Enhance your presentation skills with the best AI tools for presenters

Being able to communicate effectively is an important and essential skill in the business world. So much so, that speaking and presenting skills can advance your career. However, public speaking requires a lot more than just great ideas. You need to be able to articulate these ideas in a way that is clear, concise and persuasive in range of settings including meetings, presentations and public speaking events.

Not only that, your professional credibility will be judged, on how well you can engage with, influence and captivate the people around you. But, how confident are you that every time you present you are achieving your goals? Do you hook your audience at the start of every presentation? Are your presentations consistently engaging and memorable? And in a pitch situation how often do you win? These are just a few of the many things you need to think about when thinking about presenting. Another aspect is how you use technology in your presentation.

Technology has always helped give businesses a competitive edge. And the same can be true for our presentations. So, we’ve been looking at a range of presentation tools that harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  

AI tools go beyond visual slide design and creation. As well as content generation, storytelling etc, AI tools can provide analysis on speech patterns, including emotion detectors, they offer language enhancement, real time translation, and can analyse large data sets and extract key insights, trends and statistics. 

AI assisted tools can potentially help to clarify our thoughts and ideas, and provide coaching tips on delivery and annotation. So, we’ve had a look in more detail at some of the more popular AI tools around and how they can assist you as a presenter.

1. AI Based Content Creation Tools

If you are short of time or suffering from writer’s block then the new generation of AI based content creation tools can be helpful to either speed up the presentation writing process or be used as an idea generator. 

These tools are most beneficial when writing long form text, so not ideal for creating content for use on slides, but they can be useful if you are struggling with a particular topic or idea, or want to create detailed talking points, or even slick prompt notes for your presentation. 

Here are some (there are dozens!) of the most popular content generation tools:

• Tome inhabits the world of content creation tool, plus visual presentation/slideware generator. It heralds itself as the ‘New Era of Storytelling’. It claims it is the world’s first generative storytelling format to truly harness the power of artificial intelligence — enabling anyone to tell a compelling story. Create and share immersive narratives that look great on any device.
• Jasper.ai can create content in up to 50 copy writing styles and translate copy into 25 languages. It can rework existing content to reflect a specific tone and learns how to speak your brand language over time.
  
•  Copy.ai creates personalised copy in multiple styles and languages. With over 90 templates in 25 languages Copy.ai can be helpful for generating short copy as well as long form blogs. It is helpful for rephrasing copy and changing writing styles if you are looking to freshen up your narrative.
  
• Copysmith is helpful for generating short content and taglines and for auditing existing copy. It can also rewrite or extend copy which can be useful for creating presentation voice over notes.
  
• Longshot incorporates a fact checker and research capability into its content generation software, which is useful since AI generated content can occasionally contain inaccurate or out of date information. 

2. AI Powered Slideware Tools

At SecondNature we focus on helping business executives create impactful and engaging, audience-driven presentations using our proprietary Presentation Mapper(TM)framework (not quite AI, but a highly intelligent framework for creating a compelling structure to your presentations!) and a range of tried and tested storytelling techniques. 

We also recommend slide design dos and don’ts. The role of slideware is to add impact, emotion, drama and emphasis through the use of graphics and images that enhance the spoken narrative. Slides are not intended to tell the story by themselves. But, good slides add weight, professionalism and impact to a presentation. However, creating stunning visual aids can potentially be extremely time-consuming. 

AI-powered visual presentation tools and slide creation tools can assist with ideas, layout, formatting, identifying relevant images, videos and data visualisation. So, let’s take a look at a cross section of some of the AI slide design tools available:

• Decktopus is the world’s No.1 AI-powered presentation generator, and in their words your ticket to deck perfection. Including an image finder, slide note maker, slide content generator, a voice recorder, forms and much more.
• Beautiful.ai has a wide range of customisable templates to choose from that are easily adaptable. Just upload your content and brand assets and this tool will help you to create stunning slides in minutes. It can suggest a range of images from its visual library and recommend additional content. It also allows you to collaborate with team members.
• Designs.ai describes itself as an ‘Agency-as-a-service’ platform which we would probably describe as a full-service creative agency. In addition to comprehensive slide and design generation options, Designs.ai also includes a logo maker, video maker, speech maker – using NLP technology with 50 voice-overs in 15 languages – and a content generator!
• Presentations.ai focuses on business presentation slide generation and the easy-to-use interface allows users to upload their brand assets for customisation. You can input your company’s key selling points to produce more relevant content and design ideas and is a good option if you have multiple presentations to produce.
• Kroma.ai has been created by industry experts and focuses on helping users to create impactful ‘pitch to win’ presentations with specific decks tailored to start-ups and investor pitching. It offers a wide range of creative design assets and includes expert ‘grab and go’ content’ to speed up the creation process.
• Sendsteps.ai is a presentation maker and content creator and includes an interactive element that allows the audience to participate in polls and surveys during the presentation via a web portal using their smartphone. Content can be easily uploaded and customised and new content can be generated to enhance your message. The deck can be exported to PowerPoint or used in the Sendstep application.

There are, literally, thousands more!

3. AI Speech Pattern and Voice Modulation Tools

Our voice, our vocal toolbox, is of course, one of the most valuable communication tools at our disposal. Never underestimate the importance of delivery. The best narrative in the world will be lost if it’s delivered in a boring and monotone voice. So, mastering the art of voice modulation is an essential skill for any presenter.

Here are some key aspects of voice modulation:

1. Pitch: changing the frequency of your voice – high or low – to convey emotion, and add emphasis.
2. Tone: the character of your voice, warm or friendly, commanding or authoritative, vary the tone to create a specific mood.
3. Volume: adjusting the volume at certain points can add emphasis to a particular point.
4. Pace: the speed and rhythm, finding the right pace is important for audience comprehension, particularly for complex ideas and topics. 
5. Emphasis: placing emphasis on specific words to create impact.
6. Pausing: one of the best tools available to the presenter. Did you know there are 9 types of key pauses at your disposal?

At the basic level, AI speech pattern tools can provide real time language translation and transcription of the spoken word into text. Using NLP (Natural Language Processing) and machine learned techniques these tools can also break down the spoken word and offer insights into exactly what is being communicated; not just by the choice of words, but also the sentiment and emotion being expressed through the tone, pitch, speed and annotation. They can identify if the speech conveys positive or negative overtones, assess your level of confidence as a presenter and even detect emotions such as sadness, anger or happiness in your voice.

Many major corporations are already using AI speech analysis and coaching tools – such as IBM Watson Speech and Cogito – to train their staff, particularly in areas like call centres and large customer facing teams. But there are plenty of individual AI speech analysis and coaching tools. Here are just a few.

• Ummo is an AI-powered app designed to help people improve their public speaking skills. It analyses the use of filler words, tracks speech patterns and pace, and provides tips and feedback on how to improve performance.
  
• Orai is an AI powered app for practising presentations and getting instant feedback on areas for improvement. It evaluates public speaking performance, tracks filler words, provides practice exercises and personalised tips to improve delivery.
  
• Poised Poised is the AI-powered communication coach that helps you speak with confidence and clarity. Private and secure, an essential tool for digital-first workplaces.
• Speeko AI app to track your voice and speech patterns in real-time. Simple, friendly alerts keep you speaking your best.
• Yoodli works for corporate presentations – powered by AI  – improve your communication skills with private, realtime, and judgement free speech coaching on your online meetings
• Talkmeup is an AI-powered smart coach that enables you to master the most crucial driver of business success – Communication.
• PowerPoint Yes, really! We couldn’t conclude this without referring to the grandaddy of them all – Microsoft PowerPoint, which now has its own Presenter Coach for PowerPoint

4. AI powered VR Presentation Training Platforms

Virtual reality software platforms allow users to enter an immersive and interactive environment where you can choose from a range of virtual spaces and incorporate your slides, videos and record your presentation for analysis.

These platforms enable the presenter to use voice commands to move through the content and interact with 3D objects. Hand movements and gestures can be monitored through motion tracking devices enabling users to point to virtual objects or change slides. And speech recognition tools can be used to transpose the speech into multiple languages within the virtual space. You can even create your own Avatar. 

VR presentation training platforms provide a safe space to practise and improve your presentation and public speaking skills in a range of different settings from small meetings to large scale conference style events. The AI driven software provides feedback on speech patterns, body language and communication styles. 

Here are a few examples of VR public speaking training platforms currently available:

• Virtual Speech is an award-winning soft skills training platform, with a focus on communication skills such as public speaking, sales, and leadership.  Practise your soft skills in over 40 virtual reality environments. Receive instant feedback on your performance so you can identify areas to improve.
  

• Ovation is a public speaking training platform that offers a wide range of virtual scenarios from a few people in a boardroom to a full-scale conference event. Upload your notes and slides to practise your speech and get instant feedback on filler words, movement and the effectiveness of your communication style. You can watch your recording back in 3D to identify areas of improvement.
  
• Virtual Orator allows you to practise your speech in a range of scenarios with different audience numbers and behaviours, such as friendly, distracted or argumentative. You can practise with your slides, take audience questions and get feedback on speech patterns, pitch and even how effectively you make eye contact with the audience. It’s a good tool for practising in difficult situations.

AI tools enhance human coaching

AI tools can be invaluable in assisting presenters with the presentation creation process and in refining our presentation delivery. And it’s certainly fun experimenting with these new software options.

But it’s important to remember that AI tools work best when used to enhance, rather than replace individualised training, feedback and coaching by an experienced business presentation skills coach. 

And remember our key piece of advice. It’s always all about the audience! No amount of whizz bang images and special effects will work if the premise of your presentation isn’t right to start with!

Improve your presentation skills via training or 1-to-1 coaching.

If you’re looking for help on how to develop compelling, audience focussed presentations, for yourself, or your team, our personalised training or coaching that is tailored to your business, is just what you need!

For nearly 20 years we have been the Business Presentation Skills Experts, training & coaching thousands of people in an A-Z of global blue-chip organisations – check out what they say about our programmes.