Polished & Prepared Part 1

AFTER COMPLETING THIS COURSE, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO:

• Communicate more clearly and directly without sounding abrupt or awkward
• Reduce misunderstandings by choosing the right tone, format, and level of detail for the situation
• Listen more effectively so conversations with patrons, coworkers, and supervisors go more smoothly
• Adjust your communication style based on your audience, goals, and workplace context
• Handle common workplace communication frustrations with more confidence and less second-guessing
• Receive feedback more productively and respond in ways that strengthen working relationships
• Write and speak more professionally across email, conversations, and day-to-day library interactions

You’ll leave with practical communication tools you can use right away in the situations that come up every day at work.

If you are someone who:

• Spends a lot of your day talking with patrons, coworkers, or supervisors and wants those interactions to go more smoothly
• Finds yourself reworking emails or overthinking conversations after the fact
• Wants to be more direct and clear without worrying about coming across the wrong way
• Has experienced miscommunication at work and isn’t always sure how to prevent it
• Wants to feel more confident speaking up, following up, and communicating in different situations

This course was built for you.

This course is especially helpful for:

• Library assistants and paraprofessionals building confidence in workplace communication
• Frontline staff who regularly communicate with patrons and colleagues throughout the day
• Librarians in all types of libraries who want stronger, more consistent communication across teams and roles
• Newer staff who are still learning how communication works in a professional environment
• Anyone who wants clearer, more effective day-to-day interactions at work

If you’ve ever walked away from a conversation thinking “that could have gone better,” you’ll see yourself in this course.

Module 1 

Clear is Kind: Direct and Effective Workplace Communication

How can you communicate clearly and effectively? It’s normal to feel anxious or uncomfortable with direct communication, but this session is designed to help you find the confidence to speak directly and honestly. You will learn how to reduce misunderstandings and conflict by grounding yourself, listening well, and responding clearly and kindly. Leave knowing how to set yourself up for success by understanding what types of communication do and don’t work in a workplace and how to navigate common library communication frustrations with ease.

Module 2

Know Your Audience: How to Pivot Communication to Maximize Impact

How should you change your communication depending on who you’re talking to? How might communication with library users need to be different than that with your colleagues and leaders? Building off of the last session, this session will teach you how to assess the context of scenarios and modify your communication to have the best chance of a successful interaction. Leave knowing how to analyze the audience, purpose, and goals of common library interactions and adapt your communication style like a pro.

COURSE SPEAKER

Kate Hall, Executive Director, Northbrook Public Library

Kate Hall is the Executive Director of the Northbrook Public Library, a Library Journal 5 Star Library, after serving as Director at the New Lenox Public Library and in various library positions in the Chicagoland area for over 20 years. Kate has been in leadership positions in state and national library groups and has served on the committee and chaired Director’s University, an intensive training for new Illinois Public Library Directors that has trained over 350 new library directors. She has co-authored two books, The Public Library Director’s Toolkit and The Public Library Director’s HR Toolkit. Kate is the recipient of the 2021 Illinois Library Association Librarian of the Year Award and in 2021 launched Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide joint programming cooperative. Most importantly, she is the devoted servant of two very demanding black cats.

Communication shows up in everything. Quick check-ins, longer conversations, emails that take longer than they should, moments where something small turns into confusion. Most of us are expected to figure this out as we go, which works until it doesn’t.

This course focuses on the everyday communication moments that shape how work actually gets done. You’ll look at how to be clearer and more direct, how to adjust your approach depending on who you’re talking to, and how to avoid the kinds of misunderstandings that slow things down or create unnecessary friction.

You’ll also explore how to listen more effectively, respond more intentionally, and navigate common workplace interactions with more confidence. The goal is not to script everything you say, but to give you tools that make communication feel easier and more natural in real situations.

SESSIONS AND PRICING

This is a 2-module self-paced online course. You will have access to the course for six months after the course start date.

GROUP OPTIONS

Training a team? Choose the setup that matches how you want to plan and pay:

Group course enrollment: Enroll 3+ staff in this course and save.

Bulk course credits: Prepay once, get the highest per-seat discount on every course, and assign seats later.

Unlimited annual licensing: System-wide access for a year with no per-course approvals.

Request Discounted Group Pricing

Questions? Email groupsales@libraryjournal.com.

COURSE FORMAT

This is a 2 module self-paced course. 

EXPECTED TIME COMMITMENT

Plan for approximately 2 hours for the module, plus optional time for reflection and applying what you learn.

COURSE ACCESS

You will have access to the course for six months after the course start date.

CREDIT & CERTIFICATE

You will receive professional development credit hours and a certificate of completion from Library Journal.

This course can be taken on its own or as part of the Polished & Prepared: Core Professional Skills for Library Staff certification. Complete all four courses in the series to earn the full certification.

ACCESSIBILITY

All sessions include auto-captioning. If you require accommodations, please email course-support@libraryjournal.com upon registration and we will make our best efforts to support your needs.

SUPPORT

For technical or course-related support, please contact course-support@libraryjournal.com.