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How can I best help you guys improve your public speaking?

EricFromCanada

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Hey guys, I’m currently working on a product that is meant to help people improve their public speaking, and was just looking for some feedback on what you guys would see as the most valuable things I could do to help people improve their public speaking?

The problem I’m trying to solve:
Being good at public speaking is one of the most valuable skills a person can have, yet there are no real good ways for people to improve their public speaking.
Current options:
Join a toastmasters club. Problems: you will spend more than half your time driving to the meeting, and listening to other speakers give their speeches. If you’re lucky you will get in maybe 20 minutes of public speaking practice. This makes it very time consuming and not very efficient. Meetings are usually once a week, at set times. You can’t choose when to practice, and if you have another commitment at that time, it is likely you won’t be able to practice at all that week.
Get a coach. Problems: not many people can afford a public speaking coach, as a good coach can cost over a hundred dollars for just one session. In addition, they can give you advice, but often times you will have no audience to practice on, making it hard to start improving. The same goes with books, you can get a lot of good advice from them, but until you put it in action, it’s hard to get value from it.

A little bit of background:
Since last November, I have been working on a virtual reality app that helps people improve their public speaking by practicing in front of a virtual audience and receiving feedback on things like voice volume, voice speed and eye contact. In February of 2017 I launched the app, and have so far gotten just over 2,500 installs. The app has gotten a lot of positive feedback from the people using it, but the issue is not enough people have virtual reality headsets to use the app, and I haven't been able to find a successful way to monetize it. (The app can be found here: Beyond VR - Public Speaking VR Cardboard App - Android Apps on Google Play)

The solution:
I’m trying to make a very simple, effective, and affordable product that helps people step-by-step improve their public speaking. In doing so, they will become more persuasive, confident, and interesting when speaking with others, giving them a competitive edge in their work, and social aspects of their lives.

The product:
What I’m thinking of doing is offering a box package that contains tools to help people become better public speakers.
So far the items I thought to include are as follows:
-A Custom designed USB containing video lessons provided by a professional public speaking coach I may partner with. (I would package the USB in a tin).
-A book with exercises and lesson summaries from the video lessons.
-A virtual reality cardboard headset, which would allow people to practice their speaking in front of a virtual audience using the VR app I created. They would also be able to do exercises in virtual reality after each lesson.
-A collection of summaries of the top 5 public speaking books. Instead of reading 1200 pages, it’s condensed into 40 pages to save people time, and get rid of any fluff or repeat.
-Three checklists to go through before an interview, presentation or social event.

The total cost for all of these items would cost around $40 USD, at a low order of each. Based on what I have said would be in the box, what do you guys think would be a fair price for this package?

I would love to hear your guys thoughts on this idea, and what you think would be the best way for me to help people improve their public speaking. Whether you think the box idea has potential, or think I'm completely off base with it, I want to hear your guys' opinions on it!

-Eric

Edit: I just finished building the website and now plan on running ads, to try and get softproof of the idea.
 
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Last edited:

JSM

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I think that building a community and allowing that community to give each other feedback would be extremely helpful. For me, tips and compliments from an audience is helpful and lets me know what I need to work on for next time.
 

Niptuck MD

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As a member of toastmasters for the past three years, I find the humanistic feedback one of the most important reasons for me to even spend time on it. There are numerous clubs and I always get a chance to speak (maybe because of my staunch persistency or because I know some of the clubs VP and Prez’s). Maybe in some cities like LA or NY toastmasters may be a chore to get to but for me it is worth it.

With that being said, how will the user get feedback from actual people? VR is not a bad idea, however other people often times at toastmasters (especially at the Bronze and silver levels) really assess you. As one progresses usually a DTM or a TM that is above the speakers level is the one that critiques him (that is how our bylaws are... ) nonetheless they will pick apart how many times you use filler words, how your body language is, whether or not you fidget while you speak, whether or not you are staring upwards towards the room or if you make eye contact with your audience whatsoever....

Things to consider
 

Blaise84

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Hey guys, I’m currently working on a product that is meant to help people improve their public speaking, and was just looking for some feedback on what you guys would see as the most valuable things I could do to help people improve their public speaking?

The problem I’m trying to solve:
Being good at public speaking is one of the most valuable skills a person can have, yet there are no real good ways for people to improve their public speaking.
Current options:
Join a toastmasters club. Problems: you will spend more than half your time driving to the meeting, and listening to other speakers give their speeches. If you’re lucky you will get in maybe 20 minutes of public speaking practice. This makes it very time consuming and not very efficient. Meetings are usually once a week, at set times. You can’t choose when to practice, and if you have another commitment at that time, it is likely you won’t be able to practice at all that week.
Get a coach. Problems: not many people can afford a public speaking coach, as a good coach can cost over a hundred dollars for just one session. In addition, they can give you advice, but often times you will have no audience to practice on, making it hard to start improving. The same goes with books, you can get a lot of good advice from them, but until you put it in action, it’s hard to get value from it.

A little bit of background:
Since last November, I have been working on a virtual reality app that helps people improve their public speaking by practicing in front of a virtual audience and receiving feedback on things like voice volume, voice speed and eye contact. In February of 2017 I launched the app, and have so far gotten just over 2,500 installs. The app has gotten a lot of positive feedback from the people using it, but the issue is not enough people have virtual reality headsets to use the app, and I haven't been able to find a successful way to monetize it. (The app can be found here: Beyond VR - Public Speaking VR Cardboard App - Android Apps on Google Play)

The solution:
I’m trying to make a very simple, effective, and affordable product that helps people step-by-step improve their public speaking. In doing so, they will become more persuasive, confident, and interesting when speaking with others, giving them a competitive edge in their work, and social aspects of their lives.

The product:
What I’m thinking of doing is offering a box package that contains tools to help people become better public speakers.
So far the items I thought to include are as follows:
-A Custom designed USB containing video lessons provided by a professional public speaking coach I may partner with. (I would package the USB in a tin).
-A book with exercises and lesson summaries from the video lessons.
-A virtual reality cardboard headset, which would allow people to practice their speaking in front of a virtual audience using the VR app I created. They would also be able to do exercises in virtual reality after each lesson.
-A collection of summaries of the top 5 public speaking books. Instead of reading 1200 pages, it’s condensed into 40 pages to save people time, and get rid of any fluff or repeat.
-Three checklists to go through before an interview, presentation or social event.

The total cost for all of these items would cost around $40 USD, at a low order of each. Based on what I have said would be in the box, what do you guys think would be a fair price for this package?

I would love to hear your guys thoughts on this idea, and what you think would be the best way for me to help people improve their public speaking. Whether you think the box idea has potential, or think I'm completely off base with it, I want to hear your guys' opinions on it!

-Eric

How about an app that records speeches 1-5 minutes in length. The speech is then publicly available for viewing by the other members of the app. Members then rank 5 specific aspects of the speech-- these ranking questions are built into the app and automatically pop up after viewing a person's speech. There could also be a space where personal feedback can be written, in addition to the 5 "stock" questions.
 
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EricFromCanada

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I think that building a community and allowing that community to give each other feedback would be extremely helpful. For me, tips and compliments from an audience is helpful and lets me know what I need to work on for next time.
Thanks for the feedback! I'm curious to hear your thoughts on whether you see the box package with the VR app as valuable or not?
 
D

Deleted48496

Guest
How does an online webcam group sound like? It can work like this:
1. Host a session on some topic. "blockchain" for example.
2. People interested in listening about "blockchain" sign up for the event.
3. Once it's time, an online session is started where everyone is connected using webcam. (Something like Google Hangout/Skype)
4. Host can see others. Others can see host.
5. The talk begins!

Any thoughts about this idea? :D
 

Ankerstein17

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Mar 22, 2015
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Edmonton, Alberta
Hey guys, I’m currently working on a product that is meant to help people improve their public speaking, and was just looking for some feedback on what you guys would see as the most valuable things I could do to help people improve their public speaking?

The problem I’m trying to solve:
Being good at public speaking is one of the most valuable skills a person can have, yet there are no real good ways for people to improve their public speaking.
Current options:
Join a toastmasters club. Problems: you will spend more than half your time driving to the meeting, and listening to other speakers give their speeches. If you’re lucky you will get in maybe 20 minutes of public speaking practice. This makes it very time consuming and not very efficient. Meetings are usually once a week, at set times. You can’t choose when to practice, and if you have another commitment at that time, it is likely you won’t be able to practice at all that week.
Get a coach. Problems: not many people can afford a public speaking coach, as a good coach can cost over a hundred dollars for just one session. In addition, they can give you advice, but often times you will have no audience to practice on, making it hard to start improving. The same goes with books, you can get a lot of good advice from them, but until you put it in action, it’s hard to get value from it.

A little bit of background:
Since last November, I have been working on a virtual reality app that helps people improve their public speaking by practicing in front of a virtual audience and receiving feedback on things like voice volume, voice speed and eye contact. In February of 2017 I launched the app, and have so far gotten just over 2,500 installs. The app has gotten a lot of positive feedback from the people using it, but the issue is not enough people have virtual reality headsets to use the app, and I haven't been able to find a successful way to monetize it. (The app can be found here: Beyond VR - Public Speaking VR Cardboard App - Android Apps on Google Play)

The solution:
I’m trying to make a very simple, effective, and affordable product that helps people step-by-step improve their public speaking. In doing so, they will become more persuasive, confident, and interesting when speaking with others, giving them a competitive edge in their work, and social aspects of their lives.

The product:
What I’m thinking of doing is offering a box package that contains tools to help people become better public speakers.
So far the items I thought to include are as follows:
-A Custom designed USB containing video lessons provided by a professional public speaking coach I may partner with. (I would package the USB in a tin).
-A book with exercises and lesson summaries from the video lessons.
-A virtual reality cardboard headset, which would allow people to practice their speaking in front of a virtual audience using the VR app I created. They would also be able to do exercises in virtual reality after each lesson.
-A collection of summaries of the top 5 public speaking books. Instead of reading 1200 pages, it’s condensed into 40 pages to save people time, and get rid of any fluff or repeat.
-Three checklists to go through before an interview, presentation or social event.

The total cost for all of these items would cost around $40 USD, at a low order of each. Based on what I have said would be in the box, what do you guys think would be a fair price for this package?

I would love to hear your guys thoughts on this idea, and what you think would be the best way for me to help people improve their public speaking. Whether you think the box idea has potential, or think I'm completely off base with it, I want to hear your guys' opinions on it!

-Eric

I think this is a valuable service and I can appreciate what you are trying to do.

I see alot of physical items on here. Have you considered creating these in digital format?

Saves you money in shipping and operating your business!?
 
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EricFromCanada

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I think this is a valuable service and I can appreciate what you are trying to do.

I see alot of physical items on here. Have you considered creating these in digital format?

Saves you money in shipping and operating your business!?
I was thinking of offering the option of either physical or digital format to the customer. Physical would cost around $99, and digital would be around $49. My main issue is I'm uncertain on if this product is valuable and solving a need, or not.
 

ApparentHorizon

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A VR audience would make you more comfortable in that setting and marginally improve your actual performance.

Just a couple of years ago I was pretty much socially retarded. Could barely hold a conversation with anyone, couldn't look them in the eyes, etc. There are parts I'm still working on but it's a hell of a grind.

First to get comfortable, I sat in front of YouTube videos and just forced myself to stare into people's eyes. Super weird, but no one was around to judge.

Next was toastmasters. The direct and blunt feedback is so helpful. "You're looking over the audience and into the back of the room. Look at people like you're having a conversation with them." Practical.

If you can combine those 2, and bring it into the living room, you may have something.
 

JSM

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Thanks for the feedback! I'm curious to hear your thoughts on whether you see the box package with the VR app as valuable or not?
I like the idea of a VR app. It’d be a way to easily simulate the pressure of actually speaking to an audience. But as you said, not many people have VR headsets. I think your challenge will be recreating the experience of speaking to an audience.
 
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Ankerstein17

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I was thinking of offering the option of either physical or digital format to the customer. Physical would cost around $99, and digital would be around $49. My main issue is I'm uncertain on if this product is valuable and solving a need, or not.

Don't overthink this.

Do you people struggle with public speaking? Do you think people want to become better public speakers?

If you think yes, then there is a pain point where a customer may be willing to pay dollars for.
 

EricFromCanada

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Don't overthink this.

Do you people struggle with public speaking? Do you think people want to become better public speakers?

If you think yes, then there is a pain point where a customer may be willing to pay dollars for.
Thanks for the advice!
I just finished putting together the website, and now am going to test to see if there is any demand for the product. I was just wondering if you (or anyone) had any feedback or thoughts on how I could improve upon it?
 

Ankerstein17

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Thanks for the advice!
I just finished putting together the website, and now am going to test to see if there is any demand for the product. I was just wondering if you (or anyone) had any feedback or thoughts on how I could improve upon it?

Create a LEAD Magnet.

Talk about the product.
Give a glimpse of what the product will look like, and then tell people if they are interested in recieving the product before the official launch date to put in an email address and information.
Send traffic to the website to test the market.

If people come, and sign up for the information product it shows there is demand.

If you don't get people right away don't get upset or frustrated. You have to discover who your customer is first. So it might take some time and money to target the right customer through PPC Advertising. Set up multiple campaigns and don't be afraid to split test.

Message me if you want 1 on 1 help.
 

SEO Guy

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Page 1
1) Build a community around yourself on Facebook in the form of a group. Make this community a place where people can come to exchange ideas, learn, and share their public speaking experiences with each other.

2) Build an Instagram Account of people FROM the Facebook group giving testimonials. A testimonial can even be of them speaking publicly to a group. Make sure to post pictures and videos with advice and tip as well. I would do 5-8 post giving (tips/help/info) and 1 post asking (testimonial, product, etc).

3) From here you can drive traffic to your website and with a retargetting pixel you can make sure you stay on these people’s minds.

4) SEO. There are 1,000,001 keywords within the public speaking niche that can potentially be easy and low cost to rank for. These are called low hanging fruit. Find these keywords, rank for them, and retarget those people as well.

I’ve built one successful community that lead to a moderately successful product launch and these were the steps I took exactly.

Enjoy and best of luck!
 

EricFromCanada

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1) Build a community around yourself on Facebook in the form of a group. Make this community a place where people can come to exchange ideas, learn, and share their public speaking experiences with each other.

2) Build an Instagram Account of people FROM the Facebook group giving testimonials. A testimonial can even be of them speaking publicly to a group. Make sure to post pictures and videos with advice and tip as well. I would do 5-8 post giving (tips/help/info) and 1 post asking (testimonial, product, etc).

3) From here you can drive traffic to your website and with a retargetting pixel you can make sure you stay on these people’s minds.

4) SEO. There are 1,000,001 keywords within the public speaking niche that can potentially be easy and low cost to rank for. These are called low hanging fruit. Find these keywords, rank for them, and retarget those people as well.

I’ve built one successful community that lead to a moderately successful product launch and these were the steps I took exactly.

Enjoy and best of luck!
Thanks for the tips! How long did it take you to build up your Facebook and Instagram communities to a sizeable amount? I don't know much about Facebook, as I don't even have an account. Although, I do have a pretty good understanding of Instagram and YouTube. Would it be better to focus my time on building the product and just use influencers to shout out my product to those groups instead? Also do you have any advice on how to rank better for those "low fruit keywords"?
 
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