Courses

Being a great communicator opens doors to opportunities and empowers success in all aspects of life. Different situations, however, require different skills. The way you build rapport with a new colleague differs from how you persuade someone to see your point of view. Led by Matt Abrahams, a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, author of Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot, and host of the award-winning podcast Think Fast, Talk Smart, this dynamic course is designed to enhance your communication skills across diverse situations. Each session features interactive lectures on themes like persuasion, storytelling, nonverbal presence, and interpersonal communication, followed by Q&A sessions with the instructor and guest experts. Students will gain practical insights and actionable techniques for things like using body language effectively in high-stakes negotiations and handling difficult conversations with tact and confidence. Whether you're a seasoned professional refining your executive presence or a recent graduate strengthening your interpersonal skills, this course will equip you to excel in today's competitive and interconnected world. By honing your communication skills, you'll master the art of influence and connection and make a lasting impact on both your career and personal life.

Guest Speakers:

Burt Alper, Lecturer in Management and Presentation Coach, Stanford School of Management

Burt Alper consults with executives and corporate teams to make exceptional communication a competitive advantage. He helps clients at firms like Thoma Bravo and Kirkland & Ellis articulate their ideas more effectively, efficiently, and confidently. Alper is also a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, where he teaches “Strategic Communication.” He earned his degree in psycholinguistics from Swarthmore and his MBA from Harvard.

Kwame Christian, Author and Founder and CEO of the American Negotiation Institute

Kwame Christian is a negotiation expert, bestselling author, and host of Negotiate Anything, the #1 negotiation podcast in the world for 10 years, with over 16 million downloads. A sought-after keynote speaker and corporate trainer, he has worked with Fortune 500 companies, and his TEDx Talk and book Finding Confidence in Conflict have reached hundreds of thousands worldwide. Global Gurus named him a top 10 negotiation expert in 2026.

Jessia Hoffman, Founder, On Deck Workshops

Jessia Hoffman is a teambuilding consultant, leadership trainer, and improviser. She designs and delivers improv-based team experiences for organizations such as Google, Bloomberg, Intuit, Capital One, Morrison Foerster, Kaiser Permanente, LinkedIn, and Cisco. Hoffman received a BA from Stanford, where she guest lectures in the Graduate School of Business and for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars and the Healthy Living program.

Melissa Jones Briggs, Lecturer in Organizational Behavior, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Melissa Jones Briggs is a lecturer in organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she is a co-instructor of "Acting with Power." She teaches in the flagship Stanford Executive Program, among others, and is an affiliate at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research. She is an associate fellow at the Oxford Character Project at the University of Oxford. She also works with executives and teams at some of the world’s major corporations, hypergrowth startups, NGOs, and national institutions. She specializes in power, presence, and creativity topics as well as inclusive leadership practices. Trained originally as a performing artist in London and New York, she is a passionate advocate for childhood access to arts education, and her international nonprofit work focuses on social justice and gender equity.

Dan Klein, Advanced Lecturer, Stanford Department of Theater & Performance Studies, Graduate School of Business, and Stanford d.school

Dan Klein travels the world as a corporate trainer and creative consultant, with clients including Sun, Cisco, Oracle, Kaiser, Visa, Clorox, and Charles Schwab. He was a founding member of the Stanford Improvisors and is the former dean of the BATS Improv School. He teaches improvisation in the Stanford Department of Theater & Performance Studies, “Acting with Power” for the Graduate School of Business, and "Improv and Design" for the d.school. In 2009, Klein was named Stanford Teacher of the Year by the Students Association.

Carole Robin, Co-Founder, Leaders in Tech, and Author

Carole Robin has been helping leaders grow for more than 35 years. Most recently, she served as the faculty director of the Interpersonal Dynamics for High-Performance Executives Program and director of the Arbuckle Leadership Fellows Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB). She received the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award for her work in numerous courses, including “Interpersonal Dynamics,” the most popular elective course at the GSB for over 45 years. She is the co-founder of Leaders in Tech, which brings the content and processes of her courses to Silicon Valley executives. She is also the co-author of Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues.

Joel Schwartzberg, Communication Coach and Author

Joel Schwartzberg is a presentation and workplace communication coach whose clients include American Express, Meta, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the Brennan Center for Justice. A former executive communications leader for a major national nonprofit, he authored the bestseller Get to the Point! Simplify, Sharpen, and Sell Your Message and contributes frequently to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Inc.

Carmen Simon, Cognitive Neuroscientist and Author

Carmen Simon is a cognitive neuroscientist and chief science officer at Enhancive, an agency that helps organizations use neuroscience to create content that impacts customers’ memory and decisions. Her most popular books on customers’ attention and memory are called Impossible to Ignore and Made You Look.

Lisa Kay Solomon, Futurist in Residence and Lecturer, Stanford d.school

Lisa Kay Solomon is an award-winning designer and futurist dedicated to helping leaders move from bracing for the future to actively shaping it. As Futurist in Residence at the Stanford d.school, she teaches strategic foresight and hosts the How We Future podcast. She is a bestselling co-author of two books, and more than 125,000 learners have taken her courses on LinkedIn Learning and Stanford Online.