
Address the epidemic of poor communication by elevating articulation and precision through the Better Speak program, a two-week, ten-lecture course with practical exercises.
Define the telos of communication as helping others understand what we say. Choose precise, concise words to maximize impact and avoid bloated language.
Select a ten-dollar word from the word bank, research its meaning and pronunciation, then record a three-minute soliloquy with it, and listen to assess your sentence construction and word choice.
Communication Keys Template (make a "copy" and it should be editable): https://docs.google.com/document/d/11EzfBHHWGI_Rm9gs9J2x2aE5HnTE762anhZTPw4Wn90/edit?usp=sharing
Communication Keys Template (make a "copy" and it should be editable): https://docs.google.com/document/d/11EzfBHHWGI_Rm9gs9J2x2aE5HnTE762anhZTPw4Wn90/edit?usp=sharing
Eliminate empty language to speak with precision and impact. Prune intensifiers, buffers, qualifiers, and redundancies by using stronger words or deliberate pauses.
Communication Keys Template (make a "copy" and it should be editable): https://docs.google.com/document/d/11EzfBHHWGI_Rm9gs9J2x2aE5HnTE762anhZTPw4Wn90/edit?usp=sharing
Free Word Cloud Generator: https://www.freewordcloudgenerator.com/
SpeechTexter: https://www.speechtexter.com/
Unlock buried words by slowing speech and giving time to index your surface lexicon; rehearse new terms aloud and practice using them in mock conversations.
Learn to expand your vocabulary by studying eloquent speakers, recording new words, and adding them to your communication keys for practical usage in daily speech.
Master shape-shifting to sharpen your speech by reshaping word pairs, using anaphora and epiphora for rhythm, and deploying triads to make your words more articulate and memorable.
Explore litotes, alliteration, and substituting about with of to elevate speech, making it more poetic, intelligent, and engaging while clarifying meaning and tone.
Discover figurative language through similes, metaphors, idioms, and hyperbole to create vivid imagery. Learn a four-step process to generate your own figures of speech.
Select 3–5 new forms of figurative speech aligned with your personality and add a $100 word from the word bank to your communication keys, then practice using it today.
Develop clear, engaging speech by mastering rate, pronunciation, and flow; learn deliberate pauses, precise articulation, and strategies to reduce buffer words and word blur.
This course has one simple goal: elevate the way you speak to be more articulate so that people want to listen to what you have to say. Our society is facing an epidemic of poor communication skills. Our vocabulary is vague and sloppy, our conversations littered with “ums”, “you knows”, and “I feel likes” and our thoughts are predictable. We speak the same set of 1000 words and can't break out of our stale word cycle into the realm of verbal freshness or originality!
Yet even with our language deficiencies we still deeply reverence for power of words. Why are motivational speeches among the most sought out YouTube videos? Why does our culture become so captivated with those individuals who are able to make sense of the unfocused ideas and disorder that occupies our minds? Why do we find quotes on every social media grid, in every garden, in every garage? Because we understand words to have power. And the people who can harness this power to articulately express themselves typically attain better satisfaction and opportunities in their personal, professional, and intellectual lives.
That’s why I created BetterSpeak (now hosted here on Udemy!). I believe a better world is possible where people embrace language as the superpower that it is. To be clear, this is not a public speaking course. I’m not teaching how to eradicate nervousness, eliminate your accent, develop charisma, control body language, or master conversation. Rather, you will learn to upgrade your vocabulary, prune filler words and empty language, diagnose sources of poor language in your life, speak more figuratively and poetically, and see how history's greatest orators have employed these same techniques.
I hope you would consider joining me in learning the art of articulate communication. To the adventures ahead!