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University of Maryland, College Park

Persuasion and Presence for Program and Project Managers

University of Maryland, College Park via Coursera

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Overview

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Master the art of persuasion to lead with influence, confidence, and impact. As a program or project manager, your success depends on inspiring senior contributors, aligning diverse stakeholders, and communicating clearly under pressure. This course gives you the tools to go beyond the basics of the PMP® or CAPM®—to persuade effectively, manage your leadership presence, and drive results across complex initiatives. You’ll explore how to balance logic, emotion, and credibility—known as ethos, pathos, and logos—to make your messages compelling and memorable. Through real-world applications, you’ll learn to craft persuasive communications, manage risk through influence, and adapt your presence across digital and in-person environments. Earn 10 professional development units (PDUs) while developing the advanced communication and leadership skills every top-tier program and project manager needs to succeed.

Syllabus

  • Week 1: The Logic, Emotion, and Presence Triad
    • The first week starts with defining the two communication models: transmission and emergence. Then, how each communication model is used in program and project management.
  • Week 2: Building an Effective Presence
    • The second week describes the three parts of the Understanding Triad. You will learn how know-what, know-how, and know-why work together in creating an effective and compelling message.
  • Week 3: Using Emotions in Good Communication
    • The third week describes the value of feedback in building understanding. You will learn the three types of feedback and how to combine the three feedback types with the Understanding Triad for better testing of agreement.
  • Week 4: Psychological Safety and Persuasion
    • The last week gives the program or project manager the tools to determine who is their audience and their information needs. You will combine the Understanding Triad with audience analysis to tailor your messages for maximum impact.
  • Week 5: Final Exam

Taught by

William A. Brantley

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Reviews

5.0 rating, based on 11 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Persuasion and Presence for Program and Project Managers

  • Anonymous
    It is an excellent course for improving communication influence and leadership presence. It clearly explains Aristotle’s rhetorical principles and applies them to modern project management. The lessons on persuasion, trust, and psychological safety are practical and insightful. Highly recommended for anyone leading teams or managing projects who wants to strengthen their persuasive and leadership skills.
  • Anonymous
    I have really enjoyed the content and delivery of the materials in this course. The instruction was thorough. I actually feel like I have learned something, which is not always the case in these courses.
  • Anonymous
    This course was very helpful and informative. The video lecture followed by reading and knowledge checks help you take the content at your own pace and take breaks when needed!
  • Anonymous
    A very informative and visually clear course. It offers great insights into high quality persuasion methods as well as crucial aspects such as building psychological safety and trust within the team.
  • Anonymous
    It was amazing! I loved the material, the professor give amazing content and very straightforward. Highly recommend!
  • Anonymous
    Very insightful and interesting — it brought a nice set of tools that I can apply on my job and I found the content very engaging

  • Profile image for Wairimu Maina
    Wairimu Maina
    Excellent course. It has much more details from what is shared in the certifications programs. There is a real-world real-time application of each of the lessons learned. It has helped me identify my gaps in the way I communicate to the project teams and stakeholders, and how to rectify that in a steady manner.
  • Anonymous
    Easy to understand and absorb. Keeps the learner engaged and the fast pace moves along easily. Very important information to use when managing a team or even in everyday life on a personal level.
  • Anonymous
    Very informative and has great real-life examples that apply to what you learn in each module! The learning videos and supplemental reading materials help tremendously with comprehending learning topics.
  • Profile image for Tanisha Harper
    Tanisha Harper
    1
    This course was informative and task oriented. I thoroughly enjoyed the teaching techniques and the assignments.
  • Anonymous
    This module was intuitive, fun, and incredibly informative. The modules and the questions were fair given the information that was covered.
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