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Comment by jamesyun | Hacker News Reader

I'm building Orate, a free public speaking app:

• Users are given a prompt and have 2 minutes to answer.

• Speeches are reviewed by AI and other users.

Speaking eloquently "off the dome" is an incredibly useful skill, improving all your interactions with other people. And like a muscle, you can train it with dedicated practice until it becomes effortless.

It has been very fulfilling to listen to other people's speeches, knowing that we're helping each other pursue our shared goal of becoming excellent communicators.

If you're looking to improve your public speaking, I recommend you give it a try! https://apps.apple.com/il/app/orate-practice-speaking/id6761...

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Cool concept. Small feedback on the first user experience flow.

I downloaded the app to listen and write constructive notes for people, but I can’t enter the app until I’ve given microphone access and recorded a 30s clip. I’m on the bus, and can’t provide that audio now, and I’ll almost certainly forget about the app before I get 30 free seconds this evening. I think you’ll drop a lot of first time users here.

Feedback noted! (rly appreciate it btw)

You can just record a short dummy audio to get through the onboarding flow.

Microphone access is pretty central to the app. Even feedback to other speeches is given via audio (no text feedback). Though reading this makes me understand users may want to just listen and write text feedback. Especially if they're warming up to become speakers themselves.

I definitely don't want microphone access to block you from listening to others. Will be updating this. Thanks!

You could “Pokémon Go” this and allow people to find performances they find interesting on a random street corner anywhere! Great idea!

Hmm interesting idea, although not sure if my users would want to share their location with strangers. It's more designed to be a thing you do at home or on a walk (my favorite) to keep your communication skills sharp.

Part of the beauty of the app is that it's pseudo-anonymous. Nobody knows it's you (unless they can recognize your voice). I think that helps relieve some of the pressure with public speaking.

It would obviously be opt in but it’s just an idea, it clearly might dissolve on contact with reality!

You may find this interesting. "Orate" has a totally different meaning in Spanish. It basically means "Idiot" or "Demented". As in someone that has lost his/her mental abilities.

Plans for android?

It's in the works! I developed the app in React Native, so should be fairly straightforward. My test android device is coming in the mail this week, an Android version should be out within the next month or so.

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