Practice PowerPoint Presentations … Anywhere!

Microsoft has announced that its PowerPoint Presenter Coach is now available on all platforms.

Presenter Coach

Presenter Coach, first introduced in PowerPoint for the web, helps the user to practice their presentation skills. The app utilises AI to give users useful feedback on their pace, use of monotone pitch, use of filler words, poor grammar, lack of originality, use of sensitive phrases, and more while they rehearse their presentations. Also, at the end of each rehearsal, Presenter Coach gives the user a Summary Report which highlights the important pieces of feedback to give valuable, practical guidance, thereby showing the user exactly how to improve their presentation skills and become a confident presenter.

Available On All Platforms

Whereas PowerPoint Presenter Coach was only previously available on the web, Microsoft has now announced that it is now available on all platforms – the web, Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.  This gives users total flexibility about when and where they use it (e.g. it can now be used on the go).

3 New Critiques

Microsoft says that in addition to making its PowerPoint Presenter Coach available on all platforms it has also been given three new ‘critiques’. These are:

– A new capability that leverages the video camera to give a user feedback on their body language.

– A feature that identifies and lists repetitive language i.e., the words and phrases that a person may use too frequently. Presenter Coach then offers a list of synonyms that could be switched with them in the next presentation to keep the audience more engaged with the subject matter.

– Advice about correct pronunciation of words used during the rehearsal of a presentation.

Privacy

For those concerned about privacy on the app, Microsoft says that Presenter Coach does not save any video or audio data from rehearsal presentations.

Recently

Recently Microsoft has been announcing new features to help its ‘Teams’ remote/collaborative working platform compete with other platforms like slack and Zoom which became particularly popular during the lockdown restrictions.  One other service that’s recently been introduced by the tech giant and uses AI (like Presenter Coach) is a Custom Neural Voice, Text-to-Speech (TTS) feature in Azure Cognitive Services which allows companies to develop their own custom ‘brand voice’.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Presenter Coach has already proven itself to be a fresh, useful feature on desktop and as part of several improvements Microsoft made to 365 it’s provided a whole new dimension to PowerPoint which is a popular business program that many thought needed a lift.  Making Presenter Coach available on all platforms gives it extra value, relevance, and flexibility as it enables it to be used on the go which is likely to appeal to many business users.
Lockdown restrictions and social distancing have also made it difficult for users to test their presentation in front of audiences and other contributors (colleagues and friends), so having an expert ‘coach’ on hand at all times could prove particularly helpful to users at this current time. 

This story also illustrates how AI is being introduced more into standard programs in ways that adds real value to users and prolongs the commercial life of those programs as well as creating new opportunities for even more innovation.