The Business Communication Programme

Attention is the most valuable currency in today’s dynamic and fast business environment. How can you clearly communicate complex ideas and project plans? How can you generate interest and captivate your audience? The answer lies in "Visual Thinking", a growing trend that originates from Silicon Valley and the Stanford D-School: practitioners as well as researchers have realised that the more complex, dynamic and electronic the business environment becomes, the more important it is to be able to master such complexity via visualisation in meetings, presentations and discussions.

This is the first public online course offered by the top-tier business school, the WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management. The Economist places WHU's MBA programme at #6 in the world and the Financial Times calls it the #1 MBA and Masters in Management programme in Germany. The regular course is one of the highest student-rated courses in the WHU MBA programme. The course is taught by the award-winning Prof. Dr. Christoph Hienerth, the Chair of the Entrepreneurship and New Business Development at WHU.

What is included in this course?

By enrolling in this course, you will gain access to:
• All Course Material
• Challenging & Fun Assignments
• Interactive Global Community
• Flexible Time Management

Upon completion of this course, you will receive :
• A Statement of Participation

In addition, this course offers flexible time management. With a workload of 12-16 hours, the suggested course length is about 4 weeks. If you can’t spare 3-4 hours a week or would rather finish the course faster, you can do so as well. Take as little or as much time as you need and complete the course at your own pace.

Want to discover the online learning experience?

Do you get nervous before presentations? Do you want to learn how to convince your audience of your ideas and arguments? When communicating ideas to others, you have to be persuasive and confident and it is important that you understand your audience and can adapt to the situation. Speeches and presentations in the business world are no different.

Your career depends on you being able to positively present yourself, whether in a meeting or at a conference. However, public speaking doesn't have to be scary, it can even be fun and you can excel at it by applying the right skills and techniques.

In five weeks, you will:

• Understand how to convince different audiences

• Discover your communication style

• Know how to structure clear and concise presentations

• Deliver those presentations professionally and persuasively with real confidence



We will analyse famous speeches, those of politicians and entrepreneurs, to identify their successful approaches as well as weak spots, incorporating these learnings in our own presentations in an interactive and fun way.

Experienced coach and lecturer, Alexandra Maratchi (Homuork CEO) will lead the course, guiding you through a variety of techniques to help prepare, structure, rehearse and deliver a great speech. Presentation Skills for Business is a course developed by Homuork in collaboration with professor Joan Francesc Cánovas from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona and other international Public Speaking experts who share their research and insider tips, illustrate effective techniques and ensure you get a well-rounded view of the success factors in public speaking.

What will I learn in this course?

The course enables you to learn the essential skills to enhance their presentations and become confident and persuasive while presenting. In addition to taking the course and exchanging with peers, you will develop an understanding of different communication styles and subsequently apply them to daily conversations.

Who should take this course?

There is always scope to become a better public speaker. The course learnings can be applied to many expertise levels and sectors, eg:



Team Leads and Managers

Entrepreneurs and coaches

Entry-level employees



Learn how to:

• read and respond to your colleagues

• communicate more effectively in a team

• deliver better presentations in meetings

• become a better speaker at public events and conferences

What is included in this course?

By enrolling in this course, you will gain access to:

• All Course Material

• Challenging & Fun Assignments

• Interactive Global Community

• Flexible Time Management

• German & English subtitles



Upon completion of this course, you will receive:

• A Statement of Participation

In addition, this course is self-paced, which means that it offers flexible time management. With a workload of 12-16 hours, the suggested course length is about 5 weeks. If you can’t spare 2-3 hours a week or would rather finish the course faster, you can do so as well. Take as little or as much time as you need and complete the course at your own pace.

Want to discover the online learning experience?

Are you under pressure to reach better results with your digital marketing? Do you sometimes struggle to measure the impact of your digital marketing activities? Do you have a hard time keeping up with the rapid changes in the field?

No wonder. Digital marketing has never offered more opportunities to engage with customers and sell products & services - but at the same time, it has never been more complex.

By interviewing leading experts and explaining key concepts, we unlock the critical factors that make digital marketing communication successful - independent of specific strategies and channels.

Our guidelines will help you to cut through complexity and structure your activities. We will focus on the crucial elements in each discipline and give you useful tips for your daily marketing efforts.

Join this course to take your knowledge to the next level with the skills that underpin every effective digital marketing strategy in today’s complex marketing reality.

What is included in this course?

By enrolling in this course, you will gain access to:

• All Course Material
• Challenging & Fun Assignments
• Interactive Global Community
• Flexible Time Management

Upon completion of this course, you will receive:

• A Statement of Participation

In addition, this course offers flexible time management. With a workload of 12-16 hours, the suggested course length is about 4 weeks. If you can’t spare 3-4 hours a week or would rather finish the course faster, you can do so as well. Take as little or as much time as you need and complete the course at your own pace.

Hätten Sie gern ein offizielles Dokument, mit dem Sie Ihr erlerntes Wissen verifizieren können? Möchten Sie es an Ihre Wand hängen oder Ihrem Chef und zukünftigen Arbeitgebern zeigen? Sobald Sie den erforderlichen Lernfortschritt im Kurs erreicht haben, können Sie ein Teilnahmezertifikat erhalten. Darunter fällt die Bearbeitung der Video- und Textlektionen, Quizzes und Aufgaben. Das Teilnahmezertifikat ist ein offizielles Dokument, das Ihre aktive Teilnahme am Kurs bestätigt. Es enthält Ihren Namen, den Namen des Lehrenden sowie eine Beschreibung des Kurses.

Here you can find further information on the final project and the programme community accessible through the Business Communication Programme. In this programme iversity brought together the best institutions and instructors to teach you the required skills in the field: The Business Communication Programme combines a unique curriculum from both top institutions in academia and the industry, with flexible online learning. You can master communication in words, visuals, data and marketing at your own pace with a community of professionals worldwide. In the following, you can learn more about how to successfully complete the Business Communication Programme and how to join the programme community.

Participate in the programme community

Sharing your questions, ideas and feedback with others is an important part of the online learning experience at iversity. Connect with like-minded professionals interested in advancing their career. Share your progress in your learning journal, get feedback from other learners, and compare notes for courses.
We encourage you to ask all questions concerning the Programme in the forum. If other learners aren't able to help you, our support team is happy to answer any additional questions you may have.

Hand in your final project

Your final project will give you the opportunity to put your newly acquired skills and knowledge into practice. You will be able to show what you have learned in the Programme and develop a project that shows your individual progress. This way you will have something tangible to take away from the Programme - for yourself and to share with future employers.

What is required for my final project?

Your final project will consist of a video presentation. To complete your final project you will be required to:

• Complete Module 1: "Visual Thinking for Business" and "Presentation Skills for Business"
• Develop a topic for your project based on one course of your choice from Module 2: "Digital Marketing Leadership" or "Predictive Analytics in Commerce"
• Create a video presentation about your chosen topic. This presentation is supposed to prove your skills in three areas:

1. Visual Thinking: Visual elements need to be an integral part of your presentation. Include visuals that support the content of your presentation and show your visual thinking skills.
2. Presentation Skills: By filming yourself, you will be able to show your presentation skills. Make sure you are clearly visible during the presentation and that your voice, posture and gestures fit your message.
3. Chosen Course: Base your presentation on your chosen chose. Your presentation should focus on a topic in that area to show the expertise you acquired by taking the course.

How do I hand in my final project?

Record a video presentation about your chosen topic that shows the visual elements as well as the presentation skills you have developed. If you are satisfied with your project, simply upload it to the platform. Please don't forget to add a title and a short description including which course your presentation will be about. More detailed information about the process will be given closer to when the upload will be available.

When do I have to hand in my final project?

We recommend that you complete all courses before working on your final project. However, you can get started as soon as you are taking your third course. You can hand in your final project starting in May 2016. There will be two evaluation rounds: The first will be in July, the second will be in December. You can hand in your project any time until 30 November 2016 and it will be automatically submitted to either evaluation round.

Who is evaluating my final project?

Your final project will be evaluated by an expert in your chosen field according to previously announced criteria. The evaluation will include a written assessment of your work. You will be able to access it in the form of a comment below the journal entry you used to upload your final project. Your comment will be visible to you as soon as the evaluation round is over.

Receive your certificate

To receive your certificate, all you need to do is hand in your final project. To get a maximum out of your learning experience, we recommend that you complete all available courses. However, the only requirements for receiving your certificate are:

• An 80% completion rate of all three courses necessary for your project.
• Handing in your final project and successfully passing the evaluation.

If you fulfilled both requirements, you will receive your certificate as soon as the evaluation round of the final project is over. Your certificate will display:

• Your curriculum, including the completion rate of your courses. The more you learn, the more will be displayed.
• Your final project in the form of the title and a short description of your project as well as a hyperlink to the video presentation and, if you wish, the corresponding assessment from the evaluating expert.