I’m impressed with all the help you can get nowadays. With new technology, robot coaches and (free) phone apps improve public speaking skills. Of course, my customers are lucky to have me available to meet with them face-to-face, either in the Amsterdam area, elsewhere in Europe or via a live video call. Afterall, nothing beats having personalized support and coaching.  But, for extra help when you are on your own, here are a few new phone apps I’ve found that you might like to check out for yourself.

The Ummo App

The Ummo app, $2 only from the Apple App Store.  While practicing for a presentation, Ummo voice recognition software tracks your Umm’s and ‘Uhh’s, pace, word power and clarity.  With dedicated practice, this app could help really clean up your speaking habits.

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(Tele)prompter

Can’t remember your speech?  Use PowerPoint to make a presentation with a few cue words per slide and glance at the phone screen as you talk.  Or you can try Teleprompter Lite (free on iOS) and A Prompter (free on Android). Use you smartphone’s camera app to make a video of yourself speaking, too.

With these phone apps you can uplift your speaking skills

VirtualSpeech App

Anything you can do to become more familiar with your speaking environment will only help you be able to focus on your message and connecting with your audience. So, if you have $150 to spend, there’s the VirtualSpeech app for Iphone and Android. The folks who dreamed this up went all out to give you the virtual reality experience when you wear a special VR viewer. You sort of feel like you’re talking in front of full auditorium, or at a crowded board room table.

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Watson Speech to Text

Do you hate taking notes, or writing out your speech?  With IBM’s Watson Speech to Text you can convert several languages including English, Spanish, and French speech, into text, like dictating your speech and giving you something that you can read an edit.

Technology can be wonderful as supporting us in so many aspects of our life. Ultimately, communicating is about our being able to speak passionately from our heart to the heart of our audience.  No technology will ever replace that kind of power.

What is your experience to show that phone apps improve public speaking skills?

We’d love to here what you think about any phone apps that you have used. Contact us at info@speakingartsinternational.com And, if you’re not sure how live face-to-face coaching and consulting can help you, we’d be happy to answer your questions.