HP Innovation Journal Issue 14: Spring 2020 | Page 68
“With VR, you can
give speeches and
build muscle memory
that carries over when
you step up in front
of a real audience.”
—J EFF MARSHALL
CEO, Ovation
Programs like Ovation let you choose from a variety of audiences and
settings to mimic presenting at a meeting or giving a keynote speech.
TRANSFORMING TRAINING AT
COMPANIES AND UNIVERSITIES
The level of customization and data collection the
VR programs provide, and the ability to practice
specific situations over and over, are not only helpful
for overcoming a fear of public speaking—they can
also help seasoned public speakers perfect their skills.
That’s why programs like those offered by Ovation,
Virtual Speech, and Cerevrum are starting to pop up in
university classrooms and corporate training programs
around the country.
Cindy Arthur, the coordinator of instructional
technology at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg,
Illinois, had been curious about educational uses for
VR for years when she read about Ovation.
“I got really excited because I could see right away how
it could benefit our students and faculty,” she says.
“I started thinking about how we could use it for our
public-speaking and communication courses, and we
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HP Innovation Journal Issue 14
have a criminal justice teacher interested in using it to
help students present evidence in a courtroom.”
Arthur started practicing her own public speaking with
Ovation and was surprised at how much she learned in
just a few sessions. “I didn’t realize that I would always
look to the left, or how many times I used filler words, or
how much I would move my hands when I talk,” she says.
“By the third session I was already making improvements.”
That ability to focus on your own skills instead of
worrying about the eyes staring back at you gives public
speakers a controlled, objective, safe way to practice—and
the opportunity to look forward to a positive outcome
instead of expecting the worst.
“A VR public-speaking trainer provides a patient audience
that will listen to you practice your speech 50 times in
a row,” Marshall says. “And, they’ll give you a standing
ovation every time.”
This article originally appeared on the Garage by HP.