Communication and instruction
Help faculty, staff, and campus leaders organize complex ideas, communicate expertise clearly, engage audiences, and prepare more effective presentations.
Professional Development for Colleges
Practical workshops built around what your institution needs.
The Speaking Guild connects colleges and educational institutions with experienced facilitators for outcome-focused professional development in communication, leadership, wellbeing, student engagement, and career readiness.
Bring us the challenge. We will help identify the right program, facilitator, format, and scope for your audience.
Live virtual programs are available nationwide, with regional in-person and customized institutional engagements also available.
Start With the Outcome
You do not need to begin with a workshop title.
You may be trying to help faculty communicate complex material more clearly, prepare emerging leaders, strengthen a team under pressure, address burnout, or create a greater sense of belonging among students.
The Speaking Guild serves as a single institutional point of contact. We listen to the outcome you are trying to achieve, recommend an appropriate facilitator and program, and coordinate the practical details required to move the engagement forward.
- Program and facilitator selection
- Scope and learning-objective development
- Virtual or in-person delivery planning
- Audience and institutional customization
- Contracting and scheduling
- Participant resources and documentation
Areas of Support
Professional development for the work colleges do every day.
Leadership and team culture
Develop clearer leadership communication, stronger alignment, authentic leadership practices, and healthier approaches to adversity and organizational change.
Wellbeing and difficult conversations
Equip professionals to recognize burnout, navigate grief and uncertainty, respond to emotional strain, and communicate more effectively during difficult moments.
Student success, belonging, and cultural engagement
Support student voice, identity, community participation, cultural leadership, and the relationships that contribute to a more connected campus.
Career readiness and emerging leadership
Prepare students and early-career professionals to communicate with confidence, learn from failure, navigate professional environments, and contribute as emerging leaders.
Featured Programs
A focused portfolio with room for customization.
These programs represent starting points for institutional conversations. Final learning objectives, examples, exercises, timing, and participant resources are developed around the selected audience and engagement.
Jeremy Ross
Speaking Fundamentals for Faculty and Staff
A practical workshop for professionals who need to explain ideas, lead discussions, present information, or speak on behalf of their institution.
Best suited for: Faculty and staff development, centers for teaching and learning, department retreats, and emerging presenters.
90-minute virtual workshop · Three-hour applied workshop · Customized series
Jeremy Ross
Leadership Communication: Clarity, Credibility and Alignment
Apply the Guild’s communication frameworks to clarify expectations, organize important messages, support claims, and create greater alignment across teams.
Best suited for: Department chairs, administrators, supervisors, program leaders, and cross-functional teams.
90-minute primer · Three-hour workshop · Full-day intensive · Series
Dr. Travis Fox
Performance Under Pressure for Educational Teams
A high-engagement program examining how people communicate, make decisions, recover, and maintain alignment when pressure rises.
Best suited for: Leadership teams, campus safety, first-responder education, athletics, and high-pressure operations.
Keynote-workshop · Applied workshop · Leadership intensive
Meet Dr. Fox →Dr. Korie Leigh
Preventing Burnout and Navigating Difficult Conversations
A grief-informed approach to recognizing emotional strain, communicating through difficult circumstances, and supporting people without adding to professional exhaustion.
Best suited for: Faculty and staff, student affairs, healthcare education, support teams, HR, and campus leadership.
Virtual workshop · Three-hour workshop · Full-day training · Series
Meet Dr. Leigh →Jack O’Neil
Authentic Leadership for Emerging Professionals
An applied program exploring authenticity, adversity, failure, responsibility, and the transition from individual achievement to leadership.
Best suited for: Student leadership, honors programs, athletics, career services, internships, and early-career development.
Keynote-workshop · Leadership session · Student retreat · Series
Meet Jack →Isaac B. Netters
Cultural Leadership, Belonging and Student Voice
A facilitated exploration of identity, culture, student voice, creative expression, and the ways communities create meaningful belonging.
Best suited for: Student affairs, cultural centers, leadership programs, student organizations, orientation, and community initiatives.
Interactive presentation · Writing workshop · Facilitated discussion
Meet Isaac →Mark Christopher Lawrence
Storytelling and Presence: Making Ideas Memorable
A lively exploration of how story, timing, humor, presence, and responsiveness can make communication more engaging and memorable.
Best suited for: Faculty and staff, student presenters, creative programs, leadership events, and public-facing professionals.
Interactive presentation · Applied workshop · Keynote-workshop
Meet Mark →Andrew Lock
Making Complex Ideas Simple and Engaging
A practical program for turning complicated information into explanations, stories, and learning experiences that people can understand and remember.
Best suited for: Faculty, continuing education, workforce development, program leaders, trainers, and technical presenters.
Virtual training · Breakout · Half-day workshop · Full-day training
Meet Andrew →How It Works
From initial need to completed program.
- 01
Tell us what needs to change
Describe the audience, challenge, timeframe, and result you would like the program to support.
- 02
We recommend a program and facilitator
The Guild reviews the need and recommends an appropriate facilitator, format, and preliminary scope.
- 03
We define the engagement
Together, we confirm objectives, delivery, timing, context, documentation, and contracting requirements.
- 04
The facilitator delivers the program
Live instruction may be supported by discussion, exercises, participant materials, and institutional examples.
- 05
We document and review
Depending on the engagement, we can provide attendance documentation, evaluation, a completion certificate, and a post-program summary.
Flexible Delivery
Designed for institutional schedules and budgets.
Virtual delivery allows institutions to engage experienced facilitators without adding travel expenses. In-person availability depends on facilitator location, schedule, scope, and travel requirements.
Most engagements benefit from four to eight weeks of planning. Shorter lead times may be possible for established virtual programs.
Available formats
- 60–90-minute live virtual workshops
- Three-hour applied workshops
- Full-day intensives
- Multi-session development series
- Regional in-person programs
- Department, campus, or system-wide engagements
- Customized institutional programs
Institutional Support
Practical support before, during, and after the workshop.
Depending on program scope, an engagement can include:
- An institutional planning call
- Clearly stated learning objectives
- A timed workshop agenda
- Institution-specific examples
- Live virtual or in-person instruction
- Applied exercises and discussion
- A digital participant resource
- Participant questions
- Attendance documentation
- Participant evaluation
- An optional completion certificate
- An optional post-program summary
Not every engagement requires every component. Deliverables are confirmed during the planning process.
Two Program Approaches
One consistent institutional process.
Guild Curriculum Workshops
Communication programs led by Jeremy Ross may draw from The Speaking Guild’s original Framework Library: The Clarity Contract™, Speech Architecture, Audience Gravity™, Authority Transfer™, and Delivery Navigation™.
These frameworks support communication, presentation development, instructional clarity, and leadership communication.
Explore Guild Frameworks →Expert-Led Development Workshops
Expert-led programs are built around each facilitator’s genuine professional knowledge and existing body of work. The Guild helps translate that expertise into a well-scoped institutional engagement without forcing every facilitator into a generic curriculum.
Across both approaches, institutions receive a defined scope, coordinated delivery, and agreed-upon supporting materials.
Explore Guild Resources →Experience in Context
Practical development informed by real settings.
The Speaking Guild combines communication frameworks, speaker representation, program development, and experienced practitioners from education, healthcare, athletics, entertainment, leadership, and organizational development.
Jeremy Ross recently developed a two-week online communication program for an English-language school in Spain as the school expanded its services. Dr. Travis Fox and Dr. Korie Leigh bring established workshop experience from high-pressure professional, school, healthcare, and organizational environments. Other programs apply each facilitator’s documented professional experience to a new college context.
Featured concepts are finalized in collaboration with the institution and selected facilitator after the engagement is scoped.
Professional-Development Documentation
Clear records, subject to institutional approval.
Documentation of professional-development or contact hours can be provided, subject to the institution’s own approval requirements.
The Speaking Guild does not award accredited CEUs or guarantee that a program will satisfy a particular licensing, certification, or continuing-education requirement. Institutions remain responsible for approving programs under their own policies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Useful details for early planning.
Are these accredited continuing-education programs?
No. The Guild provides professional-development workshops and, when agreed, participant resources, attendance records, and completion certificates. Documentation remains subject to the institution’s approval requirements.
Can you customize a program for our college?
Yes. Programs can be adapted to a department, audience, institutional context, or desired outcome. The extent of customization depends on format, lead time, and scope.
Do we have to choose a workshop before contacting you?
No. You can begin with a challenge or desired outcome. The Guild will recommend an appropriate program, facilitator, and format.
Are programs available virtually?
Yes. Live virtual delivery is available nationwide and is often the most economical option. Regional and other in-person engagements may also be arranged.
How much planning time should we allow?
Allow at least four weeks for a 60–90-minute workshop, four to six weeks for a three-hour program, and six to eight weeks for a full-day intensive or series. Availability and customization may affect the timeline.
What does a program cost?
Investment depends on facilitator, format, duration, customization, audience size, travel, and deliverables. Sharing an approximate budget allows us to recommend realistic options.
Can you provide a certificate?
An optional completion certificate can be provided when appropriate. It documents participation but does not represent accredited continuing-education credit.
Can several departments participate together?
Yes. Programs can serve one department, a cross-campus audience, or a college system. We can help determine whether a shared program or targeted series is the better fit.
Begin With the Need
Tell us what your team needs.
You do not need a finalized program or formal request for proposals to begin. Tell us about the audience, the challenge, and what you hope participants will be able to do afterward.
The Speaking Guild will review the information and contact you to discuss fit, facilitator availability, format, timing, and an appropriate next step.
Submitting this form does not create a booking or financial obligation.
Institutional workshop inquiry
Work With the Guild
Begin with the outcome. We will help shape the program.
Whether you are planning faculty development, supporting student-facing teams, preparing emerging leaders, or addressing a specific institutional challenge, the Guild can help identify a practical next step.