What are YOU doing to bring people into the conversation?
Increasingly we work in a global workplace. As L&D/OD people, we are often painfully aware of challenges to drive engagement and participation when we host training and development sessions. But how often are we thinking about those who are consuming the content in their second or third language? As a small shop, I can't afford (nor is it scalable) to provide local language training in all things.
There are two tools that are easy and (even better) free to use.
The first is Google Slides (pictured above). Simply turn on the closed captions in the toolbar, and your words will be captioned in real time at the bottom of the screen.
The second option is to present with real-time captions or subtitles in Microsoft PowerPoint. You can even have participants scan a QR code, then localize on their viewing device what you are saying to their chosen language. Nifty! And did I mention...free?
There's a caveat, of course. Real time captioning is imperfect and sometimes there may be some goofy text up there. However, if you use a headset microphone when presenting, the captions will be a lot better.
Give it a try!