Manager Communications Certificate Course

August 6, 13, and 20, 2025 • 1-3 p.m. ET
Three consecutive modules

Register for this immersive three-part certificate series to become the strategic force behind every great manager.

People managers are the heartbeat of your organization—when they’re equipped with the right tools, training and talking points. That’s where internal communicators come in: it’s up to you to prepare managers to become engines of engagement, culture and trust.

In just three sessions, you’ll gain the skills to turn every manager into a confident communicator and culture carrier. Learn how to build strategic cascades that land, create manager resource hubs that empower and launch recognition programs that resonate. You’ll discover how to tailor messages for hybrid, global and deskless teams—and how to back it all up with data that proves your impact.

Whether you’re supporting new managers or seasoned leaders, this program will help you train, coach and communicate with intention. Walk away with real-world examples, plug-and-play templates and fresh strategies you can implement immediately. This is your roadmap to success.

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You’ll acquire the skills you need to:

  • Craft clear, consistent cascades that resonate from C-suite to front line.
  • Build manager toolkits that simplify message delivery and drive action.
  • Train people leaders to communicate with empathy, clarity and confidence.
  • Tailor comms strategies for hybrid, deskless and global teams.
  • Measure impact through feedback loops, surveys and performance data.

CURRICULUM

Master these key skills in just a few short weeks. Learn how to measure, communicate, and prepare your people managers for the year ahead. If you can’t attend a live session, you’ll receive the on-demand versions to complete the course.

Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3
Week 1
Aug. 6, 2025, 1-3 p.m. ET
The Comms Cascade

People managers are crucial conduits for delivering information to employees. But when announcements require a strategic cascade through people managers, it adds a level of difficulty. Discover how to arm your managers with the tools, templates and even talking points they need to convey comms initiatives. Together, we’ll dive deeply into:

  • Anatomy of an effective manager comms cascade: What successful information flows look like in orgs with dispersed workforces—from comms to VP people managers and frontliners alike.
  • Top channels: How to engage with people leaders via text apps, email, intranets and town halls—examples of what’s working and what’s not.
  • Building bridges: How to engage with people leaders beyond the written word via town halls to build trust with them—and ultimately with their teams.
  • Manager resources hubs: How to give managers the tools, templates and even talking points they need to convey comms initiatives—snapshots of effective resource libraries.
  • Support groups: How to use AI, internal influencers and employee resource groups (ERGs) to facilitate more effective manager comms.
  • Hybrid and deskless strategies: How to adapt your strategies to fit the needs of your organization and the messages you must deliver.
  • Case study: A peek inside the manager comms cascade of a large, deskless, and distributed workforce.
  • Group activity: There’s no better way to internalize what you’re learning than to share the experience with fellow attendees. Come prepared to bring your biggest manager comms challenge to a breakout session to workshop solutions. 

Homework: Conduct a cascade audit of your internal systems using our worksheet.

Week 2
Aug. 13, 2025, 1-3 p.m. ET
Manager Training and Culture

Managers are crucial culture catalysts, and the leadership style of individual managers makes up to 70% of the difference in employee motivations and productivity. Learn how to foster a strong sense of culture and belonging—while delivering business results. We’ll cover:

  • Manager training: The core elements of high-performance coaching, plus how to train managers in the tech, tactics and storytelling strategies they need to close the employee experience gaps across all your employees.
  • Tailored training: How best to prepare first-time managers as well as first-time skip level managers, management techniques for better employee wellbeing.
  • Learning and development: How to promote benefits and L&D as part of your employer brand to socialize well-being and encourage participation.
  • Culture first: Ways to help managers empower employees to lead from a place of authenticity and live their values at work.
  • Tech solutions: How tapping tech like Employee Experience Platforms (EXPs) can foster meaningful connections that support and amplify culture.
  • Employee recognition: Examples of ways to build recognition into your content strategy with badging, kudos and award ceremonies.
  • Social media sharing: Examples of culture-rich content posted on intranets, email newsletters, apps and video boards.
  • Case study: A best place to work pulls back the curtain on their employee ambassador program. 

Homework: You’ll be given a workplace wellness benefit program. Develop a plan to roll out the benefits and messaging across a set of hypothetical companies, each facing a set of unique challenges.

Week 3
Aug. 20, 2025, 1-3 p.m. ET
Measurement and Monitoring

This final session will give you the planning roadmap you need to gather, track and prove organizational impact. We’ll uncover strategies to create focus groups that produce relevant, actionable findings to refine your manager communications strategy and deepen employee engagement, the right questions to ask on your surveys, and the essential KPIs to measure—including trust, credibility, engagement, and more. Learn about:

  • The reverse cascade: The importance of feedback loops and how to ensure feedback travels both ways so your organization acts on the input, insights and intel you’re getting.
  • Going global: How to enhance your manager comms for greater global impact, including exercises for delivering precise, culturally informed and real-time comms internationally.
  • Surveys, feedback loops and more: How to monitor, measure and level up your manager comms efforts using online surveys and other tools (including AI).
  • Strategies for remote, async and deskless workers: Techniques to gather and integrate employee feedback so you can craft targeted strategies for dispersed teams.
  • Continuous improvement: Extracting actionable insights from your data to optimize productivity, wellbeing and performance for your workforce.
  • Case study: Surveys, focus groups, and more: how one organization used information to improve their town halls, manager cascades, and more.

CLASSROOM MATERIALS
(Exclusive for Attendees)

  • The Internal Comms Tech Toolbox
  • Report: The Global State of Internal Communications
  • Guide: Using Measurement to Prove Internal Communications Value
  • The Complete Guide: How to Run an Internal Communications Audit

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PRESENTERS

Speakers will be announced soon.

Course Moderator: Alyssa Smith, Director of Event Programming, Ragan Communications READ BIO

Top 8 areas you’ll master upon completion:

  • Strategic Comms Cascades: How to design and deliver manager cascades that inform, engage and align teams across distributed and deskless workforces.
  • Manager Enablement Hubs: Tools to equip people leaders with the templates and talking points they need through centralized resource libraries that streamline message delivery.
  • Channel Optimization: Work with IT and HR to select and use the right channels—from email, messaging apps and social media, town halls, and intranets—that provide maximum reach and retention.
  • Cultural Activation through Managers: A manager and their direct report are the smallest unit of culture.
  • Leadership Development and Coaching: Techniques to train both new and experienced managers in the communication, coaching, and storytelling skills required to close employee experience gaps.
  • Recognition and Engagement Tactics: How to embed employee recognition into manager communications strategies to boost morale and build connections.
  • Measurement and Feedback Loops: Templates and strategies for pulse surveys, reverse cascades and annual metrics that will allow you to track progress and gauge the success of initiatives through both qualitative and quantitative data.
  • Global and Hybrid Comms: Practical ways to adapt manager comms tactics for asynchronous, global and culturally diverse teams.

 

Top reasons to attend this virtual certificate course

  • Lead cultural initiatives to keep your workforce united and inspired.
  • Solidify internal comms as a revenue driver and employee value creator.
  • Become a strategic counselor and increase your organizational influence.
  • Unlock manager potential and reinforce business goals at every level.

Secure your seat today for this exclusive course offered by Ragan and PR Daily!

Regular Rate
$2395

Ragan Insider Member
$2295

Nonprofit/Gov
$2245

Group pricing for 3 or more is available when going through the registration process!

If you can’t attend one or more of the modules live, you will receive the on-demand versions to complete the course.

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WHO ATTENDS

Communications and marketing professionals from these organizations have earned certificates:

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Here’s what past attendees say about Ragan's Certificate Courses!

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