How a Chicago Startup is Democratizing Speech Coaching with Help from AI

I’d always been a shy kid, but the story really begins with a stomach-churning class presentation on The Great Gatsby. I was getting up to speak and I was so nervous I had that familiar queasy feeling and just…threw up. It was mortifying—and also one of those moments that stuck with me. I told myself I couldn’t let this fear of public speaking hold me back anymore and resolved to confront it. I checked out a book, worked with a speech coach, and eventually built confidence in my voice. That journey changed my life and inspired me to start Speeko.

I realized how universal this fear was. Ask anyone, and they'll have a public speaking horror story. But the thing that’s not universal is how it impacts certain populations. I saw firsthand coming from a family of Spanish-speakers how it can really hold you back personally and professionally, so I wanted to make coaching accessible to everyone.

When we started Speeko, we were spending nights and weekends working on app-based business ideas. We all had jobs or were in school, so after launching a few projects, we became particularly passionate about this AI-powered speech coaching idea. We applied to a tech accelerator in late 2018, and when we were accepted, it felt like a cosmic nudge. We went all in.

Initially, we were really focused on the research side, trying to build everything from scratch, like our own models for detecting speech patterns. It was nearly impossible.

Speeko works by listening to how you speak and provides real-time feedback on things like filler words, tone, pacing, and clarity. After each session, you receive a personalized, AI-generated report and coaching recommendations. We offer over a thousand interactive exercises and content from renowned coaches.

Additionally, the Gemini app has become integral to our team’s workflow. I’m able to talk through situations with Gemini, and there's so much context now that it has about Speeko, it’s been this incredible accelerator for me professionally. As someone who has perfectionitis, it helps me get the ball rolling and avoid this blank-page problem.

Thanks to Gemini, we're also producing more marketing materials, automating follow-ups, and expanding our reach.

Today, we have 500,000 users all over the world, with over 70% of them based in the US. What's striking is our user base: predominantly women and people of color. This highlights the need for communication confidence-building tools across all communities, which is why our goal is to make speech coaching more accessible for everyone.

Looking ahead, we're excited about the launch of our Android app and expanding AI features that enable us to offer an interactive coaching experience. We want to empower everyone to speak with confidence, regardless of their background or circumstances. Having Speeko help people with this core human skill is such an exciting use case for AI. I think it's one of the most impactful things that can really change your life. It certainly changed mine.