eLearning: When Should You Record Your Voiceover Audio?

by Kevin Siegel   

Adding voiceover audio to eLearning enhances the learner experience. And before you spend thousands of dollars hiring voiceover talent to record your audio, you should know: your voice is fine (nobody likes their own voice so trust me on this, yours will do nicely). I've been creating eLearning for years (and years and years). I've found that the voiceover audio does not have to be highly produced to be effective. In fact, home-grown audio works fine provided the audio doesn't contain loud, annoying, distracting background noise, or the narrator has a very thick accent that hinders learner comprehension.

 

But when should you record your audio? If you're creating a software demonstration or interactive simulation, should the audio be recorded while you're recording the screen actions? Perhaps it's best to record the audio later (after the screen actions have been recorded)?

 

The answer to when it's best to record audio is... wait for it... it depends.

 

When I create video demos with Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, or TechSmith Camtasia Studio, I tend to record my voice at the same time that I'm recording the screen. I find that if I try to record my audio after-the-fact (in the tool itself or in an external program), it's more difficult to synchronize my audio with what's happening in the video. 

 

I find that my "off-the-cuff" video demos sound more natural when I record my voice during the recording process... more informal. You can listen to samples of my audio in videos I've posted to the IconLogic YouTube channel. The audio on my YouTube videos isn't perfect... there's some flubs here and there. But perfect audio wasn't my goal. I was trying to create quick video demos to share with fellow eLearning developers. There wasn't time to go back over the audio or the videos again and again to make things perfect. The videos I've posted to YouTube are known as "just-in-time" videos. In other words, since there isn't time to make them perfect, I record the video, do some minor edits, and just get them out there.

 

So what about interactive software simulations or soft-skills learning? With those kinds of eLearning, when should the audio be created? Since simulations or soft skills lessons are typically produced slide-by-slide (in Captivate, Storyline, PowerPoint, or Presenter), I think it's best to record or import the audio directly onto the slide once the slide is done. All of the eLearning tools will let you record audio on-the-fly... it's really easy to do.

 

On the other hand, easy doesn't necessarily translate to quality. Because none of the off-the-shelf eLearning development tools are great at recording and editing audio files (they'll do the job of course, but they're lacking a lot of essential audio editing options that you'll find in more robust audio software), consider recording your audio externally in tools such as Audacity, a free and really powerful.

 

So what's your audio workflow? What tools do you use for audio? Is there a particular microphone you use? (I've recently picked up a Blue Yeti... it's awesome!) Please feel free to share your thoughts via comments or email me directly at [email protected].

 

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Comments

[Kevin Siegel]

Patrick Haynes, ChPC Manager, Multimedia and Virtual Training, Yellow Pages

I liked your article on audio voiceovers. I agree: the in-app editing for audio is not too great. I've been using a Yeti and Audacity for 3-4 years now and it is huge. I also built a sound box lined with acoustic foam to cut the noise around me. I almost always record outside and import it in, using Captivate and Camtasia (working on getting up to speed in Storyline). It allows me greater control on filters and edits. I can chop all the "umms" and breaths that distract me (and my learners, I presume). Then, when I insert the sound, I match it to the video. Judicious use of video cuts allow me to increase or decrease the clip speed in Camtasia to match everything up. It takes a bit more time; but, I like the results. Thanks for the Skills and Drills. They are a great resource.

Aimee Bosse, Sr Practice Technology Trainer & eLearning Specialist/Developer, Hunton & Williams LLP

Good info on audio this week, thank you! I also use the blue yeti microphone and I love it--simple to use but good recording quality.

Here are some audio recording practices I fell into over the years as the accidental voice-over person:
I follow the same checklist of steps when cleaning up recordings so everything sounds the same. I also scrub out errant ums, ahs and breathing sounds, they are so distracting (for the off-the cuff/JIT recordings I rehearse and do multiple takes and pick the best sounding version).
I record slight variations to make it easier to edit in/out a random word or two later. It's inevitable that others (or myself) want to tweak the script a little later to make it sound better so I'll anticipate variations in phrasing just in case. This has saved me from having to re-record things later.
If I do need to re-record, I'll compile all changes and record at the same time to reduce the differences you can sometimes hear from the original (although the Yeti microphone is really good at making this seamless).
A script on paper is always going to sound different when spoken so I tweak things as I'm speaking to make things sound casual/natural. Also, listening to repetitive words is annoying so I sometimes substitute appropriate synonyms/replacement words.
I save the master/raw audio file and save the final pieces of audio as separate .mp3 files. I include the step # from the script and a portion of the audio spoken in the mp3 filename so I don't have to play every single audio clip to know what it is. Also makes it easier when dropping into projects later.
I update the master script with any changes after recording since we often have to go back and refer to old scripts.
Sandra Wiler, CSE Training Specialist DHHS, Children and Family Services

I always wait. The majority of my demonstrations are software simulations (with additional PP slides incorporated into the demo).

My demonstrations require a lot of additional information/instruction. Once I've completed all of the recording I can get a better idea of the additional information needed.

I write all of my voice-over scripts for each slide in a separate document and do all my voice-over recording at one time. I find that if I record on several different days my voice-over does not sound 'consistent.' My voice might be higher/lower/louder/softer. So I choose to designate one or two days to recording almost all of it, and it's easy to do with all of the script written out.

Also, I record directly in Captivate (on each slide). Because I work for state government, I have an inexpensive Logitech mic, but it works very well.

Mary Saunders, Technical Writer, American Woodmark Corporation

Your article was very timely for our group of tech writers here at American Woodmark. We've recently had one of our largest applications changed to a different format, causing modifications to 42 software simulation tutorials. As the main tech writer for that application, it has been a long process! We have historically recorded our voices for all tutorials and training modules (sometimes from closets in our houses that have doubled as sound booths).

This time, however, we decided to look into a different approach. I experimented with the Text-to-Speech voices available in Captivate 8. Although not completely natural sounding, one or two of them are pretty good. Although it is a little distracting at first, after you get used to the sound of the voice, you barely notice any odd intonations. I watched a YouTube video and found a way to access the VoiceText software to edit the speed, breaks, etc. and then add it back into my Speech Management dialog box. One of the main reasons we are going this way is to make it easier to edit each other's work. Previously, the original person only was able to re-record a video or training. But, hey, what if he/she wins the lottery?