Upcoming Sessions
  • Online
    Session Date
    -
    Application Deadline
    Program Fee
    $4,800
    Faculty Chair
    Program Director

    Executive Certificate: This program is a core program in the Public Leadership concentration. This program can also be used as a third program for any concentration in the Executive Certificate series.

Program Overview

To make the changes you want to see in your life and in the world, you must persuade key decision-makers to act on your ideas. Identifying those stakeholders, forging a genuine connection, and delivering a message with clarity and impact are central to this process.

Persuasive Communication: Narrative, Evidence, and Impact, our two-week online program from Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education, empowers you to develop and refine essential skills—writing, speaking, and presenting—through an engaging forum enriched by peer feedback. This immersive persuasive communication training leverages persuasion theory to boost your ability to craft compelling messages.

In addition, Faculty Chair Lauren Brodsky will help you understand communications within the context of a broader policy landscape. What’s the most strategic way to approach a situation? How can communications play a role in achieving your goals? Join us to learn the answers to these and other key questions.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM

curriculumBefore Persuasive Communication: Narrative, Evidence, and Impact begins, you’ll participate in a one-hour onboarding session. Pre-session readings and videos will also be provided so that you can enter the program fully prepared.
 

Over two weeks, expect to invest around 12 hours per week, divided among live faculty sessions, persuasion training activities, and group assignments. This hands-on curriculum integrates practical exercises in data visualization, evidence-based argumentation, and business persuasion training methods—ensuring you gain the confidence and techniques to deliver concise, high-impact communications in a variety of contexts.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

In Persuasive Communication: Narrative, Evidence, and Impact, you will:

  • Engage in a curriculum that blends knowledge acquisition with direct persuasive communication training
  • Write and receive expert feedback on your opinion piece to refine your persuasive communication skill
  • Create and deliver a short presentation, harnessing business persuasion training strategies
  • Elevate your use of data, applying persuasion theory to enhance credibility and clarity
  • Strengthen data visualization techniques to communicate evidence effectively
  • Build robust arguments that resonate with decision-makers
  • Examine the media’s influence on policymaking and learn to position your narrative for maximum effect

Application Information

View the draft program schedule. Note that module titles, speakers, and sequence may change.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING

“The Persuasive Communication program opened my eyes to an array of approaches I’d never considered. I found myself simultaneously stimulated and inspired, eager to apply what I had learned to solving my organization’s communications challenges.”
Victor Lambert, Senior Communications Advisor, U.S. Department of Housing
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Hear From the Faculty Chair

Learn more about Persuasive Communication: Narrative, Evidence, and Impact  from Faculty Chair Lauren Brodsky, Lecturer in Public Policy.

Faculty

Lauren Brodsky Photo

Lauren Brodsky

Appointment
Lecturer in Public Policy

Austin Bogues Photo

Austin Bogues

Appointment
Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

Alex Green Photo

Alex Green

Appointment
Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

Jon Haber Photo

Jon Haber

Appointment
Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

Hong Qu Photo

Hong Qu

Appointment
Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

Eric Rosenbach Photo

Eric Rosenbach

Appointment
Senior Lecturer in Public Policy

Jeffrey Seglin Photo

Jeffrey Seglin

Appointment
Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Emeritus

Allison Shapira Photo

Allison Shapira

Appointment
Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

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