University of Mary Washington’s Continuing & Professional Studies Department is excited to announce the 2026 Business Acumen Series – a series of one-day seminars aimed at building leadership and business skills in the Fredericksburg region.
The Business Acumen Series (BAS) will combine university knowledge and the practical application of innovative tools to drive your organization’s mission and deliver results.
AI is a transformative tool that continues to disrupt nearly every market and space. The 2026 Business Acumen Series will focus on ways you can use AI to enhance your business or organizational practices to optimize workflow without losing the human-centered components of your work.
Great presentations combine thoughtful design with confident delivery. This interactive seminar explores how to leverage AI and human creativity to develop presentations that are engaging, audience-centered, and authentic.
Participants will learn practical strategies to organize content, refine messaging, and create compelling visuals while preserving the critical thinking, storytelling, and creativity that only people can provide. Additionally, the seminar focuses on delivering presentations with confidence through effective communication, audience engagement, executive presence, and techniques for managing presentation anxiety. By the end of the session, participants will have practical tools for creating polished presentations, using AI responsibly, and communicating their ideas with clarity, confidence, and impact.
Objectives:
- Design engaging, audience-centered presentations by combining generative AI tools with human creativity, critical thinking, and storytelling.
- Apply evidence-based presentation strategies to strengthen organization, visual design, audience engagement, and message clarity.
- Deliver presentations with confidence by demonstrating effective verbal and nonverbal communication, executive presence, and techniques for managing presentation anxiety.
Speaker: Mike Allison, Vice President of Talent & Culture, Spotlight | Analyst Relations
Learn more & register >> https://umw-cps.catalog.instructure.com/browse/open-enrollment/courses/bas-create-connect-present-leveraging-ai-and-human-creativity-for-memorable-presentations
