RHETORIC. The app is here!

My friend and business partner, Florian Mueck and I are thrilled to announce the launch of the app for Rhetoric – The Public Speaking Game™. It has been an incredible journey.

A few years ago, we looked for board games specifically designed for public speaking but could not find any. Because public speaking is such an important skill, we thought, why not create something that helps people improve and makes the experience an enjoyable one? And so RHETORIC, the world’s first public speaking board game, was born.

Rhetoric app

The first edition, released in 2011, was a big success, selling out completely to people around the world. The second, limited edition was released in 2015 and it has been just as popular. RHETORIC is now played on all continents and is used by business people, high school teachers, university professors, trainers, Agile learning coaches and people who want to have a unique experience with friends and family

Today, we have brought RHETORIC to the digital world. Our app represents the next step in the evolution of the game. It is the culmination of countless hours of work and an unquantifiable amount of passion.

Going digital has allowed us to add some fantastic features to the game. The two most significant are:

  1. RHETORIC can now be played in different languages! The launch version of the app comes with five languages loaded: English, Spanish, French, German and Catalan. More languages will be added to future versions. (If you would like to see RHETORIC in a particular language and would like to help translate it, please let us know.)
  2. We plan to create additional packs of game cards that will be added to the app. Each new pack will have a special theme (e.g. business, family, travel, etc.). Stay tuned for more details!

RHETORIC is available here in Apple’s App Store* and here on Google Play. It looks great on tablets and smartphones. If you like what you see, we would be so grateful if you would rate the app and leave a comment. It helps spread the word and build the community.

Now, it’s your turn to speak!

*If you are wondering why only my name appears under the icon on the App Store, it is because Apple only allows one name. We used my iTunes account to create the app developer account and so it had to be my name. Google has no such restriction and both our names appear beside the icon on Google Play. The effort, energy and enthusiasm that Florian and I have put into RHETORIC has been 50-50 from Day 1.

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  1. Reblogged this on Health Continuum and commented:
    Quite often, anxiety and public speaking go together. Many people experience sweaty palms, a racing heart and shallow breathing whenever they have to speak in front of an audience. The scientific term for this fear is glossophobia. However, public speaking doesn’t have to be that way. With practice, you can turn your anxiety into pleasure and excitment, and overcome your fears. Here’s a great app created by Florian Mueck and my husband, John Zimmer, that will help you practice your speaking skills with family, friends and colleagues. And, you will have fun in the process!

  2. Hi! 🙂 I would like to know how often does the app update, and if there is new topics added in periodically to increase the bank of topics? 🙂

    1. Thank you for the question. Our plan is to update the app on a regular basis to add more languages and, yes, to add more themes to “increase the bank of topics” as you have put it. (And of course, we will update the app to take care of any bugs that might arise, though thus far, it has been smooth sailing.)

      Our first planned update is already in the works. We will soon be releasing the Family theme of cards to the app. When we do, players will have the option of playing the Classic version or the Family version. We hope to have it available before Christmas. When the update is released, the price of the app will increase (by $1.00 or so); however, anyone who has purchased the app before the release date will get the update for free.

      I hope this answers your questions. If you have others, just let me know. And if you decide to buy the app and you like it, please leave a review and rating on the App Store or Google Play.

      Many thanks!

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Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International