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Presentation trainer
The Presentation Trainer (PT) is a research prototype design to support the development of nonverbal communication skills for public speaking. To develop the PT we have followed a design-based research methodology, which consists of an iterative approach, were we design, develop and then test the prototypes. The version of the PT showed in the video is the result of three complete iteration cycles.

To reach to this point we have conducted studies on:

  • The nonverbal communication aspects that affect the quality of a presentation.
  • How to automatically tracked the nonverbal communication of the user.
  • How to provide the user with effective feedback.
  • The effects that the PT’s feedback has in its users.
  • How a human audience perceives a presentation before and after the presenter has practiced with the PT.

Some of the main findings of the studies are:

  • We identified 131 nonverbal behaviors that affect the quality of a presentation.
  • Feedback must be carefully given. Too much feedback is overwhelming for users.
  • On average after 5 practice sessions with the PT users reduce 75% of their mistakes.
  • According to human audiences acting as judges, practicing with the PT leads to significant improvements in the overall quality of a presentation.

The underlying research project is partly funded by the METALOGUE project and the WEKIT project. METALOGUE is a Seventh Framework Programme collaborative project funded by the European Commission, grant agreement number: 611073. WEKIT has received funding from the European Un- ion’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number: 687669.