Beautiful Voice Panel Review

Beautiful Voice is an online speech and language therapy platform. It aims to enable effective home practice for improving speech communication.

It was created by a group of language therapists and biomedical researchers from the University of Oxford working on neurological conditions.

The idea of developing an interactive speech and language therapy came when the team were approached by a person with Parkinson’s who was frustrated with the lack of therapy they were receiving and the resources available for therapists.

CEO and co-founder Andre Hallack said: “We realised that the NHS is very short-staffed with speech and language therapists and there is a lack of resources and technology to support their work. As a consequence, most people don’t get enough therapy or have to wait for a long time for their therapy sessions.

“Therefore, we created Beautiful Voice, which aims to provide toolkits to support therapists’ work, improving their work efficiency and allowing them to provide better treatment to more patients.”

Beautiful Voice is the first speech and language therapy platform to be registered in the UK as a medical device. The certification means the product has undergone rigorous testing and is built upon the latest clinical evidence.

To use the platform, you must create an account on the Beautiful Voice website using your email address. You then go through several steps to set up your profile.

This includes setting personal goals for yourself. The platform gives examples, such as being able to sing happy birthday to your grandchild. One reviewer in our panel aimed to “confidently order a cup of tea at a noisy cafe and be heard and understood”. Another reviewer set a goal of calling up her GP surgery to make an appointment rather than asking her husband to do it.

Other set-up stages include answering questions on your current speech and communication issues, and selecting personal interests (music, travel, politics, sports, science etc).

More than half of the review panel said that set up was "fairly easy” and the instructions were “very easy” to follow.

A reviewer whose speech problems have affected their work as a lecturer and public speaker commented: “I had to learn to navigate the system and practice was needed to find my way around. But once I had done that it seemed straightforward.”

Once a new user has created their account, they’re offered an optional introductory training session call over the phone or Zoom to help with setting up and to answer any questions. These calls are with Andre Hallack, the CEO and co-founder of Beautiful Voice.

“He explained the background to the product and ran through a couple of exercises to make sure I was up and running,” a reviewer recalled. “He was helpful and a sympathetic tutor.”

Another reviewer added: “Andre was helpful and very approachable.”

Speech exercises

Beautiful voice offers a range of voice and speech exercises. You can choose to read words, sentences or paragraphs on topics based on your personal interests. The platform is updated monthly with new speech exercises.

“Choosing your areas of interest for the pieces to read is a really good idea,” a 74-year-old reviewer told us.

There’s also pitch and pace training, as well as a karaoke exercise, where you can sing along to smash hits.

A reviewer recalled: “The first time using it I was a bit overwhelmed with choice. I learned on my own which exercises helped me with my specific needs. I enjoyed figuring it out myself.”

All the exercises are guided to help you practise the activity correctly. You can then listen back to yourself, repeat it or proceed to the next exercise.

Although there is a range of different exercises to choose from, two members of our review panel were concerned about getting bored and the ease of some of the exercises.

“As long as the founders remain open to varying the exercises this is a very helpful tool. The danger is boredom with repetition of the same material,” said a reviewer.

Another added: “I found it interesting to try out but rapidly became bored with the ease of the exercises, I would like to have been challenged more. It would benefit from having adjustable difficulty levels.”

All the reviewers did find the Beautiful Voice platform helpful in some way.

“It’s great to have something that I can use to take charge of improving my speech,” shared a 79-year-old tester.

“The product has made me think about the way I breathe when speaking. I can now keep my speech louder for longer,” said a reviewer whose voice often trembles.

One pleased reviewer shared: “Some of the exercises I will always do now, like breathing, reading out loud and singing. I found the exercise of reading a paragraph out loud then seeing which words were the softest spoken very helpful.”

A reviewer who told us at the start of the review that they have difficulty producing a sound above a whisper, said: “I’m very satisfied, it was like having a speech therapist on call whenever you needed it.”

Analysis and progress

Beautiful Voice provides live feedback and measurement to guide you through therapy and to help you keep track of your progress.

Just seconds after each activity, it analyses your speech and scores it. Depending on the exercise, you can see the stats on your loudness, your speech accuracy, pitch and word quality. Along with the analysis, it provides detailed feedback to help you understand your performance.

It also generates and sends you a monthly progress report which one reviewer described as “motivational”.

When you complete an exercise, you are congratulated with a confetti animation and photos of smiling animals. While reviewers liked being encouraged, a couple did not think the way it is carried out is appropriate.

“The product comes across as slightly juvenile, I would like to see a more serious approach to the exercises,” said one reviewer.

This sentiment was shared with another reviewer who said: “I’m not sure about the animals and confetti being a reward for an adult.”

All the reviewers experienced some technical difficulties with the Beautiful Voice app. During some of the speech exercises, features froze or did not work as they should.

During his introductory calls with the review panel, Andre from Beautiful Voice explained that the platform is a work in progress and is updated monthly with usability improvements.

“There seem to be various faults and glitches with the programme, occasionally the screen froze while I was using it which was problematic,” said a reviewer who often mumbles and slurs their words. They added: “It’s a good app, however it still needs refining and tweaking to iron out teething problems.”

Another reviewer commented: “The inconsistent look and feel of the app makes the product look somewhat amateurish.”

Beautiful Voice’s basic package is free to use. This gives you access to 5 daily exercises of your choice. Our review panel had access to the basic package during the review process.

There are also paid-for packages that give more in-depth features. At £14.99 per month, the ‘Super’ package gives you unlimited access to exercise practice and unlimited access to homework set by a professional speech and language therapist. The ‘Premium’ plan, at £40 per month, offers all of this as well as review of your treatment plan by speech and language therapists, and personalised exercises created for your needs.

“I would not pay for this product at present but when my condition deteriorates more I think I would,” said one reviewer.

However, 4 reviewers all agreed that Beautiful Voice is good value for money.

A 79-year-old reviewer commented: “I think the price is fair and for those who can afford it, it would be worth it for the extra features.”

Another added: “It’s really good that they do 5 free daily exercises for all users so it doesn’t leave anybody out.”