Now, if you’re anything like the writer of this blog, speaking in front of others and giving presentations, is not your idea of a fun day. It’s not that you don’t know the material you’re presenting on, maybe you are just uncomfortable in large groups, or get nervous/anxious when presenting. Whatever the reason may be, Speaker Coach built into PowerPoint may help!

What does Speaker Coach Do?

Speaker Coach allows you to record yourself presenting, and provides feedback on a variety of elements:

• Pace
• Pitch
• Use of filler words (like: like; and, um; ahhh, ok…)
• Informal speech/profanity
• Euphemisms
• Using too many words
• Reading word for word off the slide

How does Speaker Coach Work?

In order to use Speaker Coach, you need an internet connected device, with a microphone, Microsoft Edge version 15 or later (Chrome or Firefox version 52 or later), and a Microsoft account (your academic email counts!). Essentially you record yourself giving your presentation, and through Microsoft’s Speech Services, you are given both real-time feedback, and a summary report.
Note: in using this feature, your speech utterances will be sent to Microsoft.

How do I Access Speaker Coach?

1. Open your PowerPoint presentation in PowerPoint for the web (you can access all Office 365 applications, including PowerPoint, through HUB)
2. Click on the “Slide Show” tab, and then select “Rehearse with Coach”
3. (When you are ready to start presenting/recording) select “Get Started”
4. Give your presentation

Speaker Coach had Suggestions… What Now?

Suggestions from Speaker Coach don’t have to be scary! Your summary report will provide you with information on what areas you may work on to improve your presentation. Better yet, Microsoft has a whole page dedicated to explaining why different recommendations are made, and providing suggestions on how to fix them.

• Webpage: Microsoft Support, Suggestions from Speaker Coach
• Plus the Library and Academic Services also has resources on presentations!
  Webpage: RRC Polytech, Presentations & Communication Guide

Resources:

Webpage: Microsoft Support, Rehearse Your Slideshow with Speaker Coach

Webpage: Microsoft Support, Speaker Coach Tutorial

Did you know that with PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 you can transcribe your words, as you present, display them on-screen, in either the same language you are speaking, or translated into another language?!

Let’s reword that: it’s FREE and easy to add real time captions in either the language you are presenting in, or translated into another language. PLUS you can customize the position, size and color of your captions or subtitles!

Why should I put captions or subtitles into my presentation?

Captions are a written version of what is said during your presentation. So for those who may be Deaf or hard of hearing, those who may find it easier to follow by reading rather than listening, or those that like to engage in presentations by listening and reading, captions are a necessary to ensure everyone can access your presentation at the same time, in a way that is meaningful to them. When you take your captions and display them in another language, they are now called subtitles, and are extremely helpful for those who may understand information better in another language.

How do I set up captions and subtitles in PowerPoint?

The first time you use captions, or subtitles, you will need to adjust the settings to match your spoken language, and desired subtitle language. These settings and how to set them up, are outlined on Microsoft’s Support page. Once set up, it’s easy to turn your captions on from either the slide show view or presenter view.
Webpage: Microsoft Support, Captions or Subtitles in PowerPoint

Where else can captions be added?

For the instructors and staff in the audience today, here is some more information on captions, subtitles, transcripts, and descriptions in the various applications used at the College:

• Webpage: RRC Polytech, Accessible Video and Audio
• Webpage: RRC Polytech, Videos in LEARN and Closed Captions
• Webpage: Closed Captioning in WebEx

Here at the Tech Tips: Work Smarter, Not Harder blog, we love free resources, but there is something else we really love…. And that’s when two free resources work together so seamlessly to even further provide supports. A support sandwich if you will 😀 …and today’s lunch special is a support sandwich made of Graphic Organizers in Kurzweil 3000 and Voice Dictation built into Word (with a condiment of Split Screen mode in Windows).

Step 1 – Build your Graphic Organizer in Kurzweil

Open up the desktop version of Kurzweil 3000 and use either a built-in template, or build your own graphic organizer. Write down your ideas, create connections between ideas, and develop a flow for your paper. Edit your graphic organizer until you have all of your thoughts down and are ready to write.

• Tech Tips Blog Post: Graphic Organizers (in Kurzweil 3000)

Step 2 – Open a blank Word Document

Use the split screen mode so that half of your computer screen shows your Graphic Organizer in Kurzweil, and the other half of your screen is a blank Word document. While looking at your graphic organizer, showing you your ideas, how they connect and flow through your paper, use voice dictation in Word to dictate, or to talk through your paper.

• Tech Tips Blog Post: Voice Dictation
• Video: How to do Split Screen in Windows 10

Why? What makes this a recipe for success???

Graphic organizers may support individuals who find it difficult to organize their thoughts, or determine where to start. Voice dictation may support those who have difficulty in writing or typing their thoughts, whether because of a disability, slow typing skills, spelling difficulties, etc… Plus, the majority of individuals are able to speak faster than they can type, so voice dictation might help you “type” your paper faster! Combining these two supports, using the split screen method, allows you to organize your thoughts, see what you want to say, and speak your thoughts faster than you (most likely) could type them!

Last blog post we highlighted voice dictation in Office 365, and this week we want to further build your voice dictation skills with what’s called voice commands.

Voice commands are specific words or phrases that you can say, that Office applications understand as an action to carry out, rather than text to type. For example you can say “delete” to have the last word or punctuation before the cursor deleted, or “delete that” to remove the last section of what was dictated.

Now voice commands are pretty cool, but remembering all of them, or looking up the specific one you need to use can be time-consuming. But, voice dictation and voice commands aren’t an all-or-none style of choice. You can choose to voice dictate to get your thoughts out, then go back and edit using your mouse and keyboard. Or you can voice dictate and edit with voice commands. You can mix and match whatever combination suits you, or the paper you’re writing, best.

Fun fact, you can even use voice dictation to get out all of your thoughts, then use the read-aloud feature of Immersive Reader to listen to what you just wrote, and then edit either with voice commands of your mouse and keyboard. …and, RefWorks has your back when it comes to citations and references!!

Now isn’t that a combination for success!!

Need to review the different resources referenced in this post? Check out previous blog posts for more information!

• Tech Tips Blog Post: Voice Dictation
• Tech Tips Blog Post: Immersive Reader
• Tech Tips Blog Post: RefWorks

Do you find that sometimes you know what you want to say, but get stuck on finding the right words, how to spell those words, thinking about sentence structure or the flow of your paper? Or maybe you find that your thoughts are faster than you can type or write?

You’re not alone! There are so many steps we don’t necessarily think of that go into writing: you need to decide what you want to say, how to spell the words, where to place your hands on the keyboard, and oh no! that red squiggly line showed up and now you can’t stop thinking about the words you spelt wrong aaaaannnndddd now you’ve forgotten what you wanted to type.

*SIGH* There has to be another way….

Well, Microsoft says there is (and we agree)! Voice dictation! Because, did you know that the majority of people can speak up to three times faster than they can write? 3x!!! That’s a lot of time saved, and voice dictation is so easy to use.

But don’t just listen to us, try it out for yourself and see if it works for you!

Webpage: Dictate Documents in Word

Webpage: Dictate Documents in Word for the Web

Always on the move, but want to get some of your work done on the go? Try out voice dictation in Word Mobile!

Webpage: Dictate Documents in Word Mobile

…and btw, Microsoft’s voice dictation is also available (for free) in other applications such as OneNote, Outlook, and even PowerPoint!

Webpage: Dictate in Microsoft 365

Note: the dictation feature is only available for Microsoft Office 365 users …but… if you don’t currently have Office 365, you can access Office 365 programs (for free) through HUB or install them (for free) onto a personal device.

Webpage: RRC Polytech, Microsoft Office Access Information

Have you ever felt “frozen” or stuck when needing to write a paper? Not knowing where to start? What ideas go together? What order to put your ideas in? Should you figure out what ideas go together first, or what order to put those ideas in? Do all your ideas need to be included? How long does your paper need to be? Do you have enough ideas? …………… Cue the frustration, and ultimately, procrastination. 🙁

Graphic organizers… Flow charts… Mind maps… Infographics… Idea maps… These are visuals that help organize your thoughts, and organize all of the information that might be stuck in your brain. And guess what?! Kurzweil 3000, that text-to-speech program available to students for free, that program we like to rave about on the blog? Yeah, Kurzweil 3000 has Graphic Organizers built-in just waiting to help you out!

Graphic organizers can help you to organize your thoughts, group ideas together, develop a flow to your paper, or even be repurposed to help you develop a timeline or a plan to help keep you on track. Kurzweil has different templates available for you to use – simply open up a template and plunk in your ideas. Better yet, you can edit the template to add (or remove) blank sections, or even create your own graphic organizer from scratch!

But, rather than just read our blog post about how amazing and helpful Graphic Organizers in Kurzweil are, why not watch a demo video?

Video: Kurzweil Education, Graphic Organizers

Note: Graphic Organizers are available in both Windows and Mac desktop versions of Kurzweil (not the ReadTheWeb extension), they just may look slightly different than in this video.

…and if you don’t know what Kurzweil 3000 is (we promise to not take offense), but would encourage you to check out these resources on this amazing (and totally free) toolbox of supports.

Webpage: RRC Polytech, Kurzweil 3000

Webpage: Tech Tips Blog Post, Kurzweil 3000

Are you a OneNote user and want to learn how to quickly take text and convert it into a bullet or numbered list? How to quickly create a table? How to quickly move rows of information up or down in a table? How to link information from one page to another to quickly navigate through your notebook? Or how to organize your notebook with quick shortcuts?

Hopefully you noticed the quick/ly trend as this week’s Tech Tips: Work Smarter, Not Harder blog post is… well it’s not our blog post, it’s a post to encourage you to check out “Top Eight Tips for OneNote” from the “Nano Tips for Using Microsoft Office with Mike Tholfsen” LinkedIn Learning Course. In this video you’ll (quickly) learn how to (quickly):

1. Add bullets / create a bullet list
2. Add numbers to create a numbered list
3. Create a table
4. Move rows of information up or down in a table
5. Create a link to a page in your (One)Notebook
6. Create subpages
7. Bulk create pages
8. Record audio (though remember, audio recording of lectures may not be used without instructor permission or an approved accommodation through Accessibility Services)

BONUS! Here’s a ninth tip on how to “Copy Text From Picture in OneNote” (also from “Nano Tips for Using Microsoft Office with Mike Tholfsen”).

Not a LinkedIn user? No problem! As a student at the College you have access to courses through LinkedIn Learning (like the one linked above). All you need to do is sign in from the LinkedIn Learning icon in your HUB account.

Not (currently) a OneNote user, but interested in learning more? Check out our previous Tech Tips: Work Smarter, Not Harder blog post on OneNote!

As we are just about to head into Reading Week for some of our programs, we thought we’d do a special post highlighting some common reading difficulties, and the features that Kurzweil 3000 and Immersive Reader have to support these experiences. …and remember, both Kurzweil 3000 and Immersive Reader are freeeeeee!

Experience: do you find that when reading, you sometimes read words from multiple lines, reading from one line, then jumping up or down lines, and continuing reading? Then at the end having read a sentence that doesn’t quite make sense?

Kurzweil Support: when choosing audio options try the reading unit of line. With this setting, Kurzweil will highlight the line of text it is reading aloud, giving you a visual cue of what is being read.
Video: Text-To-Speech Audio Options (Desktop)
Note: the line reading unit is not available in ReadTheWeb

Immersive Reader Support: try out the line focus setting in Immersive Reader (which is available in almost all applications with Immersive Reader). This setting will focus on either 1, 3, or 5 lines of text at a line, and darken the other lines of text above or below, making it more difficult for you to read from other lines.
Webpage: Use Line Focus in Immersive Reader

Experience: do you find that when reading you skip words, or guess/makeup words you don’t know? If this is you, take a moment to access the built-in dictionaries of Kurzweil and Immersive Reader!

Kurzweil Support:
Video: Dictionaries in Kurzweil 3000 (Desktop)
Video: Picture and Talking Dictionaries in Kurzweil 3000 (Desktop)
Note: only the desktop and online versions of Kurzweil have the picture dictionary (all versions have a regular and talking dictionary).

Immersive Reader Support:
Webpage: Immersive Reader Picture Dictionary

Immersive Reader also has built-in grammar tools to either split words into syllables, or highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs!
Webpage: Text Preferences in Immersive Reader (Edge) (scroll halfway down the page)

Experience: do you find that when reading you can’t always tell where one word begins and ends, or which letters are a part of which words? Sometimes combining two separate words and reading it as one?

Immersive Reader Support: turn on the text spacing option under text preferences (this feature is available in virtually all Microsoft products with Immersive Reader), to increase the amount of spacing between words, potentially making it easier to read.
Webpage: Text Preferences in Immersive Reader (Edge) (scroll to just about halfway down the page)

Kurzweil Support: Kurzweil does allow for users to increase or decrease page zoom, but doesn’t have a specific setting to adjust spacing in-between words.

Experience: is reading in English difficult because you’re translating in your head from another language you are more comfortable with?

Kurzweil Support: Kurzweil has both translation and reading language features, available in all versions on Kurzweil.
Video: Language Options in Kurzweil (Desktop)
Video: Language Options in Kurzweil (Online)

Immersive Reader Support: translation is available in all online platforms of Microsoft products with Immersive Reader.
Webpage: Translation in Immersive Reader (Edge) (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Experience: do you find that reading black text on white paper (or screens) is difficult, or gives you headaches? Or are certain fonts, or font sizes easier to read for you?

Kurzweil Support: in the desktop version of Kurzweil, adjust the background color, or written text color to ones that are easier for you to read. Generally speaking, softer shades of green, blue or purple can be easier on the eyes.
Video: Change Background and Written Text Color in Kurzweil (Desktop)

In the desktop or online versions of Kurzweil, you increase the page zoom to increase font size.
Video: Zoom Settings in Kurzweil (Desktop)
Video: Zoom Settings in Kurzweil (Online)

Immersive Reader Support: in the text preferences of Immersive Reader, you can adjust font size, text spacing, text column size, and page themes (background colors).
Webpage: Text Preferences in Immersive Reader (Edge) (scroll to just about halfway down the page)

Keep in mind that Immersive Reader, and the features outlined in this blog, are available in various MS Office applications such as Word, Outlook, OneNote, Edge and Teams (just to name a few). To find out which applications have Immersive Reader, or where you can access certain features, please visit the below link.
Webpage: Immersive Reader Product & Features Guide

…And if you want to learn more about these amazingly free resources, check out our past blog posts highlighting each of them:

• Blog Post: Kurzweil 3000 – FREE Software
• Blog Post: Immersive Reader

Ever finish writing an essay or research paper and dread the thought of having to complete the bibliography? Or find that you lose your train of thought when you build your reference list as you work on your paper? …or just want to use technology to make your (school) life easier? Tech Tips understands and we’ve got you covered!

RefWorks is an application available to students through the Library and Academic Services department. This application simplifies the process of research, collaboration, data organization, and writing by providing an easy-to-use-tool for citation, bibliography, and reference management. Better yet, it’s already incorporated into Office!

To get started, the Library and Academic Services department has tons of information available on their website to help you become familiar and comfortable using RefWorks:

• Getting started with RefWorks, including reference, instruction and success guides
  Webpage: RRC Polytech, Getting Started with RefWorks
• Step-by-step instructions on how to create an account
  Webpage: RRC Polytech, Create an Account
• How to add references from OneSearch, PDFs, webpages, and other citation applications
  Webpage: RRC Polytech, Add References
• How to use RefWorks in your papers, including tools like the RefWorks Citation Manager, which is the version of RefWorks incorporated into Office that allows you to create your in-text citations and a reference list while working on your paper
  Webpage: RRC Polytech, Using RefWorks
• How to keep yourself, and your references, organized with RefWorks
  Webpage: RRC Polytech, Get Organized with RefWorks

Clicking on links and reading pages of information not working for you? Again, we understand, and the Library and Academic Services Team has already put together an online recording and slide presentation that are available for you to view at your own pace.

• Video: RefWorks Presentation
• Google Slides: RefWorks Presentation Slides

Want to connect with someone directly for RefWorks support? No problem! You can visit in-person at the Notre Dame Campus, room CM43, email rwoodby@rrc.ca, or call 204.631.3424.

Thanks to the Library and Academic Services department for taking the time to share this amazing (and FREE) resource!

P.S. They have so many other resources available and listed on their website!

Immersive Reader is a free set of tools developed by Microsoft built into the latest versions of Word, OneNote, Outlook, Teams, and Edge (among other applications). If you are one of the many, who finds reading or retaining information when reading difficult, Immersive Reader may be for you!

Let’s unpack each of the tools that are a part of Immersive Reader…

Read Aloud

Is a tool that audibly reads text on a page (it reads it aloud 😊). In the Read Aloud tool you can navigate through the text, skipping to only the most important information, or re-reading (re-playing) key pieces of information, and you can also adjust the voice options, changing the readers’ voice or slowing down/speeding up the reading pace.

Text Preferences

Text preferences allows you to adjust the text, including text size, text spacing, column size and page themes.

• Adjusting text size to either increase small and difficult to see fonts, or decrease large fonts to better fit on your screen
• Adjusting text spacing increases the white space between words, which can improve reading comprehension and speed
• Page themes allows you to choose from a variety of page and text colors, which can reduce the experience or severity of eye strain from computer use

Grammar Tools

Is designed to support reading comprehension by allowing you to split words into syl·la·bles, as well as highlighting parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

Reading Preferences

Features settings designed to support visual tracking, comprehension and memorization.

• Line focus allows you to highlight a set number of lines at a time, this can be useful if you experience difficulties with visual tracking, or find that you often lose your place while reading
• Picture dictionary brings up a basic image of many of the words in your text, which may help with word comprehension, and may also support memorization in more visual learners
• Translate changes all of the text on the page into another language, supporting individuals to read and understand text not in their main language

Why should I use Immersive Reader?

Immersive Reader allows each individual to customize their reading experience to better match their learning styles, preferences and needs.

…but wait… Immersive Reader, Kurzweil 3000… which is better?

Neither! They’re both awesome! …so why highlight two resources that are the same? While Immersive Reader and Kurzweil 3000 are similar, they are not exactly the same as each resource has features that the other does not. For example, Kurzweil 3000 allows you to highlight and extract important pieces of information, while Immersive Reader has additional reading preferences and grammar tools that Kurzweil 3000 does not. Kurzweil 3000 also goes beyond reading supports with writing and study supports built-in as well. Keep in mind, both are FREE resources, and there is nothing wrong with using both!

• Webpage: RRC Polytech, Kurzweil 3000
• Webpage: Tech Tips Blog Post, Kurzweil 3000

Resources:

• Webpage: Immersive Reader in Microsoft Edge
• Webpage: Immersive Reader in Word
• Webpage: Immersive Reader for OneNote
• Webpage: Immersive Reader in Microsoft Teams
• Webpage: Immersive Reader in Outlook
• Webpage: Languages Supported by Immersive Reader