How to record an audio course

Scripting your classes

Before you hit the Record button, you might be thinking "what I'm going to say?". That’s where scripting comes in.
When we talk about ‘scripting’ it’s easy to imagine an in-depth essay that’ll be read out word-for-word to become your class. That approach can work, but it’s only for really highly produced, heavily edited courses. Why? For a start, it takes way too long to write, every time, so if you’re working yourself you’ll never manage it every week. Next, unless you’ve practiced this a lot, like highly produced presenters have, it’s really hard to avoid sounding like you’re reading. And listening to someone reading out a script is really, really boring…

Try to wean yourself off a fully scripted class with bullet points of everything you want to cover. This will become easier over time with practice, until eventually writing a full script will seem unnecessary.
We’ve talked about invisible scripting before, and that’s really what you’re aiming for.
Also, the way you open and close your episodes is really important too!

Recording

This is probably the most difficult thing to conquer when learning how to start an audio course. You can make this difficult for yourself by imagining that you are either “talking to yourself” or ‘talking to a microphone”. Instead, focus on talking to a single person. We talked about who your podcast is for earlier on, your listener persona. If you are a business, you may already have this persona or “avatar” sketched out. Remember, an avatar is basically your ideal customer/listener.
When creating that persona, it’s up to you how much detail you put in. Some people go as far as creating jobs, hobbies, likes, dislikes, family, friends, etc. The point here is that holding a conversation with them, rather than yourself or the microphone, will sound much more natural and engaging. This means that everyone who listens feels like you are talking directly to them. And this leads to building and strengthening relationships over time.

Softwares:

• Voice Memos (iOS)
• Samsung Voice Recorder (Android)
• Audacity

Starter Microphones:

• Your mobile phone microfone
• Samson Q2U Handheld
• GXL2400 USB Microphone
• Blue Yeti USB Microphone

yourself” or ‘talking to a microphone”. Instead, focus on talking to a single person. We talked about who your podcast is for earlier on, your listener persona. If you are a business, you may already have this persona or “avatar” sketched out. Remember, an avatar is basically your ideal customer/listener.
When creating that persona, it’s up to you how much detail you put in. Some people go as far as creating jobs, hobbies, likes, dislikes, family, friends, etc. The point here is that holding a conversation with them, rather than yourself or the microphone, will sound much more natural and engaging. This means that everyone who listens feels like you are talking directly to them. And this leads to building and strengthening relationships over time.

Softwares:

• Voice Memos (iOS)
• Samsung Voice Recorder (Android)
• Audacity

Starter Microphones:

• Your mobile phone microfone
• Samson Q2U Handheld
• GXL2400 USB Microphone
• Blue Yeti USB Microphone