Astound is like a personal voice coach in your pocket.

Learn to Speak Better

Even if you don’t think you need a personal voice coach in your pocket, you might. I tested out Astound because it looks like it might be interesting for singers or professional speakers, but it ended up having some applicable uses for my own life. The app literally is what it advertises, offering short video lessons beginning with the basics of training your mind and body to become a better speaker or singer. They teach you exercises to relax different muscles on your face, as well as techniques that help with projection and tempo. It gets you thinking about the way you talk, which is better than what many apps do.

For Any Occasion

Astound collects data about your voice, which is displayed in a visual manner so that you can work on the different aspects of it that you want or need to target. While using the app, for instance, I learned that I was speaking at around the same tempo as JFK (Steve Jobs spoke pretty quickly, apparently). Although Astound has a premium membership paywall if you want to use many of its features, the basic introduction is still worth checking out. The more advanced features—such as being able to specifically prep for a speech or focus on your speaking anxiety, etc.—could be worth investigating if any of them appeal to you, as well. No matter what, Astound is a unique app with a premise that can be fun for anyone and useful for everyone.