Sweaty palms. Racing heart. Dry mouth. Butterflies in your stomach. The common “symptoms” of presenting in public. According to most studies, public speaking is people’s number one fear.
And, yet, almost everyone is expected to give presentations at some point. In fact, in today’s workforce, communication skills are highly valued, and companies often seek employees who have strong presentation skills. In 2022, although 98.5% of employers ranked communication skills as “very important” or “extremely important,” the same employers believed that only 54.3% of college graduates were either “very proficient” or “extremely proficient” in this skill. (Competencies: Employers Weigh Importance Versus New Grad Proficiency (naceweb.org)) Additionally, while hard skills once outweighed soft skills in job searches, employers now value soft skills just as much. Companies are continually adding soft skills like persuasion and presentation to their job requirements. (The Top 10 In-Demand Soft Skills To Learn In 2024, Based On Research (forbes.com))
Educators know that presentation skills are important, and they want to ensure their learners are well prepared to enter the workforce. To develop these skills, learners must practice presenting regularly, which requires a significant time commitment. Unfortunately, most educators don’t feel they have enough class time to dedicate to learners’ practice or to provide personalized feedback when learners practice presenting.
Enter Speaker Progress, a Learning Accelerator educators can use to solve these challenges.
What is Speaker Progress?
Speaker Progress helps educators develop confident presenters with tools that help reduce learner anxiety and provide real-time coaching. With Speaker Progress, educators assign a practice presentation through Microsoft Teams assignments. Learners then complete the practice presentation and receive real-time coaching during and after the presentation. Speaker Progress uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide learners with real-time feedback on their:
- Pacing
- Pitch
- Body language
- Visual cues
- Use of filler words
- Informal speech
- Euphemisms
- Culturally sensitive terms
- Monotone speech levels
- Wordiness
When learners finish practicing, their results are automatically uploaded to Education Insights. Educators can review and analyze rich insights on the practice assignments and return the assignment to learners. Educators can then track learners’ progress over time and identify areas for improvement at the individual level.
Speaker Progress is useful for any grade level with any curriculum. Speech assignments can be on any topic. Learners can:
- Present research findings in science class
- Analyze literary characters or themes
- Deliver historical monologues
- Discuss how a mathematical concept applies to real life
- Explain the process behind creations from art class.
- Tell a story in a target language
- Debate current event topics
- Teach a concept
- Demonstrate how to do something
Speaker Progress gives learners the opportunity to practice their speech and receive coaching before they present in front of their peers.
To learn more about Speaker Progress, be sure to take the Microsoft Learn course Develop confident presenters with Speaker Progress. Your learners will thank you!
