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    • Influence

    Influence Courses Online

    Explore principles of influence for effective communication and leadership. Learn techniques for persuasion, negotiation, and building credibility.

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    Explore the Influence Course Catalog

    • Y

      Yale University

      Health Behavior Change: From Evidence to Action

      Skills you'll gain: Public Health and Disease Prevention, Nutrition and Diet, Public Health, Behavioral Health, Mental Health, Mental and Behavioral Health, Behavioral Economics, Patient Education And Counseling, Program Evaluation, Preventative Care

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      451 reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      U

      University of Michigan

      Inspiring and Motivating Individuals

      Skills you'll gain: Team Motivation, Employee Engagement, Team Management, Team Building, Organizational Leadership, Goal Setting, Visionary, Leadership, Cultural Diversity, Constructive Feedback, Performance Appraisal, Communication

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      5.8K reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • E

      ESSEC Business School

      Évaluation & Mesure d'Impact Social

      Skills you'll gain: Environmental Social And Corporate Governance (ESG), Program Evaluation, Needs Assessment, Return On Investment, Data Collection, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Stakeholder Engagement, Qualitative Research, Organizational Change, Resource Allocation

      4.7
      Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
      ·
      95 reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • W

      Wesleyan University

      Career Decisions: From Insight to Impact

      Skills you'll gain: Decision Making, Professional Development, Self-Awareness, Personal Development, Creative Thinking, Human Centered Design, Strategic Thinking, Psychology, Relationship Building, Social Sciences, Cultural Diversity, Dealing With Ambiguity, Adaptability, Communication

      4.7
      Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
      ·
      378 reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      G

      Google Cloud

      Managing Machine Learning Projects with Google Cloud

      Skills you'll gain: Data Ethics, Google Cloud Platform, Applied Machine Learning, Technical Management, IT Management, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Data Strategy, Business Ethics, Data Governance, Innovation, Feasibility Studies, Business Analysis, Project Management Life Cycle

      4.6
      Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
      ·
      3.7K reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      K

      Keller Williams

      The Principles of Real Estate

      Skills you'll gain: Lead Generation, Real Estate, Real Estate Sales, Property and Real Estate, Customer Relationship Building, Sales Prospecting, Prioritization, Goal Setting, Market Data, Market Analysis, Customer Relationship Management, Market Trend, Compensation Management

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      118 reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • P

      Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

      Gestión de organizaciones efectivas

      Skills you'll gain: Organizational Change, Organizational Structure, Organizational Strategy, Change Management, Business Strategy, Organizational Effectiveness, Strategic Decision-Making, Innovation, Knowledge Transfer, Leadership, Influencing

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      2.4K reviews

      Mixed · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • E

      EIT Digital

      Impact from Digital Transformation: Full course

      Skills you'll gain: Digital Transformation, Business Transformation, Corporate Strategy, Business Strategy, Organizational Change, Technology Strategies, Predictive Modeling, Emerging Technologies, Innovation, Decision Making

      4.6
      Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
      ·
      67 reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      N

      Northwestern University

      Leadership Communication for Maximum Impact: Storytelling

      Skills you'll gain: Leadership, Corporate Communications, Strategic Communication, Storytelling, Business Leadership, Media Relations, Stakeholder Communications, Public Relations, Innovation, Crisis Management, Communication, Branding

      4.5
      Rating, 4.5 out of 5 stars
      ·
      1.3K reviews

      Mixed · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      C

      Copenhagen Business School

      FinTech and the Transformation in Financial Services

      Skills you'll gain: FinTech, Payment Systems, Financial Services, International Finance, Mobile Banking, Digital Transformation, Financial Regulations, Financial Market, Banking, Emerging Technologies, Regulatory Compliance, Fundraising and Crowdsourcing

      4.3
      Rating, 4.3 out of 5 stars
      ·
      1.2K reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      U

      University of Colorado System

      Medical Emergencies: CPR, Toxicology, and Wilderness

      Skills you'll gain: Emergency and Intensive Care, Medical Emergency, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Automated External Defibrillator, Emergency Medicine, Life Support, First Aid, Acute Care, Urgent Care, Emergency Response, Pharmacology, Patient Evaluation, Patient Treatment, Cardiology, Patient Preparation, Vital Signs, Medication Administration, Anatomy

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      523 reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • U

      University of Michigan

      Negociación exitosa: Estrategias y habilidades esenciales (en español)

      Skills you'll gain: Negotiation, Contract Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration, Communication, Conflict Management, Persuasive Communication, Planning, Influencing, Decision Making, Business Ethics

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      2.7K reviews

      Mixed · Course · 1 - 3 Months

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    In summary, here are 10 of our most popular influence courses

    • Health Behavior Change: From Evidence to Action: Yale University
    • Inspiring and Motivating Individuals: University of Michigan
    • Évaluation & Mesure d'Impact Social: ESSEC Business School
    • Career Decisions: From Insight to Impact: Wesleyan University
    • Managing Machine Learning Projects with Google Cloud: Google Cloud
    • The Principles of Real Estate: Keller Williams
    • Gestión de organizaciones efectivas: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
    • Impact from Digital Transformation: Full course: EIT Digital
    • Leadership Communication for Maximum Impact: Storytelling: Northwestern University
    • FinTech and the Transformation in Financial Services: Copenhagen Business School

    Frequently Asked Questions about Influence

    To influence someone is to affect or change their behavior without the direct use of authority, coercion, or force. Instead, the influencer creates change by shifting the mindset of individuals, groups, or entire organizations, persuading them to adopt the desired course of action of their own free will. The ability to influence can be important for everyday communication and maintaining harmonious relationships in our personal and family lives, but it is also a very important skill for many jobs and career paths.

    For instance, being able to subtly influence your customers to “get to yes” when you’re closing a deal is an essential talent of sales professionals of all kinds, whether you’re selling shoes or business software. In fact, the world of social media and digital marketing has created a new type of selling called influencer marketing, in which influential personalities and cultural figures post pictures and testimonials with the product being sold.

    The ability to influence is also essential for leadership roles in any organization, as management positions require you to motivate employees to not only fulfill their roles but to work enthusiastically at the peak of their abilities. The best executives and CEOs are talented at bringing their teams into vision alignment, with strongly shared priorities, values, and focused goal setting that allow organizations to succeed - in business as well as in the recruitment of top-flight talent.‎

    Influencing skills are important for almost any career that requires working in a team, but they are most important for roles as managers and top executives. Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” has been a mainstay in business school curricula despite being written nearly a century ago because this skill has always been fundamental for success in the business world. The ability to get your team aligned to work together effectively is rare and highly valued; according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, top executives earned a median annual salary of $104,690 per year in 2019, including a median pay of $184,460 for chief executive officers (CEOs).‎

    Absolutely. There is a common myth that the ability to influence others is simply an innate talent that some people have and others don’t, but the reality is that influencing is a skill that is taught at every business school - including schools offering courses online through Coursera. You can learn how to influence others from leading faculty at top-ranked schools like University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and Macquarie University. And even though Coursera lets you learn remotely on a flexible schedule, you can still work with faculty in live virtual office hours that let you practice your influencing skills to an expert audience.‎

    Some skills or experience you might need to have before learning influence are strong social skills that allow you to get along with all types of people, such as supervisors, peers, and customers. If you have any sales experience or experience presenting information and concepts to others in person or online, you may already have the skills necessary to learn advanced influencing methods.‎

    The kind of people who are best suited for roles in influence are those who are confident in their abilities to motivate and persuade others whether or not they’re in authority roles. Types of people well suited for roles in influence can build and maintain high-quality relationships with diverse groups of individuals. People best suited for learning influence can discern other people’s attitudes, diverse social factors influencing behavior, and why people may or may not act on their intentions.‎

    Learning influence may be right for you if you want to learn how to develop it so you can become more effective in achieving your organizational goals. Studying the subject may be right for you if you want to understand the framework of power and influence and the dynamics of effective networks, persuasion, and leverage. If you're in any type of role where you need negotiation, communication, and sales skills, then learning influence may be a good choice for you.‎

    Common career paths for someone who has studied influence are often found in corporate management in general where the ability to persuade people is paramount. Specific common career paths for people who have studied influence might be product and brand management, research and development, and any leadership position in an organization’s C-suite. Another common career path for someone in influence is blogging where paid or sponsored influencers create content on various social media platforms. The most common career path for someone in influence is in sales where it’s critical to understand how to best persuade customers and clients using various tools, including neuromarketing.‎

    There are many topics you can study that are related to influence, such as emotional intelligence, which may help you to work effectively in teams, build cooperative relationships, and exercise effective influence to foster meaningful change. Another topic related to influence that you can study is social psychology to help you understand why people behave in certain ways. Marketing is another strongly related topic to influence that you might consider studying.‎

    This FAQ content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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