Public speaking is often said to be more frightening than death. And the reason why it’s so scary is that most people lack experience and skill at presenting their ideas eloquently, out loud, in front of a crowd. Public speaking is a learned skill, but hiring a speaking coach or receiving media training has long been reserved for executives and professionals with the time, the means, and the access to top coaches.
AI now offers an alternative.
In the latest episode of The Disruption Is Now, host Greg Matusky introduces us to Varun Puri, the entrepreneur behind Yoodli, which Puri describes as “Grammarly for speech.” Using AI, Yoodli provides real-time feedback on public speaking so individuals can hone their skills with every Zoom call, interview, or even simulated conversation with the AI.
Yoodli reimagines traditional coaching methods in a way that could democratize public speaking skills for professionals worldwide. It also signals a shift in strategic communications, where AI’s role as co-pilot can expand the influence of communicators, allowing them to train their internal team or clients into articulate spokespeople.
Over the course of the conversation, Varun and Greg explore how AI is upending training and development and offer a sneak peek at the future of communication.
Watch now:
Public speaking training gets a boost from AI
From customized feedback to simulated interviews, Yoodli uses AI to give speakers more confidence through detailed feedback.
It evaluates users’ speech and video in real time, offering critiques on tone, pitch, clarity, body language, and more. By simulating interactions and providing detailed feedback on delivery, Yoodli prepares individuals for a range of speaking scenarios.
Communication coaches and media trainers can save time and improve feedback
Media training and speech coaching can be time-consuming work. Coaches might spend hours reviewing videos, and hours more compiling their feedback.
Yoodli condenses this process by using AI to instantly analyze performance and generate comprehensive reports, customized to the right messaging or a coach’s best practices.
AI serves as a co-pilot that supports human coaches by handling routine and repetitive tasks, freeing them to focus on more strategic and personal aspects of coaching.
AI democratizes access to expert training
Barriers like cost and access once limited the opportunities for advanced public speaking training. AI makes expert-level guidance scalable and easily accessible to individuals from any background.
This democratization not only fosters a more inclusive learning environment but allows a wider range of individuals to increase their professional and personal opportunities.
Key takeaways:
● Using AI to review public speaking and media opportunities (2:00)
● How Varun went from India to a direct report of Sergey Brin at Google (2:54)
● Making the leap to entrepreneurship (6:05)
● Why Varun wanted to focus on public speaking (7:30)
● How Yoodli works (8:50)
● Customizing AI speaking feedback to a company’s specific messaging and best practices (9:50)
● The time-consuming tedium of manually providing feedback on speaking (11:08)
● Examples of how organizations are using Yoodli (13:30)
● Varun’s vision on the future of AI in work and the labor market (14:56)
