Public Speaking Essentials: How to Craft Your Personal Story (Udemy.com)
Teaching you to find your authentic voice and engage others through the power of your own stories.
Created by: Josh Withrow
Last updated June 2017
Our take
Based on the ratings of 2,463 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in June 2017. No course pays to be reviewed.
This is a short, free course from Josh Withrow, a longtime classroom teacher with a master's in English literature. It covers one narrow skill: turning your own experiences into stories for a speech. It runs about 71 minutes across 33 lectures and five sections. Most of the time goes to two blocks, five things to consider before writing and then five steps to writing the story itself. The course expects a notebook and a willingness to pause and draft as it goes. The material was last updated in 2017.
Reviewers like how practical and easy to follow it is, and one singles out Withrow as an eloquent, clear communicator. Of 2,463 ratings, 1,092 are five stars and 929 are four, for a 4.5 average. The complaints are consistent. One reviewer wanted real-life videos as examples, a teacher wanted a full walkthrough of facing a classroom, and a two-star reviewer felt most of the content was general public speaking rather than storytelling, with too few examples. One recent reviewer also found the ads frustrating.
With no cost and barely over an hour, the risk is low. Treat it as a small writing workshop rather than a full public speaking course, since it is built around one skill. It suits anyone with a speech coming up and nothing personal yet to put in it.
Pros
- Short at 71 minutes across 33 lectures, easy to fit into an evening
- Five-step writing method that reviewers call practical and easy to follow
- Free, with 77,457 students enrolled and a 4.5 rating from 2,463 reviews
- Instructor is praised as eloquent and generous with what he knows
Cons
- No filmed example speeches, which reviewers asked for in various forms
- Last updated in 2017, and one recent reviewer found the ads frustrating
- One reviewer said most of it is general public speaking, not storytelling
Such a practical class with very easy to follow steps. I like that the instructor is very eloquent and a good communicator.
Listed for all levels, but it fits beginners best, since the only requirement is a notebook for drafting stories.
What you will learn
- Discover how to engage and intrigue your audiences right from the beginning of any speech.
- Develop powerful personal stories through action-ready lectures that will help you RIGHT NOW!
- Discover time-saving techniques while writing a speech.
- Develop effect techniques to recognize personal story opportunities
- Understand what information you need to know before writing a speech.
- Improve your VERY NEXT SPEECH with a course that is 25% theory and 75% ACTION.
Course content
5 sections · 33 lectures · 1.2 hours of video 3 articles
- 1Introduction 2 free previews3 lectures · 2 min
- 2Why Storytelling is Essential to Public Speaking 3 free previews3 lectures · 8 min
- 3Be in the ‘Know”—5 things to consider while crafting a personal story 1 free preview11 lectures · 38 min
- 45 Steps to Writing an Engaging Personal Story 1 free preview11 lectures · 16 min
- 5Putting It All Together5 lectures · 6 min
Who it is for
The instructor says it suits
- Public speakers, teachers, business men/women, or anyone who wants tell better stories will benefit from this well-structured and action-ready course.
- This course is recommend for anyone who wants to engage the imagination of audiences both large and small.
What you need before you start
- View these lectures with a journal or notepad so you can record and develop personal story ideas.
Course Description
Would you like to tell personal stories that impact and engage any audience?
How would you like to use your own PERSONAL STORIES to leave a lasting impression with any kind of group?
You don't have to be a TED Talks speaker to benefit from the practical, action-ready lessons in this course.
All you need is a willingness to develop your own personal stories.
I have been a classroom teacher for 13 years, and I've spoken to groups of 10's and groups of 1000's, and one thing that I've learned through all of my experience is:
Audiences connect better to personal stories.
Studies of the brain show that personal storytelling engages an audience significantly more than just communicating facts and statistics.
In this course, I will show you the SIMPLE ACTIONS you need to take to make your own personal stories more engaging, more intriguing, and more memorable.
In this course you will:
* Understand the dramatic affect that storytelling has on public speaking
* 5 things to consider before crafting your personal stories
* 5 steps to writing an engaging personal story
* How to use your stories in a speech
All in all, this course will give you the tools to develop great personal stories and the understanding of how to incorporate them into any speech.
ENROLL TODAY, and get the benefit of Udemy's 100%, 30-day Money-back Guarantee!
Instructor Details
- 4.5 Rating
2,463 Reviews
Josh Withrow
I want to help people creatively tell their stories by giving them the tools to engage other people with captivating ideas. My 14 years of classroom teaching and my master's degree in English Literature give me the experience to make my classes both creative and informative. People don't need a degree to enjoy learning -- but sometimes a little guidance goes a long way.
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Reviews
By Chidinma Ugorji on 6/1/2026
Yes, the course is a good match for me, as someone who loves to communicate and does great storytelling in writing, being able to speak and include storytelling in my verbal conversations as well would be a great boost. The course was simple yet impactful, the lessons were structured in lightweight, easily assimilable slides, and I can say I have learnt how to infuse storytelling in public speaking.
By Susan Anderson on 4/17/2021
WOW!!!! I highly advise anyone who wants to excel at using stories in their speeches, public speaking, and in just making an extraordinary connection that will cause you to rise in the ranks of speakers---You MUST take this course. I highly recommend it. I took so many notes and all the action steps were so helpful and will continue to give me a way to increase my story bank. I really appreciate the break-ins to see the instructor face to face. Excellent course!!!!
By Barbra on 5/20/2020
This course was awesome. I loved it. I l am passionate about writting, public speaking and story telling so this was so relevant and you can also use it in your day to day life when you discuss and communicate with people as you learn to articulate yourself in a way you can be heard and understood. If you are passionate about writting and public speaking do not miss this one. I am thankful.
By Panayota Dionyssopoulos on 4/25/2020
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning how to tell their stories. I gained new information and felt more confident in my own ability to tell my stories and speak my truth. Now, all I need to do is put it into action. The reason why I took this course was to go on Facebook live everyday to get a message out and to help people alleviate stress symptoms during isolation due to Covid-19. I believe that I can do it and I know that I can reach out to people and show my support. Thank you
By Joseph Ayodele Abiola on 4/2/2020
This is Phenomenal I used to think Public speaking and storytelling is the least I will sit-down to listen to but a trial with this course changed my orientation and gave me a better view of storytelling and now I'm challenged to do better. The Systematic and compelling presentation of the teacher is worth commendations. Thanks for putting this together.
By Adarsh Patil on 6/4/2019
Lessons well structured and very scientific in approach, I loved it. The learning curve suddenly dropped in the last part. I was expecting at least one example of crafting a story so that can relate to what has been lectured.
By Tikili Gospel on 11/22/2018
Great course. Highly engaging. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience with us. Even though i am familiar with most of it's content, it's delivering is a master piece. I really enjoyed myself taking this course and i recommend it to any one interest in being a public speaking and to those who want to improve their persuasive skills
By Lawrence Gibson on 7/31/2018
I really enjoyed the course. I appreciate the succinct videos and explanations while still making the point clearly. The magic really happens in the application of the exercises. I surprised myself once I actually did it. Storytelling is in all of us. You may find it hard to start recalling the facts and how to piece it all together but once you get rolling you'll find that your mind starts going faster than you can type and it comes to you. The main thing is JUST DO THE EXERCISES! You will amaze yourself in the end by what you are capable of. Great course and for a fee of $0 it's a great resource to hone and refine our storytelling skills for whatever purpose we need it for. I highly recommend this course!
By Ifeoluwapo Ogunniyi on 12/13/2017
The course is qualitative as it starts a general build up of public speaking and how you can be effective with it. I know sometimes I love to write or tell a story through writing but what to write on is always a challenge and when I finally get that cleared out how to write it poses another problem. This course articulates a step by step approach on storytelling. Everybody can talk, but not everybody can speak....that's the difference.
By Anna Gaston on 7/19/2017
Content very difficult to see. After a brief time I was able to see content. This course me very excited about writing. I some timed dread to write but after this course, I am very excited about getting started. I was with a writing group but I had to let them go for a while because I could not view the content very good. I do wish that there were more short writen samples to show the students just how to set up their writing. Thank again for such s beautiful course.
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 90 / 100






