Audio Recording Guidelines

Hybrid Teaching: Pedagogy, People, Politics
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Thanks for Your Interest!

Thank you for volunteering to record your chapter for the podcast version of Hybrid Teaching: Pedagogy, People, Politics! With the overwhelming interest in self-narration, we’ll present a variety of voices, perspectives, and potentials to our audience of listeners.

To help you sound your best — and to get our recordings as consistent as possible — here are some simple recording tips. Don’t worry, you don’t need fancy equipment to make a clean, clear recording. Just keep in mind these basic guidelines.

Recording How-To

All you need to know to get going

  • Wear headphonesThis keeps you focused on your voice, not your environment, making the recording sound more intimate.
  • Plug in an external mic (like the earbuds from your cell phone)A device's built-in mic makes you sound like you're on speakerphone, which is never a good thing. The headphones from your cell phone work well enough for podcast recording, and they work with your phone or with a Mac. (I can't vouch for Windows devices.)
  • Use simple, built-in softwareFor Apple and Windows devices, just use the built-in Voice Recorder app. For Android, you'll need to download an app.
  • Minimize echoesThe softer your surroundings, the clearer your recording. Avoid large or empty rooms, talking into corners, etc. Clothes closets make great sound booths—not even kidding.
  • Smile and go slowYour voice sounds best when you smile, so pick a day you're in a good mood. And please read slower than you normally speak. Listening to NPR for a bit can give a sense of good pacing.
  • Start with the title and your nameFor continuity, I plan to introduce each chapter's title and author/narrator. But in case plans change — and to help me pronounce your name correctly — please start your recording with the chapter title and your name. For instance, my recording will start like this: “Learning to Let Go, by Chris Friend."
  • Make a mistake? Clap and restart that sentence.A single handclap stands out in a recording and helps me catch mistakes that need editing. Just clap once, then re-start the sentence you were reading. I'll take it from there.
  • Upload to my shared folderClicking this text takes you to my podcast-recordings folder on Google Drive, where can upload your recording. (It's going to be too large to send via email.)