BUTLER TWP — A new video studio in Butler County Community College's Heaton Family Learning Commons is helping students perfect their communication skills.

The One button Studio, as it is called, is just that. It's operated by a single, silver button and helps students discover and correct behaviors that can interfere with successful presentations.

Ann McCandless, the school's dean of technology, said the studio is helping students iron out issues that might derail them from a successful job interview. “A lot of students have never recorded themselves,” she said. “They don't realize what their quirks and mannerisms are.”

The studio on the main floor of the commons, which opened in August, uses software developed by Penn State University. Students can plug a thumb drive into a lectern in the middle of the studio and use a high-definition camcorder to record themselves giving a presentation.

The studio also allows students to use a projector to add a PowerPoint show to their rehearsal. Once finished, the student can walk away with a standard PM4 video file on the thumb drive that can be edited and critiqued.