Unless you’re delivering a read-only course (isn’t that just a glorified e-book???), there’s a good chance you need to figure out the audio aspect of your course. If you’re on a budget, then read on my friend!
Equipment you need:
- Recording software
- Audacity (Free for Mac and PC)
- GarageBand (Free for Mac)
- Microphone. Let’s face it…. No one is going to want to listen to you if you sound like you’re talking through a funnel! So invest in a microphone. It doesn’t have to be too expensive. You can get a decent microphone in the $50-$150 range.
Regardless of if you are doing audio alone or audio and powerpoint or video, you’ll want it to sound great. Here are some tips for making sure your audio sounds great:
- Accept the fact that you are going to have to practice. If you’re not use to speaking into a microphone, it’s probably going to feel awkward. The more you do it, though, the more comfortable you’ll get with it.
- When you change the volume of your voice, increase or decrease your distance to the mic as needed. You should move back for the louder parts of your speech, and move closer for the quieter parts.
- Be careful with the letters p and b as well as s and f. These letters tend to be picked up extra clearly on an audio recording and can be distracting due to the popping sounds they make.
- Turn your head away from the mic when you take a breath.
- Record in a quiet place. Use towels, blankets, linens, etc. to add insulation to keep the room you’re recording in as quiet as possible. Eliminate background noise like appliances and let people know that they need to stay quiet, or better yet, stay away while you’re recording. Listen closely to your recording when you finished for any ambient noises. Even your computer’s fan might be picked up in the recording.
- Speak clearly and a bit on the slow side. Obviously, you don’t want to be annoyingly slow, but depending on how fast you normally speak, you might need to slow down quite a bit.
- Sit tall and straight. It sounds silly, but your voice will sound better if you do.
- Make sure your mouth is not too dry. Keep water handy and sip in between recordings.
Like I said before, this can all apply whether you are recording the narration to the power points, just audio. With the right tools and a little practice, you’re course audio will sound velvety smooth!