Poised

We've all been there before: you listen to yourself on a call recording and immediately cringe. One, because it's always awkward to hear your own voice.

And two, because you notice some things you didn't notice on the call. Maybe you really started hearing how much you say "uhh" or that you were rambling for way too long.

Poised is a communications coach that gives you live feedback as you're on a call. We think this is an interesting add to your toolkit for anyone looking to more deliberately improve the way they speak.

Tracking your every move

We like Poised because there are so many ways you can improve that you will never know about without it. Nobody will give you feedback on your speaking unless you ask them explicitly. And even then, they won't be paying close attention.

Poised does, and it covers a lot:

• Filler words
• Energy
• Facial expressions and eye contact
• Hedging
• Interruptions
• and more

All the little things that have slipped by you for all these years. It's cool to have your very own coach pointing out your tendencies.

Standard vs. style

One thing we are cautious of, however, is the ability to maintain style while using Poised. Sometimes, things that sound bad are actually core to your role in a meeting. Someone who interrupts a lot might actually be doing something very important when they're doing that.

So we take Poised recommendations mostly as suggestions. It's just good to know that some of these things are happening. We might fix them, we might not.