Speeches & Recordings

Ovation can be thought of as a simulator. The key purpose of a simulator is to enable someone to perform a virtual task with enough repetition that the actions required for success are instinctively applied during its real-world equivalent. Just as pilots use flight simulators to train for flights, so too should speakers use Ovation to train for speeches.

Using Ovation as a simulator requires understanding Ovation’s concepts of Speech and Recording.

Speech

A Speech can be thought of as how a user customizes their surroundings and tools to match a desired speaking scenario. It is essentially a file folder which contains all settings that define the speaking scenario. For example, a Speech could be named JFK Moon Speech and be defined as having:

1. Imported text from JFK's "We choose to go to the Moon" speech at Rice in 1962

2. Standing teleprompters

3. A handheld microphone in your right hand

4. A half-full, informally dressed audience

A different topic, such as The History of Virtual Reality, would require a different Speech with its own settings.

Recording

A Recording can be thought of as an individual instance of practice — it is what is delivered over and over with the goal of incremental improvement. For example:

1. Recording #1 was delivered March 3rd, lasted 4 minutes, and contained 6 spoken filler words.

2. Recording #2 was delivered March 4th, lasted 3 minutes, and contained 3 spoken filler words.

Recordings become embedded in the Speech that was loaded at the time it was delivered. Recordings—linked together by a common parent Speech—can then be reviewed together to assess improvement over time.

In Ovation, a Speech is loaded and a Recording is delivered.

A Speech has a parent->child relationship with Recording(s). First the Speech is loaded and its settings are applied to the venue's Speech Location, then each Recording created while that Speech is loaded is embedded within that Speech. As a user continues to practice, a Speech will contain more and more Recordings -- as many as a user desires until they are satisfied with their performance.

Ultimately a Speech containing a sufficient number of Recordings provides analytics and grades that over time document the user's improvement.