Professional Communications Courses

Learn how to write compelling copy for advertising and marketing communications! 

In this five-week Intro to Copywriting course, you’ll learn the basics of how to capture and keep your readers' attention with well-written emails, webpages, sales pages, blogs, social media platforms and more. Fine tune your writing skills and learn how to edit and proofread your work. Crafting messages for your organization or your own business requires confidence, technique, and hitting just the right tone. 

This course is perfect for marketing professionals, freelance writers or small business owners who need to develop their copywriting basics. In this virtual course taught by former journalist and communications specialist Beth Johnston, you will learn through short weekly videos and then have the opportunity to complete short assignments based on the course content. You’ll receive feedback on your work and can drop into virtual open office hours each week to have all of your writing questions answered.

Upon successful completion of the course material and all assignments, submitted on time to your facilitator, you will receive a digital badge and will have the beginnings of a portfolio of your work. 

Cost: $599 including tax

Delivery: this course is virtual and can be completed independently on your own time, over 5 sessions and course material will be released weekly each Wednesday

Assessment: you are expected to complete all assignments for this course by their due date and although you will not receive a formal grade, the digital badge is awarded only to those who complete the material and assignments

Technical Requirements: you will need a computer with Google Chrome and have access to the internet to access course materials and submit assignments

Schedule: October 1–29, 2021 (the week’s content, recordings and assignment will be added to Moodle each Wednesday)

Virtual Office Hours: Will be held online weekly and students are welcome to drop in to ask questions. Details will be updated soon.

Facilitator: Beth Johnston

Learn how to write for the twenty-first century workplace. In this five-week Intro to Workplace Writing course, you’ll learn tools and techniques for professional communication. As we navigate work in a digital age, with many operating in a work-from-home culture, you’ll learn updated strategies for enhancing communication. Learn new team communication tools such as Slack, Asana, and Google Docs. Ensuring your message is heard and understood is critical for a smooth workflow. Take your emails into the digital age and learn updated email etiquette strategies—what was acceptable ten years ago no longer is! Learn how to craft a message for an external audience vs an internal one, and employ effective content creation tools such as content calendars and style guides. Brush up on some basic grammar, learn how to recognize your own bias when crafting messages, and educate yourself with inclusive language best practises. Professional writer and editor Christine Gordon Manley will guide you through workplace communication 2.0 through weekly videos, short assignments, and virtual office hours. 

Upon successful completion of the course material and all assignments, submitted on time to your facilitator, you will receive a digital badge and will have the beginnings of a portfolio of your work. 

Cost: $599 including tax

Delivery: this course is virtual and can be completed independently on your own time, over 5 sessions and course material will be released weekly each Monday

Assessment: you are expected to complete all assignments for this course by their due date and although you will not receive a formal grade, the digital badge is awarded only to those who complete the material and assignments

Technical Requirements: you will need a computer with Google Chrome and have access to the internet to access course materials and submit assignments

Schedule: October 18–November 15, 2021 (the week’s content, recordings and assignment will be added to Moodle each Monday)

Virtual Office Hours: Will be held online weekly and students are welcome to drop in to ask questions. Details will be updated soon.

Facilitator: Christine Gordon Manley

Want to write with more confidence, precision, and clarity? The online Grammar Refresher Course is designed to help you improve your written communication skills. Whatever your profession or your career goals, this course will provide practical know-how to help you recognize common writing errors – and correct them.

This online course is set up to accommodate your busy schedule and will be offered over five weeks via a series of interactive videos and synchronous meetings with the instructor. Various practice exercises will also help you to sharpen key writing skills, including how to correct issues with subject-verb agreement and parallelism; use modifiers and modifying clauses accurately; watch for wordiness and diction (word choice) problems; and punctuate properly. You’ll also learn tips and tricks for editing your work.

Upon successful completion of the course material and all assignments, submitted on time to your facilitator, you will receive a digital badge and will have the beginnings of a portfolio of your work. 

Cost: $599 including tax

Delivery: this course is virtual and can be completed independently on your own time, over 5 sessions and course material will be released weekly each Monday

Assessment: you are expected to complete all assignments for this course by their due date and although you will not receive a formal grade, the digital badge is awarded only to those who complete the material and assignments

Technical Requirements: you will need a computer with Google Chrome and have access to the internet to access course materials and submit assignments

Schedule: January 17–February 14, 2022 (the week’s content, recordings and assignment will be added to Moodle each Monday)

Virtual Office Hours: Will be held online weekly and students are welcome to drop in to ask questions. Details will be updated soon.

Facilitator: Jane Affleck

You are required to make presentations for work, volunteer organizations, or for special occasions, but you may lack any public speaking experience, or consider yourself a beginner. You are not alone. Many people feel ill-prepared or are afraid to speak in public. This course will teach you all the fundamentals of public speaking and how to cope with your fears. It will cover a number of topics to start you on your own journey to become a more skilled public speaker. Knowledge is power and practice makes perfect.

During this course, participants will learn through a combination of lectures and exercises how to prepare both mentally and physically to make a presentation that is engaging, interesting, and memorable.

In this course, participants will:

• Review the different forms of public speaking;
• Learn why public speaking skills are important;
• Explore the causes of public speaking fears;
• Learn techniques to overcome fears of public speaking;
• Learn formal and informal presentation formats;
• Discuss audience behaviour and non-verbal communication.

This course is ideal for:

• Anyone who needs to engage in public speaking, but lacks the confidence to do so.

Upon successful completion of the course material and any assignments, submitted on time to your facilitator, you will receive a digital badge.

Cost:  $720 including tax

Delivery: this course will take place in person on campus at UPEI

Schedule: January 13–14, 2022 

Assessment: you are expected to complete any assignments for this course and although you will not receive a formal grade, the digital badge is awarded only to those who complete the material and assignments

Facilitator: Marla Haines