Public speaking is regularly touted as one of the more daunting things we can do, yet a number of interesting technologies have emerged in the past few years to help us out, whether it’s an AI that will write your speech for you, a VR environment to allow you to practice, or augmented glasses to give you live feedback as you present.  You’ve even got games that are designed to promote your use of rhetoric as a speaking devise.

The latest of these comes by way of Philadelphia-based startup Orai, who have launched an app-based service to help us become better orators.  The service is fairly straightforward.  Firstly, you record yourself delivering a speech or presentation.  The app then uses AI to pull it apart, analyzing everything from it’s energy and pace to clarity and use of filler words.

It then provides a range of positive feedback to help the user improve, as well as a number of easy tips to help insure your presentation is more credible and respected.

“Some people don’t emphasize the right words or they say ‘um or ah’ or they speak too fast,” the company say. “We’ve used machine learning algorithm and trained it on thousands of talks.”

Each attempt is tracked and graded so that users can easily see the progress they’re making, whilst also providing the ability to replay previous presentations.  They even have a gamification element with various trophies and challenges available for the user to undertake.

The aim is to provide a safe environment for budding speakers to hone their craft.  Think of it like an automated version of Toastmasters.

There will never be a shortage of demand for public speaking help and support, and there isn’t really a technology on the market that has gained widespread traction in the market, so whilst Orai is a very new entrant, it will be interesting to see how they get on.  Check out the video below to see the founders discuss their motivation for creating the app.