Guess how you’re going to be a better presenter next year? You hired a coach! Full disclosure-you didn’t hire them; it’s included in PowerPoint starting this summer.

Like most things Microsoft, it’s effortless. You open your presentation and press rehearse. You run through your presentation and you speak like you normally would. As you’re doing this, on screen alerts appear as you speak. You may get too distracted by the alerts at first, but you’ll get used to them. Trust me, you’ll need to run the rehearsal mode a few times.

I’m flawless! What will it alert me about? Glad you asked:

• If you’re speaking to fast or slow (I don’t know if can change the settings to NYC yet)
• If you’re using filler words too much (um, I don’t know, ah, what you, um, mean)
• If you’re using insensitive words or phrases (handicapped could be replaced with something more inclusive)
• If you’re on autopilot (just reading the slide? Your audience can do that themselves. Cut it out.)

After you’re done, you get a report on how you did. How many times you said um, how fast or slow you spoke overall and how many dumb things you could have said more sensitively. It sounds rough, but don’t you want to sound smart when you’re standing in front of a room full of people? Better to learn from your mistakes in the privacy of your own room than from the post surveys you get from your attendees.

This is the tool I didn’t know I wanted and didn’t dream I could ever have. Thanks Microsoft, it’s a tough love feature that will make every conference in the world a better place to learn.

Watch the video here.

Just one of the many amazing tools for the Inclusive Classroom that Microsoft rolled out at ISTE19. Learn about all of them here.