Testimonials

The skills learned in Arts of Communication are highly transferrable to any job or daily life circumstance involving communication, and I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to experience the course.

Jack Friend, Fletcher Student

The Arts of Communication panel proved to be dynamic and thought-provoking, as we heard from our guests immediately at the closing reception, and continue to receive positive feedback. You are the very reason the Fletcher School’s reputation and quality abounds, and we are grateful to have you as part of our community.

Leanna Kakambouras and the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at Tufts University

Public Speaking (Confidence)

I now have the confidence to take pauses, look around at the audience, and not feel rushed. 

James Larson, Fletcher Student

One of my key priorities laid out in the first week of the course was to become more comfortable as a public speaker in a wide range of situations so that I could bring my full self to the conversation and not allow nerves to get between me and the audience. I feel that the past few months in Arts of Communication have enabled me to practice these skills and far exceed my expectations.

Andrew Abrams, Fletcher Student

In my first self evaluation in January I wrote that my weaknesses included my nervousness and insecurity when it comes to sharing personal stories. With my value speech, I was able to share something that is dear to my heart with everybody and feel very proud about that. This class helped me tremendously in becoming a more confident public speaker and gave me the opportunity to get insightful feedback from the professor, TAs, and fellow classmates.

Maria Beatrice Montesi, Fletcher Student

I’m not a person who is eager to speak up, so I’m more used to be a listener than a speaker. This class “forced” (in a good way) everyone to speak and did make me feel more comfortable after several speeches. Before taking the class, I usually ignore audiences when giving a speech or presentation, and only focus on how many facts and reasoning I can provide, look at somewhere that less distracting than the audience. Now, I find making eye contact with the audience before and during speaking actually helps me relax.

Tingting Wang, Fletcher Student 

During my impromptu speech, I was surprised to hear that I had evaluated myself as 4 out of 10 in public speaking. Thinking back, I believe this number is largely driven by my lack of self-confidence in public speaking. Taking this course has been enormously helpful in understanding my style and my strengths and weaknesses as public speaker. If I can re-evaluate myself, I would give myself 7.8 out of 10 in public speaking.

Eun Gi Chung, Fletcher Student

Before taking this class, my speeches were ineffective because I was crafting speech without any technique. I’m glad to say I will now be able to deliver my message more efficiently and effectively in the future.

Jun Tsutsui, Fletcher Student

The class offered tremendous exposure in terms of style, prose, and technique in making speeches.

Aahan Bhojani, Fletcher Student

I feel that I've certainly progressed in my ability to tell a story, and write to be heard.

Andrea Goldstein, Fletcher Student

Speech Craft

Impromptu speaking 

Storytelling (Connecting with the audience)

Listening 

Introspection