Legendary interviewer and broadcaster George Stephanopoulos has navigated challenging interviews for more than 30 years—as former White House communications director and presently as co-anchor of Good Morning America. Now he’s teaching you how to project confidence under pressure and draw the best value from your own professional and personal interactions, becoming a stronger, more intentional communicator.

Syllabus

Meet Your Instructor

George describes the skills he’s perfected as a TV journalist and political commentator. Learn how mastering communication will improve your effectiveness in conversations and support authentic relationships, both personal and professional.

Battling Your Nerves

George breaks down the art of communicating under pressure. Discover strategies for successfully navigating stressful situations and for coping with nerves and emotions. George teaches how he handled challenging moments from past interviews.

Do Your Preparation

Get to know George’s research process. Find out how, as a broadcaster, he got ready for high-profile interviews with presidents and his conversation with former FBI Director James Comey. Learn how to prepare for navigating unexpected situations.

Be in the Moment

From election drama to natural disasters, there are some situations for which one cannot be fully prepared. George teaches how to respond to intense or tragic situations intelligently and constructively for maximum effectiveness.

Throw Out the Battleplan

Get the details on how George prepared for and conducted his interview with President Trump. He describes the intense preparation required to challenge the president on falsehoods and how he had to be ready to ask tough questions at any moment.

Ask the Right Questions

Questions are key to almost any communication. George shares his strategy for prompting revealing conversations, teaches students the power of yes/no questions, and outlines the importance of prioritizing your most important questions.

How to Challenge and Confront

A journalist’s job is to ask tough questions. George teaches how to hold others accountable for their words or actions. He shares techniques for challenging them directly and respectfully, and explains how disagreements can be extra revealing.

Time Management

“No one remembers the question you didn’t ask.” George outlines how he prioritizes his communications when he has limited time, and how time constraints can give you the freedom to ask more direct and powerful questions.

Mastering Body Language

Knowing how to actively listen and read body language is essential to building respect and increasing understanding in your communications. George teaches you how to spot cues and read faces to steer your own conversations.

Connect Through Empathy

George talks about how empathy helps him navigate challenging conversations during unexpected crises and on-air tragedies. Learn how sharing your personal story is a disarming technique that can allow for meaningful conversations.

Telling a Human Story

Storytelling is one of the most impactful ways to communicate. George will look back on some of his most compelling interviews and outline his techniques for drawing out people’s emotions by listening and artfully employing follow-up questions.

Embrace the Silence

Sometimes the most profound communication happens when you aren’t saying anything. In this lesson, George talks about what is being expressed in the silent moments. Learn how to use silence to prompt your subject to talk more.

GMA: Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Being perceived as one who can embrace humor and spontaneity helps make you a more relatable communicator. George talks about how pushing your boundaries can help you improve your communication in interactions both planned and spontaneous.