45-895 Acting for Business I
6 units, Carnegie Mellon University
The purpose of this Business Acting course is to widen your public comfort zone & to unlock your potential for greater expressive power for use in business communications. This experiential course helps participants to get "out of themselves" and to become more expressive, outgoing & connected when communicating. This course concerns itself with live, interpersonal, face-to-face communication in public space; this is done through learning & practicing the specific communication tools of Acting in live theatre. The course teaches empathetic listening & assertive influence achieved through practical Acting tools rooted in the basic concepts of "Action" & of the Speaker's "Best Possible Self", & through the cumulative Seven Stages to Executive Presence. Participants must validate their own participation by working with openness & enthusiasm toward improving their ability to influence others. Note: This is not a course in professional lying. Instead, it teaches expressive power with which to better communicate what you believe to be true. It does not prescribe formulaic, "correct" answers regarding behavior in particular business situations, nor does it deal with or value copying movie or television acting. Instead, the course teaches how to effectively influence & impact people live in a room -- and lays out a system for doing so.
Prerequisites: none listed
Offered: Spring 2027, Fall 2026, Summer 2026, Spring 2026, Fall 2025
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