Amplify

Inspiration

City council meetings are open to everyone, but only some people know how to speak at them. Writing formal testimony, drafting emails to officials, preparing for pushback, these are all skills that take time to learn. Meanwhile, the people most affected by local issues (renters, students, immigrants, non-English speakers) are the least likely to know the process. Amplify closes that gap: if you can describe a problem in plain language, you should be able to participate in your own government.

What it does

Type a complaint in plain English. Amplify generates a formal testimony, podium speech, email, letter to the editor, petition, and social post — in 6 languages. Then it coaches you to deliver your speech with real-time voice tracking, gives you a teleprompter with a 60-second countdown, and lets you send everything with one click. A Q&A section also helps you prepare for any questions you might face based on this topic afterwards.

How we built it

Next.js, React 19, TypeScript. Google Gemini 2.5 Flash generates all 8 outputs in a single API call. Web Speech API powers the speech practice mode, zero external dependencies. Tailwind CSS with a custom editorial design system.

Challenges we ran into

Google's Civic Info API is permanently blocked as of 2025, so I had to build a graceful fallback.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The speech practice mode is a real-time word highlighting and pacing feedback. More than anything people can use this to help express, promote, and voice their issues.

What we learned

The gap between generating text and taking action is where most tools fail, mailto links and tweet buttons took minutes to build but changed everything.

What's next for Amplify

Automatic meeting finder (next council date/time/location), collaborative group testimonies, and PDF export with formal letterhead.

Built With

• llm
• next.js
• react
• typescript