Mirroring

We now have a mirroring feature available when you are recording in SureSpeak. While I touched on this in a previous post involving updates, I wanted to give specific instructions on how to enable this feature. I know it’s something our SLP/Autism users have been asking for, so here it is! For the time being, only recording is available with the mirroring feature–meaning, when you play back the recording, it will not be mirrored. That will happen in the future, however.
1) When in the recording screen, click on “Menu”

2) Click “Flip”

That’s it! Keep the suggestions coming!

Updates! Updates!

Hey SureSpeakers,

We wanted to let you know of a few changes to the site.

Q & A – a new way to communicate

You can now ask questions back and forth using our Q&A feature, which we’re super excited about. You can launch this when you record a video, by clicking the “A question or challenge to send” box. Feel free to use this feature to launch your east-to-west coast battle rap competition.

 

MySpeak page – a better way to view your videos

There’s also a redesigned “My Speak” page where you can view recent activity on your SureSpeak.

 

Awesome Video Player – SureSpeak is cutting-edge

There is also a fancy new video player that allows you to choose a “mirroring” option when recording. This feature was added specifically for our SLP/Autism users. You can find this when you’re recording, by clicking on “Menu”.

 

Connections – manage your “people”

Finally, we’ve added a new connections page that allows you to see who your coaches are, who you are coaching (“SureSpeakers”) as well as who you’ve chosen to view a video once (OnDemand Coach).

 

As part of the ongoing site redesign, there is a new path to courses. If you’re looking for courses, choose “My Courses” below your avatar from your MySpeak page. Choose the course category you want to view, and from there the lesson you want. Or, Freestyle away! If you have an idea, suggestion or a comment, send us an email. Enjoy your SureSpeak experience. Remember, practice makes perfect!

 

–The SureSpeak Team

 

Coaching– what is it exactly?

In the last few weeks, we’ve been throwing the term “coaching” around the office. What does it mean exactly? We’ve been going back and forth, not wanting to alienate any SureSpeak users based on their personal definition of what a “coach” may or may not be.

We want you, SureSpeak users, to know that you can invite anyone to your SureSpeak account at any time to become a “coach”. Likewise, anyone can be your coach–you just need to invite them to your SureSpeak account. If you’re the maid of honor at a friend’s wedding, another bridemaid can “coach” you on your wedding toast. If you’re an interviewee, your college counselor could be your “coach”. If you are a grandmother submitting your rendition of “Send in the Clowns” to YouTube, your grandchild could be your coach. Basically, your coach is the person from whom you get advice, in particular regarding your communication skills. A therapist is a coach, a teacher is a coach and Craig T. Nelson is a coach (well, at least he played one on TV. And he could be a SureSpeak coach, if he wanted.)

Send whatever you are practicing to your coach on SureSpeak. You will be happy you did.

 

Using a Teleprompter

Michael Landrum points out in this article:

“Many speakers mistakenly think that reading a speech from a Teleprompter will be easy, so they stint on the practice. That is a serious miscalculation. While it may be simple enough to read from a scrolling text, it is not so easy to turn that into an energetic, rapport-building speech that successfully moves your audience to action.”

and

“One of the most valuable tools in my coaching kit is my camcorder. Videotape your rehearsals to discover the energy level of your communication. Are you talking to someone, or simply droning on? Is your face animated? Is it too expressive, are you mugging? Play it back with the sound off and see. Is your voice expressive enough? Are you shouting? Cover the screen and just listen to the playback. Remember, the purpose of rehearsal is to make the speech seem easy.”

The Freestyle feature on SureSpeak makes it easy to practice ad hoc speeches and presentations at your own pace and convenience. I ran across this online teleprompter tool that you can use for practice and makes a great supplement to your SureSpeak videos so you don’t have to keep glancing down at your notes.