People School by Vanessa Van Edwards is a social skills course that teaches key communication, charisma, and influence techniques for personal and professional success.

TPM’s reviews ™

Summary 

About the Author:
Vanessa van Edwards is a social skills coach and author who describes herself as a recovering awkward person.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from Emory University, started out her entrepreneurial and writing journey with children’s education, and later founded ScienceOfPeople.com to teach people skills.
Vanessa released several courses and books, including the best-selling book Captivate and Body Language of Love.

Intro

People School is divided into 12 different skills.

Some of them seemed more interesting than others to me.
Hence, I’m going to share only the ones that I found most useful while going through People School.

1. Charisma

We are always trying to assess people on two dimensions:

• warmth (friendly, likable, trustworthy)
• competence (capable, powerful, dependable) 

I found it very interesting that for Vanessa high charisma is striking a balance between the two. 

2. Be Engaging

There are three types of gaze:

• Power gazing (from eyes to forehead, effective work relationship, competence)
• Social gazing (from eyes to chin, friendliness and collaboration, warmth)
• Intimate gazing (from eyes to lower neck and upper torso)

Vanessa speculates that is why women wear necklaces: to attract more intimate gazing.

I also duly noted that taller people tend to naturally default to power gazing while shorter people to social gazing.
So shorter people might want to counteract that when they want to come across as more authoritative.

3. Asserting Yourself

I pay particular attention to power dynamics.

I agreed with Vanessa that not everyone should be a driver at all times, which is a major mistake of some poorer-quality social skills training.

Vanessa says that it’s best to be a (good) follower when you:

• Don’t know anyone
• Are new to the environment
• Are a guest 
• Feel introverted
• There is already a driver

To learn more about communication styles and assertiveness also see:

4. Wield Influence

Vanessa says that we evaluate people by asking ourselves whether they are winners or losers (and that’s true).

She goes over some of the basics of what makes people high-power (winners) or low-power (losers) like body language, posture, and voice tonality.

And since her course is tailored to career folks, she goes over a study that found out how the most effective pitches to venture capitalists were high in comfort (signaling confidence) and enthusiasm.

PROS

• Solid information

We’ve already reviewed Captivate and Body Language of Love from Vanessa.
So far People School is our favorite product.

• High-quality videos

I have taken a lot of courses, and People School has some of the best-quality videos around.

• Great personality

I think that one of the plusses of People School is Vanessa herself. 

I think she used “sparkling personality” as an adjective in a few of her products… And that description fits her very well.
She has a contagious, bubbly, sparkling personality that I’m sure would light up any room and draw lots of people to her (and here it is hoping she doesn’t have too jealous of a husband :).

She can be a great role model for women as she manages to strike a difficult balance that is not easy for women to walk.

She is rocking her business while remaining warm and feminine. And she is very high energy without ever becoming too loud or overbearing.
She does the high energy instead with an angle of “it’s so great to be with you“.

In my opinion, that may make People School best suited for women (read below).

CONS

First, my personal bias.

She seems a likable person.
But I’m not a big fan of the marketing.

The “behavioral researcher” title, coat imagery, and some other techniques felt like an attempt to enhance authority. While the marketing might work to sell better, some may feel it undermines credibility.

Lab coat and lab references have been removed, which we approve of

So, that out of the way, let’s see some cons:

Doesn’t Teach Manipulation – Something You MUST Learn For Self-Defense

Says People School’s own sales copy:

We teach you to be the best, most authentic version of yourself when you communicate, not how to play mind games with others. If you’re here to learn how to “trick” people, you will be sorely disappointed.

That may sound like a noble approach, but from TPM’s point of view, it overlooks an important aspect of self-defense and effective communication.
Learning how manipulation works is essential to protect oneself and navigate complex social dynamics. Especially for those who seek to be ‘the most authentic version of themselves’.

While this may seem like a strong critique, it stems from our belief in the importance of a complete curriculum. Any course that overlooks manipulation risks leaving its students unprepared for real-world challenges.

You don’t want to go through life as a naive lamb, hoping there are no wolves.

Lucio Buffalmano

The Waiting List Trick: Authenticity VS Marketing

While People School emphasizes authenticity, the use of a “waiting list” as a marketing tactic might feel inconsistent to some.

It’s a common marketing technique, but creating a sense of urgency based on questionable wasn’t my cup of tea.
Not only for the gimmick itself, but also because if I want to purchase something, I don’t want to wait for the email to announce there is ‘finally a spot available’ that I better rush for.

Edit:
People School used the “waiting list” approach at the time of our first review but ditched it later on.

Popular Studies, Debatable Rigor & Practicality

Vanessa van Edwards introduces several studies and explains how they apply to everyday interactions.

This approach makes psychology accessible and practical for daily life, which is commendable.

However, as someone who relies on science extensively, I noticed some areas where the research could have been analyzed and presented with greater depth and rigor.

For example:

• Priming

Vanessa mentions a popular study on the priming effect.
There has been some heated debate on whether those original studies were even valid as they failed to replicate in successive studies.
You can read more it pop-psychology myths, however, as the Rugers Handbook on Persuasion concludes:

As Brintazzoli and colleagues (2012 ) cautioned, “the short-lived nature of the influence of subliminal information casts serious doubt on its effectiveness in everyday life and advertising” (…) We are aware of no studies demonstrating any commercial success at using subliminal priming.

In short: it’s not effective to even focus on priming to influence others.

• Power poses

Same goes for power poses, that Vanessa claimed in 2025 was ‘still uncertain’ and the original researcher Amy Cuddy was still working on replicating.

But the original research is in 2010.
Cuddy is not working on replicating it 15 years later, and the weight of the evidence for its most significant impact -behavioral and hormonal- is resoundingly against it.

Making psychology ‘fun’ or effective”

Vanessa’s approach leans towards making psychology ‘entertaining’ and relatable to a broader audience.

It’s a fair approach to keep learning engaged, but that might occasionally simplify complex topics.

An old reading list from her made me think it was deeper tendency for both the author and Science of People:

Malcolm Gladwell is a great writer. But we see him more as an entertaining read, rather than a reliable resource for your content

Is It Updated?

Vanessa mentions she used her customers’ feedback to improve People School.

And In her book Cues from 2022 she mentions she filmed People School in 2018 with an expensive professional crew.

I’d have to wonder to what extent it can be updated if the original videos remain the same for so long?

Better For Women

Anyone can learn from People School -and I did so myself-.

But Vanessa’s excellent bubbly personality may not resonate with men who prefer a more masculine, ‘grounded’ and powerful aura.

People School VS Power University

Are you still wondering whether People School is worth the investment?

This chart helps you decide comparing its strength, against our approach:

Or see comparison chart here.

People School REVIEW

Science of People is a good course on improving your interpersonal skills.
It’s well structured, professionally filmed, easy to follow, and taught by a capable creator.

We deal with similar topics here at TPM, albeit from different angles.

We dig deeper into the less politically correct topics such as manipulation, dark psychology, Machiavellianism, conflicts of interest, dominance, etc.
We believe this approach better prepares men to succeed in life.

So, of course, we missed that “raw” side in People School.
On the other hand, we still liked it.

Although I’m always busy improving TPM, I was happy whenever I could find time in the evening to watch Vanessa’s video lessons.
I’d watch while stretching to save time, but Vanessa made it hard for me! Her content had so many interesting tidbits that I often had to stop to take notes.
That’s a sign of great content and I’d be happy to collaborate with her one day.

Is People School Worth It?

At nearly $2.500 People School is more expensive than many comparable courses, meaning that it’s only worth it if it can justify the difference with the extra value it delivers.

Whether it will deliver that extra value also depends on you.
If Vanessa’s approach resonates with you and People Skills delivers the results you want, it may be worth it.
As ‘missionary’ creators here at TPM we know that a premium course refined over the years is often better than a lower-priced but average course.

Vanessa seems to target her product primarily at professionals and corporate clients. If you have access to a training budget, People School could be a worthwhile investment.

Edit: Vanessa lowered the entry point at $997

People School Refund Policy

People’s School’s refund policy was based on “proving” that you did the homework, but that has changed.

Currently, you have 7 days to request a refund but keep in mind that you must ship all course material back within 15 days to qualify.
As a busy person myself, I’d have preferred not to receive any material to avoid the time costs of re-shipping it back.

Also see:

• The best books and courses to develop people skills

If You’re a Man Seeking Status & Respect…

People School offers valuable social skills lessons for everyone.

But if you’re a man looking to gain status, respect, and attraction, Power University offers a tailored approach designed specifically for these goals: