About the Program

Program Information

This interactive and intensive online five-week executive program will transform how you communicate. Through live sessions with Brown's renowned faculty member Dr. Barbara Tannenbaum (barbara_tannenbaum@brown.edu), application activities, and individualized coaching from experts, you will build on your strengths to dramatically improve your communication skills in every scenario: one-on-one, small groups, large audiences — both live and online. Each week, you will apply key concepts from the course in your own work in real-time.

Program Objectives

This course will change how you communicate and how you evaluate others’ communication.

You’ll Learn:

The key elements of persuasive communication, including audience-centered communication
The impact of non-verbal, vocal and message elements of communication
Techniques for compelling audiences to take action
Communicating to change attitudes & minds

Program Expectations

The Powerful and Persuasive Communication Program requires full virtual attendance and completion of all speeches during all program sessions to receive a program completion certificate. A program completion certificate will not be issued until all program hours are complete.

Meet the Faculty and Coaches

Dr. Barbara Tannenbaum (Professor)

Barbara Tannenbaum teaches courses in public speaking and persuasive communication in the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies and is a faculty member in the Brown Executive Master in Technology Leadership.

She is a recipient of the Brown University John Rowe Workman Award for excellence in teaching in the humanities, the Brown University Undergraduate Teaching Award, The Sheridan Teaching Award and eleven time recipient of the Brown University Senior Citation for excellence in teaching.

In addition to leading the popular course Persuasive Communication, Barbara provides communication workshops for senior administrators, graduate students, Brown University Career Services, The Brown/Trinity Consortium and many student organizations annually. She has been an invited lecturer at Princeton University, Barnard College, Rhode Island School of Design, MIT, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, and Smith College.

Outside of academia, through her consulting firm Dynamic Communication, Barbara consults to global business and professional leaders on effective communication. Her communications programs have been delivered on six continents to organizations including USAID, Microsoft, Reliance Industries, Chanel, and Google. She has advised senior political leaders including elected officials at the state and national level. Her clientele also includes the Council of Chief Judges of the Appellate Courts of the United States, The California Supreme Court, The Florida Supreme Court, The International Monetary Fund, MFA Boston, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dr. Jennifer Madden (Coach)

Jennifer Madden received her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from Brown University, where she serves as a communication coach for the Executive Master Program in Cyber Security and Science and Technology Leadership, the School of Professional Studies Corporate Coaching program, as well as a public speaking consultant for the University’s summer Leadership Institute.

Her work as a communication consultant in the private and non-profit sector spans five continents and includes: the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Madeleine Albright Institute at Wellesley, the “Path to Professorship” and “Woman Leaders: Good to Great” workshops at MIT, the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Emerge Massachusetts (a training program for Democratic women pursuing public office), and Persuasive Communication/Negotiation training for members of the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) in Zambia and Namibia in conjunction with USAID and the Southern African Trade and Investment Hub. Additionally, she worked with Dynamic Communication providing effective communication training for Microsoft/Bing sales executives throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia.

Professor Madden is a faculty member of Providence College’s Theatre, Dance and Film department and at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, teaching courses in Theatre History, Dramatic Literature and Asian Performance.

Cliff Dutton (Coach)

Cliff is a partner in Dynamic Communication, LLC, the global communications training consultancy founded by Barbara Tannenbaum. In addition to his work helping others maximize their impact through communications skills, Cliff is also an expert in the application of technology to achieve strategic advantage in business with extensive experience in legal operations and electronic discovery.

For much of his career, Cliff was an executive in global businesses. He directed investments in product, process and business model innovation at Epiq, the global $1B private equity-backed leader in technology-enabled legal services. Prior to Epiq, he designed and implemented legal operations programs at AIG that saved hundreds of millions of dollars.

After graduating from Brown (Class of '83) with his Sc.B. in cognitive science, Cliff started out as a technologist. He is a named inventor of four issued US Patents. In addition to founding, growing and selling his company Distributed Data Systems, Inc. Cliff has been on the board of both public and private companies.

Cliff writes and speaks about the legal technology industry.

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