Speaking like a leader doesn’t require you to have formal authority. Organizations are full of people who are not in senior positions but use effective communication to lead initiatives, motivate teams, and unite diverse individuals in pursuit of a shared mission. This course develops your ability to speak like a leader in your organization or sector, whether you’re in the boardroom, at an industry conference, or hosting an internal strategy session.
The course is about you, so we’ll start by identifying, practicing and refining a “leadership communication avatar” that captures how you want to come across and conveys your vision in a way that’s authentic. We’ll review and analyze examples of leadership communication and hear from guest speakers.
Leadership communication is fundamentally different from operational and managerial communication. It is less about transmitting information and more about shaping interpretation. You will be challenged to move beyond the safety of describing what is, and to stake a claim about what could be. That shift from analyst to author, from manager to visionary, is rhetorical and intellectual. It requires a willingness to risk being wrong in order to lead.
You will learn and practice articulating a vision, framing opportunities, and speaking persuasively about the future. Emphasis is placed on clarity, tone, narrative control, and intellectual authority. You will learn how to develop strategic foresight, use rhetorical devices to frame a vision, and how to project that vision in public.
Throughout the course, we will analyze real-world examples of leadership speech, from quarterly earnings calls to public keynote addresses, and assess what makes them credible, memorable, and effective. You will be expected to produce work that combines expertise and insight with passion and conviction. The aim is not to create stylized performances, but to discover and articulate your own authentic leadership language.
