0290 - Public Speaking for International Professionals

Course Description

This course can be applied to the UBC Award of Achievement in Business English for International Professionals or it can be taken as a stand-alone course.

This course is designed especially for professionals who speak English as an additional language. Improve your pronunciation, fluency and presence in speaking English publicly.

Using the same strategies professional speakers and actors use, build your confidence in different speaking situations, such as talking to one person, or presenting in a team meeting or in front of a large audience.

Understand and practise how to:

• use improvisation exercises to handle on-the-spot communications or scenarios where quick thinking is needed
• control breath flow to influence sound, speech and delivery
• control and manage body language, eye contact and facial expressions
• address and manage nerves/stage fright in a variety of situations
• organize speech content into templates
• use emphasis of key words to create greater impact
• slow down speech
• practise formal and casual pronunciation, intonation and word choice

By the end of the course, you’ll have practised the entire speech process, from planning your speech to execution. Every class includes a combination of theory/technique and speaking practice.

Who is this course for?

Participants in this course should already have an intermediate to advanced level of English. Anyone who has ever felt nervous asking questions in public, presenting to an audience, or even talking at a dinner party can benefit from this course.

How am I assessed?

This is a non-credit course without letter or numerical grades. You receive verbal feedback on your English communication skills from your instructor during class. Short homework assignments are typically reviewed and discussed in class. Some lesson modules may include quizzes.

Record of completion

Students who have successfully completed a course can access completion documents two weeks after the course ends. Course completion means 80% attendance and/or 80% completion of mandatory assignments.

Course format

This course is offered both in-person and 100% online.

Materials will be available in Canvas for three weeks after the course ends, after which time you will no longer be able to access the course.

About online learning

Our online English communication courses offer you a real-time virtual classroom experience where you can see and interact with your teacher and classmates. Each week, you log in at a set time to your class using our intuitive learning management platform, Canvas. Through Canvas, you access Zoom, a web conferencing app, for your live class. Just like in a classroom, you do individual, pair and group work, ask questions and receive verbal feedback from your instructor.

Outside of class time, you can access handouts and other materials online at your own pace and rhythm. You might be doing readings or watching videos to prepare for your next class, or practising with the material you have learned in your previous class. You do get out what you put in.

In order for a virtual classroom to be successful, we want to see your faces! Please be prepared to participate with your video turned on. We provide virtual drop-in sessions for you to test out the Zoom app before your first day of class. We will also send you instructions on accessing Canvas before your course begins.

Learn more about online learning at UBC Extended Learning.

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Business English for International Professionals : Required Courses