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Whether you want to start a business or build a career in your current workplace, communication skills are crucial to success. Many people make the mistake of focusing on building skills related to the job alone, which isn’t enough if you want to achieve something great.
You can always work on your communication skills, regardless of your current level of proficiency. All that you need to know is where to look for guidance.
Luckily for you, we have put together a list of the best online communication classes that you can use to improve your skills, whether you want to land a great job or make an impressive deal with another company executive.
Completing one of these communication courses will not only improve your life
Quick Look: Best Communication Courses
- Instant Communication Skills Course from Udemy - Get this course
- Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization from Coursera - Get this course
- Improving Communication Skills from Coursera - Get this course
- The Ultimate Communication Secrets Course from Udemy - Get this course
- Coaching Course: Become an Effective Communicator at Work 1 - Get this course
- Winning With Communication - Master Communication Skills from Udemy - Get this course
- Advanced Influencing Skills for Business - Get this course
- Public Speaking and Presentations Pro No Beginners Allowed! from Udemy -Get this course
- You Can Deliver a TED Talk Quality Presentation from Udemy -Get this course
What Makes a Great Communication Course?
It goes without saying that you have to be really careful when choosing an online course, as there are many that aren’t worth your time or money.
With that being said, we have created a list of courses that you can absolutely trust. We have based our list around three main metrics: price, instructor’s knowledge, and the specific skills you can acquire.
Ideally, your online communication course should be held by someone credible who has years of experience to back up their knowledge. Also, your communication course should provide you with both theoretical and practical lessons, so that you can use the skills that you learn in real-life scenarios.
Finally, the course shouldn't be overpriced and it should give you enough material to work with for a while.
The Best Online Courses
We have divided the following courses into three main groups based on your level of knowledge and experience. We hope you find something suited to your needs.
Best Online Communication Courses for Beginners
Interested in improving your communication skills? Try one of these beginner level courses.
1. Instant Communication Skills Course from Udemy
This course offers you a chance to quickly improve your communication skills and acquire new ones.
Here is what you can learn from the course:
- How to be more attractive just by improving your communication skills
- The best practices that you can perform every day in order to get better at communicating
- How to be more effective in written communication, etc.
If you choose this course, you will receive 31 minutes of on-demand video material that you can access anytime you want. Of course, there are no requirements, as this is a beginner’s course.
Instant Communication Skills is held by the Instant-Series, which is a company that specifies in creating online courses.
2. Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization from Coursera
- Who's it for? Beginners
- Price: On sale
The Effective Communication course helps you build communication skills for professional success. It focuses on business writing, graphic design, and business presentation skills.
The course is already very popular, as over 10,300 students have enrolled so far.
It takes approximately 2 months to complete it and get a certificate. It is suggested that you invest 7 hours per week for good progress.
Since this course is for beginners, you don’t need to have any experience or knowledge. The course is offered by the University of Colorado Boulder.
3. Improving Communication Skills from Coursera
- Who's it for? Beginners
- Price: On sale
This course belongs to the Achieving Personal and Professional Success Specialization group of courses. It is meant for absolute beginners who want to learn how to communicate more effectively and use that skill achieve their goals.
In case you have a busy schedule, this course has flexible deadlines that you can reset anytime you want. It takes approximately 11 hours to complete it and it is suggested that you take 4 weeks of study.
The course teaches the following skills:
- Setting goals
- Improved communication
- Negotiation
- Deception
It is taught by an award-winning Wharton professor Maurice Schweitzer.
Best Intermediate Courses
If you have communication experience, you may find the following courses useful.
1. The Ultimate Communication Secrets Course from Udemy
If you want to learn how to manage difficult communication situations and use your body language to your advantage, then this intermediate course could be all that you need.
This course will teach you how to:
- Identify communication processes
- Communicate in very difficult situations
- Use and read body language
- Detect a lie and know who’s lying to you
- Deal with unfair criticism
- Apologize
- Recognize the tricks that people use while negotiating
- Overcome the fear of public speaking and presentation
- Deliver bad news in a professional manner
All the course requires from its students is that they have a passion for learning and an interest in becoming professional communicators.
The course comes with 1.5 hours of on-demand video material and 1 downloadable resource that students can access whenever they want. It is held by the Specialistu Learning company, who offer a variety of different online courses.
2. Coaching Course: Become an Effective Communicator at Work 1 from Udemy
This course can help its students develop effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills. It offers you a chance to learn the following:
- How to identify barriers in communication
- How to use the TED technique and ask open questions
- How to use appropriate communication techniques and tools
- How to demonstrate appropriate use of tone of voice in different situations, etc.
Students need to be proficient in both written and spoken English. It is recommended to complete the Become a Champion Communicator online course before taking this one. However, if you already have experience in some of the areas mentioned, you can enroll in this course without having to enroll in the suggested one.
The course is taught by the DioPact Learning company.
3. Winning With Communication - Master Communication Skills from Udemy
This course will help you boost your likeability and become more influential in the workplace and in life. It can help you master the best ways to express yourself and improve your relationships. It offers 2 hours of on-demand video and a comprehensive article.
Prof. Paul Cline, Ed.D is a therapist and psychology expert, and he is also an entrepreneur. If you’re looking for communication skills that will help you get your business off the ground, this is the option to choose.
Best Advanced Communication Classes
Communication expert? Consider one of these below courses.
1. Advanced Influencing Skills for Business from Udemy
The first course for advanced students offers you the chance to master some of the most important skills in communication. If you enroll, you can learn the following:
- How to read people by paying close attention to primary processing language, metaphor, etc.
- How to appreciate the distinction between obvious and complex metaphors
- How to recognize the role of metaphor in human understanding and communication
- How to avoid some of the most dangerous communication errors, and so on.
The course comes with 1.5 hours of video material and 2 downloadable resources.
It can also help you find partners who can help you practice and improve your skills. It is advised that you have a voice recorder since all of the content is listening based.
This course is taught by Peter Urey, who does coaching for dyslexia and helps people overcome other serious communication problems.
2. Public Speaking and Presentations Pro No Beginners Allowed!
This course transforms its students from decent public speakers into public speaking masters. If you want to level up your communication skills and learn valuable tips that can help you give a powerful presentation, this course might be the right option for you.
Some of the topics covered include the following:
- How to instantly captivate your audience
- How to keep your audience engaged and guessing what you’ll say next
- How to organize and prepare your presentations in less time
- How to use PowerPoint for creating an excellent presentation, etc.
You will also receive 4 hours of video material and 13 downloadable resources that you can use whenever you want.
Before taking this course, make sure that you have downloaded the Dazzle Handout so that you can follow along perfectly. This is a course that assumes active engagement on your part.
It is held by Jason Teteak, who is an international public speaking coach, a TEDx speaker, and a bestselling author. If you’re thinking of building a career in public speaking, his advice can give you a starting push.
3. You Can Deliver a TED-Style Talk Presentation from Udemy
Although this course teaches its students how to be better prepared for TED presentations and deliver speeches like professionals, you don’t have to be a TED speaker to enjoy its benefits.
It teaches you how to prepare for big presentations, improve your public speaking skills, and inspire your audience.
Students need to have a video camera before attending this course. It is led by TJ Walker, who is a bestselling public speaking instructor.
Final Thoughts
Those were our best picks when it comes to online communication courses. All that’s left now is for you to choose one based on your level of experience and budget.
Improving communication skills has definitely never been easier. Want to learn more about communication skills? Check out Benzinga's guides for the best communication books, best negotiation skills training and best presentation skills training.
See also: BEST PUBLIC SPEAKING COURSES
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