Virtual Reality for Public Speaking Skills

To enhance students' public speaking skills and combat speech anxiety, Montgomery County Community College has integrated a virtual reality software application into its courses and tutoring sessions. VirtualSpeech allows students to practice and record speeches in various authentic virtual environments, such as classrooms or conference stages, and receive feedback. The feedback includes AI-generated content summaries and performance metrics on words per minute, body language, eye contact, and filler words. The software is used in communications courses and is available to all at the college through the Presentation Practice Lab.

Innovators

• Shuktara Das, Research Director, Institutional Effectiveness
• Meredith Frank, Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
• Bridget Haines-Frank, Executive Director, Institutional Effectiveness
• Matthew Kilbride, Instructional Technology Simulation Specialist
• Jeslin Mathew, Assistant Professor, Communication Studies