Essential Public Speaking with VR
Perfect your public speaking and communication skills with a combination of online classes and virtual reality.
Course overview
Online with VR
CPD Certified
58 online lessons
Digital certificate
8 VR scenarios
5 hours to complete
Course outcomes
Overcome a fear of public speaking and feel comfortable speaking in front of audiences of various sizes
Know key theory and techniques to deliver effective and memorable speeches
Easily design your presentation to engage and persuade your audience
Manage nerves and become a confident public speaker with practice in VR
Engage and connect with your audience through storytelling
Enhance your message with body language, eye contact and gestures
VirtualSpeech courses have been completed by employees at companies including:
Improve your public speaking with virtual reality
Over 70% of HR professionals believe that public speaking is critical for career success, yet 74% of people have speech anxiety which stops them reaching their potential.
This course provides you with the fundamental tools of communication to help you manage your nerves and feel more confident in front of an audience.
The immersive training allows you to practice your speaking skills in the safety of VR environments, as often as you need to. Be better prepared for your next meeting, presentation or event.
Learn with a self-paced online course and practice in VR, as often as you like.
Online learning, done differently
We combine online learning with VR for a unique learning approach. At certain points throughout this public speaking course, you'll be prompted to practice what you've learnt in VR.
Learn in online classes
Complete a series of videos, quizzes and case studies through our online platform - available to access at any time.
Practice in realistic VR
Practice what you learn in realistic VR scenarios, helping you to overcome nerves and improve your delivery.
Improve with feedback
Receive feedback on your performance to help identify areas you need to improve to become an effective public speaker.
Featured in
Course curriculum
- Overview of the VirtualSpeech VR app and course. We explain where to download the app and how VR can help you improve your public speaking. We end this section with a brief history on public speaking.
- Course overview
- Welcome
- VR and the VirtualSpeech app
- History of public speaking
- VR training: Conference presentation
- Rhetoric is an important part of public speaking and persuasion. This section covers the key aspects of rhetoric, as we explain what makes speeches easy to listen to and how to add these to your speech.
- What is rhetoric?
- Rhetorical situations
- The canons of rhetoric
- Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 pillars of persuasion
- What makes speeches easy to listen to?
- It’s vital that you understand and connect with your audience during your speech. This section covers the different types of audience members, how to maintain their attention and cope with distractions.
- Example: Connecting with stories
- 4 types of audience
- Maintaining the attention of your audience
- Making your presentation more interactive
- Interacting with the audience at the event
- Example: Be careful with audience interaction
- VR training: Audience and event distractions mini-course
- Questions from the audience
- Guide for handling audience questions
- Planning is a vital part of public speaking. Learn how to pick a topic and what to ask yourself before writing your speech. We also show an example product demo, to help you plan for this scenario.
- Questions to ask yourself
- Choosing a successful speech topic
- Purpose of your speech
- Using statistics in your speech
- Example: Planning for a product demo
- Impromptu speeches are amongst the hardest you will do. Learn how you can prepare for these situations and practice in our impromptu VR scenario.
- Think fast, talk smart
- VR training: Impromptu speaking scenario
- Impromptu speech topics for practice
- In this section, we provide frameworks and examples for how to write and structure a speech, with a particular focus on the introduction.
- Structuring your presentation
- The importance of the beginning and end
- How to start a speech
- The INTRO model
- INTRO model example - Jamie Oliver
- Example: Comparison between two introductions
- Opening phrases to avoid
- How to end a speech
- Presentation and slide design
- Literary techniques are a powerful way to engage your audience. We examine the techniques used by Obama, Churchill and King in some of the world’s most famous speeches.
- Useful literary techniques
- Literary techniques example - Barack Obama
- Example: Two speeches analysed
- Great speeches that use literary techniques
- VR training: Literary techniques mini-course
- Nerves are an inevitable part of public speaking. Practice your speech in our large VR conference, before learning how to manage anxiety from an expert.
- VR Preparation: TEDx Talk at short notice
- VR Training: TEDx theatre (speech insights)
- Example: Body language and nerves
- Managing anxiety
- Reducing your nerves
- Example: Nervous speaker
- From warming up your voice, to actually delivering your speech, this section covers all the fundamental topics required when delivering a speech.
- 3 easy to implement speaking tips
- Exercises to warm up your voice
- Example: Comparison between two vocal ranges
- Average speaking rate, with examples
- Example: Speaking pace
- Importance of eye contact
- VR training: Eye contact mini-course
- The final section of this course gives you simple communication tips and a checklist to go through before your next speech.
- Simple rules for effective presentations
- Checklist for before and after a presentation
- VR Training: Two additional rooms
- Course completed
Example videos
Throughout this course, you'll get to watch real-life video examples of the skills being taught, including how to start a presentation, use your voice effectively and answer audience questions.
Learn from these videos and transfer their skills to your own communication.
Your instructor
Dom is Curriculum Lead for the Public Speaking course. He's an entrepreneur, VR enthusiast and engineer with a passion for finding new ways to improve speaking skills using technology. Previously, Dom worked at Jaguar Land Rover before leaving to develop the VirtualSpeech app, and now speaks at events around the world.
VR Training: Scenarios for this course
Practice your public speaking with the leading VR training app on the market. At key points during the online part of the course, you'll be prompted to practice what you've learnt in one of the following VR training scenarios.
Note: You can practice in these scenarios and repeat the VR training as often as you like.
Eye contact training
Improve your eye contact and learn how to connect with the audience in this VR scenario. Gamification and heatmaps allow you to review where you are looking and areas you are neglecting.
Impromptu speech training
Practice quick thinking and impromptu speaking by talking about the content of a random slide every 30 seconds. You’ll develop a valuable skill and be able to answer questions more naturally.
Sound and visual distractions
It’s easy to get distracted by the audience and venue. Learn how to deal with sound and visual distractions, including mobiles phones ringing, audio feedback from speakers and lighting.
TEDx theatre - speech analysis
Receive feedback on 15 different areas of your speech, including persuasiveness, aggression, and openness. Great for understanding how your audience is likely to perceive you.
Formal or charity speech
Practice giving a formal or charity speech in our decorative room, styled after the popular Orchid Room at The Dorchester hotel in London.
Meeting presence
Practice leading a meeting, presenting and answering questions. You'll also be quizzed on what the avatars tell you and receive feedback on your presentation.
Lecture hall
Deliver a speech in our large lecture hall. Load slides and use the speech analysis feature to track progress.
Conference presentation
Deliver a conference presentation in our popular training environment to around 100 people.
350,000+
Learners in VR
4x
Faster than classroom training
6
Learning awards
Improve faster with these VR features
Our app is full of useful features to help you become a more effective speaker.
Upload slides and notes
Practice with your own presentation slides and notes in VR with you.
Speech analysis
Receive feedback on your eye contact, speaking pace, filler words and more.
Audience distractions
Learn to deal with audience noises, mobile phones ringing and stage lighting.
"As someone who suffers from public speaking phobia, this threw me right into the lions den... I encountered flaws in my approach that I would not have discovered until the actual event."
- Ish Laos
"Insanely useful for someone who wants to learn to speak in front of people... I'm now the 'pitch man' for our company, and my pitches opened the door to our (now completed) seed round of funding."
- Jordan Brook
"VirtualSpeech helps conquer stage fright and get someone accustomed to what it feels like to be presenting to a crowd, and thus prepare for the same situation in real life."
Kit Eaton - The New York Times
What's included in this course
- 5 hours to complete
- 6 case studies
- 8 VR training scenarios
- All VR features
- Quizzes and assessment in VR
- Earn a digital course certificate
- Flexible, self-led format
- Access to updated content
CEU - Continuing Education Units
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
CPD Credits / Hours: 5
Certificate No: A031338
This course is in the following learning tracks
Info about VR headsets
The course works with popular VR headsets, including the Oculus Quest 2, Pico Neo 3 and Vive Focus 3.
Need a VR headset?
If you don't already have one, contact us and we'll help you figure out which headset is the best for you.
