Exploring the Literary World
Adverts
LikeSo is a speech analysis tool that helps teens understand how often they use 14 filler words such as “like,” “actually,” “good,” and “fair.”
The app also analyzes the user's voice to get the best speed. LikeSo, called “Your Personal Speech Coach”, includes two games: TalkAbout and FreeStyle. TalkAbout includes 11 categories, including popular culture favorites and debate teams.
FreeStyle allows users to practice their lines, focus on favorite topics or just chat about whatever they want. When the user speaks, the app records the number of times they speak the filler and keeps it in sync. Finally, LikeSo will compile a detailed report that can be saved and compared with future sessions.
The first choice between two LikeSo games: TalkAbout or FreeStyle. For TalkAbout, select a topic, the speaking time for each prompt (30 or 60 seconds), then tap the list of words you want to “train.”
Start a conversation based on the question or comment that comes up. You can also pause time or move this reminder to another reminder. After completing the order, review your report.
For FreeStyle, click on the speaking time (1, 2, 5 or 30 minutes) and the word you want to train and start speaking. When finished, review the results, including the session analysis. You can also view the results history to compare from different sessions.
Adverts
This app looks like a game, but behind the fun is a serious purpose: to help improve formal presentation skills.
By raising awareness of common words used by teens, LikeSo shed light on the impact of repeated use of these words on listeners and speakers. In casual conversations with friends, filler words can be fine, but for tweens and teens who are used to saying words like “like” and “right”? During conversation, it can be difficult to speak in speeches and interviews.
This great app has two downsides: first, it's easy to monitor your speeches and avoid the usual padding in a game designed for users (except during a 30-minute meeting), but it's not like that.
It totally sucks, but without some support it might not translate into a formal statement. Second, LikeSo does not contain speech-enhancing abilities, which can be a particularly useful addition to the app. At the time of this review, there was a blog on the app's companion site that provided more information, but more skill integration could help transfer skills to actual speaking tasks.
