Program Overview

Centre for Continuing Education

The Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Sydney offers a diverse range of professional development short courses. These courses are designed to enhance career prospects and provide opportunities for personal growth.

Course Subjects

The Centre offers courses in various subjects, including:

• Business and management
  • Business communication
  • Business strategy
  • Business writing
  • Cultural competence and diversity
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Organisational psychology
  • Sales and customer service
• English
• HSC preparation (years 10-12)
  • HSC biology
  • HSC business studies
  • HSC chemistry
  • HSC economics
  • HSC English
  • HSC mathematics
  • HSC physics
  • Year 11 (Revision)
  • Years 10-12 study and essay skills
• Humanities and culture
  • Creative writing
  • Music
  • Philosophy
  • Psychology
• Information technology
  • Adobe
  • AI and machine learning courses
  • Data analysis and analytics
  • Google
  • Microsoft
• Language
  • Arabic
  • Brazilian Portuguese
  • Chinese
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Spanish
• Marketing
  • Digital marketing
  • Marketing communications
  • Product development
• Project management
  • Agile methodology courses
  • Change management for projects
  • Stakeholder and people management
  • Technical project management skills

Presentation Skills Course

The Presentation Skills Course is designed to improve participants' ability to present confidently and effectively. The course covers techniques for structuring presentations, handling nerves, and delivering impactful content.

Course Details

• Duration: 1 session, 8 hours total
• Next date: 5 December 2025
• Location: Face-to-face (CCE Building, Newtown)
• Cost: A$740.00 - A$750.00

Course Outcomes

By the end of this course, participants should be able to:

• Improve their skill in handling presentation fears
• Utilise techniques in understanding their audience and in forming the key message they want the audience to retain and/or act upon
• Appropriately choose presentation content
• Structure a presentation
• Use a variety of methods to open a presentation, connect with an audience, and close powerfully
• Look and sound confident, and be perceived as articulate
• Better handle Q&A
• Identify the key idea/technique(s) they need to develop after the course to reinforce their new learning

Course Content

The course covers the following topics:

• How to handle presentation fears and nerves
• The Open-Middle-Close structure to use for any presentation
• How to understand the audience and choose content
• How to use audience understanding to form key messages
• How to structure presentations
• How to open and connect with an audience, and close powerfully
• How to look and sound confident
• How to handle Q&A
• When and how to use, and not use, PowerPoint

Organisational Training

The Centre also offers organisational training and development, designed for workplace needs. Courses can be tailored to meet the specific requirements of organisations.

Related Courses

Related courses offered by the Centre include:

• Business Storytelling Course: Presenting and Communicating with Impact
• Business Writing Essentials Course: From Core Skills to AI Tools
• Communication Strategies Course for Becoming an Inspiring Leader
• Digital Presentation Skills Course for Professionals
• Listen and Speak Under Pressure Course
• Media Release Writing Course: Write and Promote a Press Release

Meet the Facilitators

The Centre's facilitators are experienced professionals in their fields. For example, Michael Kelly is a highly experienced personal communication speaker and trainer who has been coaching and training leaders for over 20 years.

What Others Say

Participants have praised the Centre's courses, citing the expertise of the facilitators and the practical skills they have gained. For example, one participant noted that the presenter was a great teacher who made them feel comfortable while gently encouraging them to push their limits. NA