Skills, Speaker Coach, and the student experience: How Springfield Public Schools uses Microsoft Education to deliver content effectively

Presenting like a pro

If educators are the primary vehicle for delivering information and engaging students, then presentation skills matter. Speaker Coach is an Artificial Intelligence powered tool that helps prepare people to give more effective presentations, by evaluating pacing, pitch, and the use of filler words or informal speech, including euphemisms or terms that might seem culturally insensitive. It can assess if a presenter is overly wordy or if they are speaking words on a slide. By calling attention to options for improving their speaking skills, Speaker Coach rehearsals can radically improve the quality of presentation, resulting in more effective delivery of any type of content.

That is why Melissa Zeitz, a Microsoft IEE and a digital literacy and computer science teacher, became obsessed with Speaker Coach almost immediately upon learning of its existence. At first, her interest was driven by a desire to improve how she shared information with her peers. She explains, “I have presented all over Massachusetts about teaching computer science and using digital tools, and I have attended a lot of conferences. I want my presentations to matter, so I started using Speaker Coach to practice every presentation I do. I use it to make sure I am speaking properly, pronouncing everything, not going too fast, and that I am not reading too much of my slides. It has become indispensable.”

Melissa learned to have more control over her tempo and her volume, and most importantly, to be aware of and control vocal fillers that sometimes disrupt the flow of a presentation or lecture, or as she puts it, her “um, um, so, um, like, ums.” 

Melissa’s experience is hardly unique. Mike Thomas, who serves as the Senior Digital Learning Analyst for Springfield Public Schools, notes that when he first started exploring the potential of Speaker Coach within education, he began by using it himself. The results were, in his words, “Fantastic. You can learn about the diverse ways you speak and the language you use, and it captures all of that. Looking back, I do not know if I would have caught any of those things, like the fact that I say ‘um’ a lot when I am just trying to take a pause in my breath so I can continue to the next thought.”

A more effective education

Of course, presentation skills are a core part of the classroom environment and being more effective in front of students is as, or even more, important than being polished in front of peers. Mike notes, for example, that his reading students would often tell him he sounded very monotone, or even keel. He acknowledges that “while the even keel part is good, the monotone not so much. Speaker Coach also helped me change my pitch while presenting.” 

Even in situations where the classroom is hybrid or virtual, Mike notes how the toolset offers invaluable feedback on body language. He says, “Speaker Coach really taught me to look at the camera instead of looking at my screen, as it makes for a stronger connection, but isn’t as natural at the beginning.”

Not surprisingly, the interest in Speaker Coach has spread quickly among the staff. Sean Fitzgerald, the Manager of Technology Operations, explains: “Anytime we can give educators a tool that helps them with their day-to-day job, they're always excited. Speaker Coach isn’t a completely new program or tool itself, it's an enhancement within the Microsoft Office toolset our educators are already accustomed to using. So, I think in that sense it was just a matter of showing them how valuable the tool could be to students and what outcomes it can enable, especially when it comes to presentations and projects.”

Melissa notes that getting educator buy-in has been simple. “When I show them Speaker Coach,” she notes, “they're blown away and they say, ‘How long has this been there? How come I didn't know about this? This is the greatest tool ever. This would have helped me when...’ To which I say, ‘Well, there's always a future for presenting, so you can use it now.’ So, the main reaction has been incredibly positive, a lot of ‘I wish I had known.’”

Integrated into the curriculum

Presentations continue to be a foundational activity in many workplaces, and the reconfiguration of many business practices in a hybrid world involves increased engagement in front of people, and via virtual screens. Getting students ready for the future requires that they also develop a more effective presentation skillset. As Melissa, explains, given her own incredibly positive experience, “I'm starting to trickle it into my classroom, and as more teachers integrate it, we’re looking for them to say to the kids, ‘Hey, you're doing a presentation. You should practice it on Speaker Coach,’ as a best practice for them.”

Part of what makes this idea so appealing is that educators already have so many curricular demands on their plate, and it can be difficult to allot time to new skill building without technology to streamline or accelerate those initiatives. As Mike points out, “School is 180 days at six hours a day, and we must prioritize what is being taught. By having these tools available, it puts less focus trying to always deliver. It gives students the ability to learn for themselves. With tools like Reading Progress, Immersive Reader, and now Speaker Coach, I think we can take that student empowerment to the next level.”