A self-paced public speaking course and presentation skills training for people at every level of an organisation, in any country. You follow one speaker, Ari, through 90 days, from freezing in a meeting to a main-stage talk, and you do the work alongside: nine Scenario Sims and five talks you record in the Speaking Studio, where an AI coach gives feedback on your words, pace, pauses and filler words. Imagine standing up at your next all-hands with an opening you have already said out loud. About 13 hours over 90 days.
Bodhih Public Speaking and Presentation Skills is a self-paced online course for professionals at any level. Nine one-hour modules follow one speaker’s 90-day journey from freezing in a meeting to a main-stage talk, and cover nerves, audience, structure, story, voice, presence, slides, questions and rehearsal. Each module has an animated concept video and a Scenario Sim. Learners record five talks in the Speaking Studio, where an AI coach gives feedback on wording, pace, pauses and filler words, and earn a credential with an Open Badge.
Facts on this page last checked by Siddharthan VGJ, Director, Bodhih Training.
Same racing heart, two stories. The animated concept video from Module 1: why your body sounds an alarm before you speak, and three moves that help.
You knew the material better than anyone in the room. Then your heart raced, the words left, and you read the slide in a shaking voice and sat down. Being told to “just relax” does not help. Understanding the alarm, and having practised what to do in the first minute, does.
Most online public speaking courses are videos about speaking. You can finish one without saying a sentence out loud. Speaking is built by speaking, hearing yourself and trying again, so a course with no recording and no feedback leaves the hard part to you.
Popular speaking advice repeats figures that do not survive a look at the source: the 7-38-55 rule, “feared more than death”, the goldfish attention span, “22 times more memorable”, power-pose hormones. This course says plainly why each of those is a myth, and what the research does support.
For analysts, engineers, specialists and anyone whose work is good and whose updates do not land. You start with a 45-second talk to no one but the Studio, and build up in small steps.
For people who present to leadership, run town halls and answer hard questions. Module 8 puts you in front of a sceptical finance chief; Module 9 cuts your slot from eight minutes to six.
For teams choosing one public speaking training for employees across functions and countries. Picture every person on a team able to give a clear two-minute update, measured before and after.
For people who speak English as a second or third language, and for anyone who presents to mixed audiences. There is no single right style here: any accent, any body, any role, any country.
This course is not for you if you want a live audience and a human coach in the room, or treatment for severe anxiety: it is self-paced skills training, not therapy, and it prepares you for live practice without replacing it.
Four dated findings, each linked to its source and stated with its limits. The trials below tested structured psychological programmes; this course is not one of them and is not a treatment.
In a Canadian community survey of 499 adults in one city, about one in three reported excessive anxiety about speaking to a large audience, and about one in ten said it had seriously affected their life.
Stein, Walker and Forde, “Public-speaking fears in a community sample”, Archives of General Psychiatry 53(2), 1996A meta-analysis of 30 randomised trials found that structured psychological training reliably reduces fear of public speaking, and the gains last. The authors report some signs of publication bias.
Ebrahimi, Pallesen, Kenter and Nordgreen, “Psychological interventions for the fear of public speaking: a meta-analysis”, Frontiers in Psychology 10:488, 2019In controlled experiments, the effect of a statistic on people’s beliefs faded by about three quarters within a day, while the effect of a story faded by about a third. This measures fading influence in an online task, not how “memorable” stories are.
Graeber, Roth and Zimmermann, “Stories, statistics, and memory”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics 139(4), 2024A review of 52 studies found that presentation skill is built by clear objectives, realistic tasks, watching good models, repeated practice, timely feedback, and assessing peers and yourself. The studies were of students in higher education.
van Ginkel, Gulikers, Biemans and Mulder, “Towards a set of design principles for developing oral presentation competence”, Educational Research Review 14 (abstract as indexed by LearnTechLib), 2015Talk 1 is your starting line, recorded before Module 1. Talk 5 is your signature talk, the one you would give to a real audience. Notice what changes between the two recordings, in your own voice. Nobody can promise that nerves disappear, and this course does not; it gives you methods, practice and feedback.
Understand the body’s alarm, use slow breathing, distanced self-talk and small exposure steps, and know what to do when your mind goes blank.
Analyse who is in the room and what they must decide, then cut a talk to one sentence that fits those listeners.
Build an opening that earns attention, a clear line with signposts and a close that asks for something, and speak from an outline, not a script.
Use a story spine and concrete detail, pair one story with one figure, and tell someone else’s story with permission.
Vary pace, pause, pitch and volume, cut filler words with pauses, and be understood by second-language listeners. No accent reduction.
Stand or sit tall, move and gesture with purpose, treat eye contact as conversation, and set up lens, framing and light.
Decide whether you need slides at all, keep one idea per slide, show data honestly and design for accessibility.
Listen, pause, restate, answer and check; say so when you do not know; and answer on the spot with a simple structure.
Plan spaced rehearsal out loud, cut on the fly when your slot shrinks, recover from mistakes and build a feedback loop.
The pathway runs in order: a baseline assessment and Talk 1, then nine modules (the freeze; one idea, for these people; the shape of a talk; the story only you can tell; the sound of meaning; presence, on stage and on camera; slides that serve the speaker; the room talks back; day ninety, and after), with Talks 2 to 5 placed after Modules 3, 5, 8 and 9, and a final assessment.
Measured before you start and again on the same instrument at the end, so the change is recorded rather than claimed.
The baseline assessment, Form A: 20 scenario questions across the nine competencies, about 25 minutes. It is not pass/fail; it sets your baseline, and you take the parallel form at the end.
Record a talk of about a minute in the Speaking Studio, with two minutes to prepare. This is your “before”. The AI coach gives feedback on your words and measures your pace, pauses and filler words. Any recording of 45 seconds or more completes the stage.
What speaking anxiety is, what the evidence honestly supports for managing it, and a plan for the minutes before a talk and for the moment your mind goes blank. Scenario Sim: Ninety seconds to go.
Find out who will be listening, decide what the talk is for, and reduce it to one sentence that every part hangs on. Scenario Sim: Five conversations.
Give a talk a shape a listener can follow: an opening that earns attention, a structure with signposts, a close that asks, and an outline to speak from. Scenario Sim: Build the eight minutes.
Record a two to three minute talk for a named audience: an opening that earns attention, three points with signposts and a close that asks. The AI coach gives feedback on the idea, the fit and the shape.
Why stories work and what is overclaimed about them, a five-part story spine, concrete detail, pairing one story with one number, and the rules of truth and permission. Scenario Sim: The notebook.
The four dials of the voice: pace, pause, pitch and power. Emphasis, filler words, being understood by every listener, and voice care, with no accent reduction. Scenario Sim: The sound check.
Record a two to four minute true story with a point and one number, using pace and pauses on purpose. The AI coach gives feedback on the story and your spoken language, and measures your pauses.
What an audience sees with the sound off: stance, stillness and movement, gesture, eye contact, notes and the lectern, and the camera, with options for different bodies and audiences. Scenario Sim: Sound off.
Decide whether a talk needs slides, cut and rebuild them so that they reduce the audience’s effort, show data honestly, make slides readable for everyone, and cope when the technology fails. Scenario Sim: Twenty-two to six.
Five moves for a hard question, what to say when you do not know, loaded questions, structures for speaking on the spot, and the rooms you cannot see: streams, captions, interpreters and mixed audiences. Scenario Sim: Three questions from Tomás.
The Speaking Studio shows a hard question when you press record. Answer it in about a minute and a half: pause, restate, answer with a structure, check. The AI coach gives feedback on how directly and honestly you answered.
Rehearsal that works, the day before and the day itself, cutting on the fly, recovering from mistakes, using feedback, and becoming a speaker people ask for. Scenario Sim: Day ninety.
Your capstone: record the five to eight minute talk you would give to a real audience. The AI coach gives feedback against all the criteria of the course. Then listen to Talk 1 again and hear the difference.
20 scenario questions across the nine modules. Score 70% or more, with your modules and five recorded talks complete, to earn the Bodhih credential. Three attempts.
Finishing this pathway issues a credential backed by the evidence you produced along the way. It is verifiable by link and is also issued as an Open Badge 2.0, so an employer can check it without taking your word for it.
Module 1 explains the alarm and gives you an exposure ladder of small steps. The sim Ninety seconds to go covers the minutes before a talk and its first minute.
Audience analysis, answer-first structure and a close that asks for a decision, practised in Five conversations and Build the eight minutes.
A story spine, one story paired with one number, and the ethics of telling someone else’s story, practised in The notebook.
Voice, stance, movement and eye contact as choices with effects, not one “leader” style, practised in The sound check and Sound off.
Cutting a 22-slide deck to six in Twenty-two to six, with headlines that state the point and data shown honestly.
Hard questions in Three questions from Tomás, then hybrid rooms, interpreters and captions, and Talk 4, where the Studio shows you a question as recording starts.
What comes with the course, and what the practice is like.
Five talks: Your starting line, Open, three points, close, A story, told with your voice, Think on your feet and Your signature talk. Your browser records audio; the AI coach returns what worked, two things to change and one line to try differently. You can record again, with up to three coached recordings per talk per day.
Ninety seconds to go, Five conversations, Build the eight minutes, The notebook, The sound check, Sound off, Twenty-two to six, Three questions from Tomás and Day ninety. In each you make the speaker’s decisions and see what follows.
Each module ends with two to four checked links to public talks and articles from sources such as Stanford Graduate School of Business, MIT OpenCourseWare, Harvard Business Review and TED. They are links to those sources’ own material, not partnerships or endorsements.
Speak on the Spot; The Webinar and Virtual Summit Kit; The Facilitator’s Workbook Kit; and Ask Better, Get More.
Company seats with reporting on each learner’s progress and before-and-after assessment scores. Audio is not kept, so nobody can replay a colleague’s talk.
Ask about team seats| What is compared | A typical online public speaking course | Public Speaking and Presentation Skills at Bodhih |
|---|---|---|
| Speaking practice | Videos about speaking; you may never speak. | Five talks recorded in the Speaking Studio, from 45 seconds to eight minutes, plus a timed drill in every module. |
| Feedback | None, or peer comments when peers are available. | An AI coach after each recording: what worked, two things to change and one line to try differently, with your pace, pauses and filler words measured. |
| How it is taught | A list of tips. | One story across nine chapters, an animated concept video in every module and nine Scenario Sims where you make the speaker’s decisions. |
| The evidence | Popular “facts” repeated unchecked. | Research cited with its limits, and the well-known myths named as myths. |
| Who it assumes you are | One confident style to copy. | Inclusive by design: any accent, any body, any role, any country. “Stand” is always “stand or sit tall”. |
| Honest limit | Live classes and clubs give you a real audience and a human coach. | No live audience. The coach reads words and timing, not your face or body, and transcripts contain errors. |
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Straight answers on time, price, tools and the credential. If yours is not here, ask us and you will have a reply the same working day.
Anyone who speaks at work, at any level: people who dread a two-minute update, managers who present to leadership, specialists who explain data, and teams who present to clients. There are no prerequisites beyond working English. It is written for an international audience, with no single “right” style to copy.
Not by watching alone. A review of 52 studies found that presentation skill is built by clear objectives, realistic tasks, watching good models, repeated practice, timely feedback, and assessing peers and yourself. That is why this course has you record five talks, hear yourself and try again. It cannot give you a live audience, and no course can promise a result; what you gain depends on the practice you put in.
A microphone, yes: the five talks in the Speaking Studio are recorded as audio in your browser, and a phone or laptop microphone is enough. A camera is optional. You can switch it on as a mirror and for your own playback, and video is never uploaded. The speaking drills inside the modules are recorded on your own phone and stay with you.
Your audio is transcribed and measured for length, words a minute, pauses and filler words. The transcript and measures go to an AI coach, which answers against that talk’s rubric: what worked, two things to change and one line to try saying differently. It reads words and timing only. It does not see your face or body, does not judge accent, and never fails anyone: completion needs a valid recording, not a score. Transcripts contain errors, more often with background noise, so treat the feedback as a coach’s opinion, not a grade.
No. The audio is sent to our speech-to-text provider (Microsoft Azure) to be transcribed and measured, and Bodhih does not keep it; video never leaves your device. The transcript, the measures and the coach’s feedback are kept with your learning record so you can compare your talks.
Yes. Module 1 is about nerves: what the body’s alarm is, why it feels like danger, and techniques with research behind them, taught with their limits. You begin with a short talk to the Studio alone and build up in small steps. It is skills training, not therapy, and it does not promise that nerves go away. If anxiety is severe or affects your daily life, please see a doctor or a qualified mental-health professional.
Yes. The course is in plain English and treats second- and third-language speakers as ordinary speakers, because they are. The coach does not judge accent, and Module 5 teaches being understood, not accent reduction. Transcription can mishear any speaker; if a transcript is wrong, treat that feedback lightly and record again.
Yes. You receive the Bodhih Public Speaking and Presentation Skills credential, issued as an Open Badge 2.0 with a verify page, once you complete all nine modules, record all five talks and pass the final assessment at 70% (you have three attempts). It is Bodhih’s own credential, not a university qualification, and no school or organisation named on this page endorses it.
They do different jobs. A speaking club such as Toastmasters or a live workshop gives you a real audience and human feedback, which matter and which this course does not have. This course gives you a structured curriculum, private practice at any hour and feedback on every recording. Many people will do best with both: prepare here, then take the talk to a club, a workshop or your next meeting.
Yes. Until 10 January 2027 the price shown on this page is a launch price, about half the regular price. After that date the regular price applies.
Yes. Company seats are $79 each, with reporting on each learner’s progress and before-and-after assessment scores. Audio recordings are deleted after transcription, so they are not available to anyone. For seats or a rollout, write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
The course is $99 for an individual, or $79 per seat for companies, with four Pro Kits included. You can start today with the baseline assessment and Talk 1, your starting line. For a team, write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
Starting records where you stand today. That baseline is what the re-measurement is compared against, and it is never rewritten afterwards.
Six practical EI skills for everyone at work, practised in six branching Scenario Sims, with a 30-day practice plan.
Calm angry customers, solve on the first contact and handle complaints well, practised in six branching sims tailored to your sector.
Spoken and written English for work across 27 situations, in your industry. Feedback on everything you write, CEFR-referenced results and a before-and-after certificate.
Measure your team first, plan each person’s growth after, or bring a trainer or coach in. Bodhih’s sister companies cover the rest of the journey.