General Information
“Best course ever …. I learned so much”
“Most valuable course I’ve taken at Rotman. Every student should take this course.”
“Great course, great delivery and overall great experience. Wish there was a higher ranking I could give.”
Instructor Bio
In 2022, the graduating MBA class voted Dan Richards as Best Professor. Before teaching at Rotman, Dan built and sold start-ups to Environics Research and to Rogers Communication, In 2002, he was recruited to become CEO of a public company that was struggling after acquiring five investment distribution firms; he led a team that stabilized the situation leading to a successful sale two years later.
Dan‘s columns have appeared in Harvard Business Review and the Globe and Mail Report on Business and he is a regular guest on Business News Network. Dan holds an undergraduate degree in economics from McGill University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has been a member of Rotman’s marketing faculty since 1992 and has consistently won teaching awards based on student ratings of his courses.
Target Audience
Students who want to improve their networking and written and verbal communication skills.
Format
May 21 – July 23, 2024; exam on July 30, 2024
Tuesdays from 6:30pm – 9:00pm
10 two and a half hour classes
- Short videos before classes will deliver content
- Classes will feature lectures, small group exercises and role plays
- Each student will get feedback on a 90 second video each week
- Students will be expected to meet each week with a small group
- Students will be expected to submit a short weekly journal
Course Mission
Doing great work and having terrific ideas are of little value if you can’t sell that work and don’t get buy-in to your ideas. As a result of this course, you’ll:
- Learn to communicate more effectively, by each week receiving weekly feedback on a short video
- Write emails and reports that get action, by implementing best practices for written communication
- Expand your network and become more comfortable networking, by each week practicing how you communicate with potential contacts
- Improve work and personal relationships by adopting leading edge research on relationship building strategies
- Develop your skills at persuasion, by learning about research into the principles of effective persuasion.
- Build new habits to incorporate the insights from each class into your daily routine by setting weekly goals on building high payoff new routines.
Student Comments
“Very practical knowledge every MBA should have”
“A great choice for international students to work on communication skills. Lets you make mistakes and get feedback without worrying about getting judged.”
“Fantastic course – really helped my confidence when presenting”
“Loved the chance to learn from videos of CEOs being interviewed”
“Very relevant as we move into the workforce”
“Practical lessons on dealing with real world challenges of communicating”
“This course changed me in many ways. Now I regularly reach out to friends and contacts. I pay so much attention to active listening. I keep reminding myself to accept feedback instead of arguing. I have applied presentation skills I learned to all my other courses and in the real work.”
“Incredibly valuable – taught me soft skills that are critical to my MBA ”
“The class concepts are very applicable in real life. The professor provided a lot of feedback and the real-life examples and research were very effective”
“Amazing course! Really helped with my personal development goals.
“Great course for any business professional. More useful in real life than any other class.”
“A fantastic course that should be mandatory for all students. The course teaches so many important life skills that are helpful in our personal lives as well as careers.”
“One to One Marketing helped me ace multiple interviews, cumulating in three job offers, despite the choppy job market. It helped me become a more confident and articulate communicator, whether presenting a PowerPoint or in written form. This course also helped me to examine the way I went about networking and helped me build meaningful relationships.”
“This class helped me in countless ways. I used the principles to build my network (both old and new). Not only has it been rewarding on a personal level, but I’ve also gained job offers! I use my impact checklist daily, and I’ve become much more confident as a speaker. I credit so much of this recent success to the course teachings and valuable feedback. The course should be required for all students!”
| Student Comments | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Overall, I learned a lot from this course” | 4.0 | 5.0 | 6.48 | 6.40 | 6.29 | 6.52 |
| “The course was relevant to real-world problems” | N/A | N/A | 6.76 | 6.76 | 6.81 | 6.74 |
Evaluation and Grade Breakdown
| Component | Due Date | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly Takeaways – Individual | Ongoing, In Class | 10% |
| Weekly Journal – Individual | Ongoing, Before Class | 10% |
| Weekly Quiz – Individual | Ongoing, In Class | |
| Videos – Individual | TBD, Before Class | 20% |
| Group Project | TBD | 30% |
| Final Exam | July 30, In Class | 30% |