Birkbeck University Boosts Pitching Confidence with VirtualSpeech
Discover how Birkbeck University integrated VirtualSpeech to help students master their business pitches and build confidence for the Pioneer competition.
Highlights
Skills
Essential Public Speaking and presentation skills
400
minutes spent in VR
35
pitches analysed and improved
Higher
confidence and better performance
Customer Introduction
Birkbeck, University of London, is a world-class research and teaching institution, known for its commitment to providing flexible and innovative education.
Founded in 1823, it offers a unique evening study model, enabling students from diverse backgrounds to balance learning with work and other commitments.
The Goal
Birkbeck wanted to provide students with an exciting way to practice pitching for an annual business pitching competition as part of the Pioneer module. The aim was to give students the opportunity to identify their strengths and areas to improve, and to increase their confidence when presenting.
Pioneer Programme Lead
Baldeep Hothi
"Providing you with feedback in the form of data is really helpful because its factual and easy to take on board when it’s presented back to you in stats. You also don’t have people looking at you when you practice, which can really help build your confidence"
The Solution
Finalists of the competition used VirtualSpeech to practice pitches before presenting to the judges. Students received feedback and actionable advice on their body language, tone of voice, speed of delivery, and use of hesitation words. They also practiced answering questions provided to them in real-time by AI avatars.
Results and Benefits
VirtualSpeech has delivered significant benefits, for the different participants. Key results include:
- Increased confidence from practicing in a judgement-free environment.
- Participants are now able to identify, take action and see the difference from the data-driven insights on performance before pitching for the competition.
- The winner was part of the group who used VirtualSpeech to prepare, saying: “VirtualSpeech takes away the feeling of uneasiness and nerves… it contributed to my confidence and gave me the boldness to stand on the stage and say what I had to say… I recommend VirtualSpeech to anyone who wants to do this in future.” - Lilian Ekong, Pioneer, Pioneer Winner 2024
