A working playbook synthesized from Vanderbilt Owen MGT 6351 (Management Communication, Mod I, Fall 2024, Professor Kimberly Pace) and the canonical literature of business communication: Monroe's Motivated Sequence (the persuasive-speech framework), Suzanne Bates' Speak Like a CEO, Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen, the Aristotelian rhetorical triangle (ethos/pathos/logos), the four-speech architecture that defines the Owen tradition, and a curated library of MBA presentation rubrics, evaluation checklists, and worked exemplars from the Communication Fellows program.

Plus the team's own integrative deliverables: Gabriel Odeyemi's Annotated Bibliography and Business Presentation on the Enterprise Cloud Integration Platform (ECIP) for the City of Edmonton's ERP migration as the worked end-to-end application of the Problem-Relevance-Solution structure. Plus video exemplars from across the program (Bri Dacey, Deepa Dhore, Joshua Gaskill, Rina Miyahara, Chris Scheinert, Kyle Ulses, Rich Warner, Allison Taylor, Anna Grace Hawkins, Kelly Szteinbaum), the StageFright / Impromptu / International / Military / Advanced Speaking workshop decks, and Emma Hicks' Business Presentation example as the lead Communication Fellow's gold-standard model.

Why this masterclass exists

Management communication is the most-leveraged skill in the MBA curriculum. Strategy without communication doesn't get implemented. Analysis without communication doesn't get acted on. Vision without communication doesn't get followed. The career trajectory of every manager bends, more than they realize, on their ability to speak with authority, listen with intention, write with clarity, and present with conviction.

The Owen tradition takes this seriously. MGT 6351 is the core management communication course, taught by Professor Kimberly Pace ("K-Pace") with a small army of Communication Fellows providing one-on-one coaching. The course's design is unusual: instead of lectures and exams, students give four speeches in seven weeks, each filmed, evaluated by peers and CFs, and coached intensively. The skills compound through practice.

The four-speech architecture:

1. Persuasive Team Speech — group, no PowerPoint, prop allowed; 5–7 minutes; uses Monroe's Motivated Sequence.
2. Personal Brand Pitch — individual, no PowerPoint; 90 seconds to 2 minutes; the expanded elevator pitch.
3. Impromptu Speech — individual, topic given on the day; 1–2 minutes; tests on-your-feet thinking.
4. Business Presentation — individual, with PowerPoint; 5–7 minutes; Problem-Relevance-Solution; the capstone.

This masterclass synthesizes the course's frameworks with the canonical communication literature — Monroe, Bates, Reynolds, the rhetorical canon — and the rich library of student exemplars and CF coaching materials. The result is approximately 30,000 words organized into 10 modules plus a Master Playbook.

By the end, you should be able to:

• Apply Monroe's Motivated Sequence to design any persuasive speech (Attention → Need → Satisfaction → Visualization → Action)
• Construct a personal brand using the pre-presence / presence / post-presence framework with a clear Unique Selling Proposition
• Deliver an impromptu speech using PREP, Past-Present-Future, or other frameworks for structured thinking on your feet
• Build a business presentation using the Problem-Relevance-Solution structure that Gabriel's ECIP worked example illustrates
• Design slides using Presentation Zen principles (signal vs. noise; one idea per slide; image-driven design)
• Use voice variance, pause, gesture, and eye contact to project executive presence
• Listen, give and receive feedback, and handle Q&A under pressure