These days, there’s an app for everything. Need to manage your stress? Want to keep track of your workouts? Optimize your vocabulary? You have options. Many options.
There’s even The Rock Clock that lets Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson keep you motivated during your daily tasks.
Why not harness the power and flexibility of your own mobile device to boost and refine your public speaking skills? Apps won’t replace a good coach, but they will enhance everything you’ve learned.
Instead of another round of Candy Crush, try one of these apps — it might help the next time you need to give a speech.
VIRTUALSPEECH
This app lets you practice in front of a realistic virtual audience — without leaving the house. Begin the app and insert your phone into a VR headset (the app maker will provide either a Merge VR or Google Cardboard, depending on the package). Now, you can present to anything from a boardroom to a TED audience. That’s the way to get your head in the game.
The app also comes with training courses and video tips. A feature that allows sounds and other distractions can further test your progress. The future is now, speakers.
PUBLIC SPEAKING HIVEBRAIN SOFTWARE
HiveBrain takes a different approach than VirtualSpeech. The app creator knows that public speaking is a common fear, so it provides guided meditation courtesy of your phone to target speaker anxieties. Instead of practicing your actual speech, HiveBrain has you “hack” your brain via self-hypnosis and relaxing meditation.
Read a related article about how two minutes for meditation and breathing can change the course of your entire speech.
UMMO
Filler words creep into even the most seasoned speakers‘ speeches. Sometimes it’s just, um, hard, y’know, to say what you are, like, really mean. Don’t fall into that trap.
Cue Ummo. This app listens to you give your speech and highlights those pesky filler words. Now, you can see exactly how many you use and at which points during your speech–those are the spots you need to polish.
PROMPTSMART PRO
The founder of PromptSmart has a passion for business and public speaking. He served as a communications fellow at Wharton Business School where he started coaching and mentoring students in the art of communicating effectively. And that gave him an idea: a smart teleprompter.
Using voice recognition technology, this app knows when you go off your script or on a tangent. It rolls with the punches — just like you do — to stay right there with you for the duration of your presentation. No more watching as your script ticks by as you decide to elaborate further on a point. PromptSmart Pro will wait for you.
PRO METRONOME
Just as bad as filler words: rushing through everything. It reduces your credibility and confuses your audience. Who can follow when you talk at the speed of light?
Pro Metronome helps a speaker practice pacing. Follow along with a simple beat or get technical and create different paces for different sections of your talk. It’s intuitive and simple to use — polyrhythms (the use of two or more conflicting rhythms) sound complex, but Pro Metronome will have you crafting your own in no time.
No matter your speaking style, there’s an app to help you improve and practice. They may not have The Rock urging you onwards, but we can’t have everything. Instead of Bejeweled experts, we’ll be the best speakers around. One app at a time.
TAKE THE FIRST STEP TO MASTER POWERFUL NEW SKILLS
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