conclusion of this online, instructor-led course, participants should have a range of tools they can use to achieve their communication objectives.