The Use of Virtual Reality in Public Speaking Training: Design of a dedicated tool

Given their significance in many management contexts, public speaking skills are increasingly valued by organizations. Not always innate, these skills can fortunately be acquired through practice. However, due to their intrinsic social aspect, opportunities to refine these skills in real-life settings are scarce. Faced with such limitations, Virtual Reality emerges as a suitable and innovative solution. By simulating public speaking scenarios, it allows users to practice in front of an audience, albeit a virtual one. The added value of Virtual Reality public speaking tools is therefore clear, but the optimal training approach and environment design are not of a basic nature. In order to identify best practices, a dedicated Virtual Reality training system has been developed and will be presented in light of the scientific literature. The objective of the present research project is to leverage the system to investigate unanswered questions pertaining to the perception of virtual audiences, the evaluation of public speaking performance, and the effectiveness of such tools.