You've just finished hosting and recording the teleseminar of your dreams, and now you want to turn that recording into a great income producing product or podcast.
So how do you go about doing it? It turns out that recording a conference call can be tricky, especially if you're planning to re-purpose that recording later as part of a podcast or a multi-media e-book.
Even although recording a conference call can never produce the same results as you would get recording a conversation in a studio, it doesn't mean you can't bias the outcome in your favour.
Here are 5 powerful tips that you can use to create great recordings of conference calls.
A.
Make your call from a reliable handset.
Although you can correct many common sound flaws after the recording is made, it's always easiest if the source is a high quality source to begin with.
- Avoid cordless handsets.
Cordless handsets often have a noticeable background hum.
- Avoid cellular phones.
Cellular phones are susceptible to drop-outs.
They also compress the voice of the caller, removing many of the subtler elements of the voice that lead to a natural sound.
- Be careful using VoIP products, like Skype.
These can also have unpredictable results sometimes superior to a landline, and sometimes grossly inferior.
Test them beforehand, and make sure that your network isn't being used intensively (say, for a large download) while you're in the call.
- Use a quality landline telephone, with a headset.
If you're not using a headset, then you will need to ensure that you're speaking directly into the microphone at all times, otherwise the sound may fade out during the conversation.
Best of all, when using a headset your hands are free to take notes, or manage the call using online moderator tools provided by some of today's advanced conference calling services.
B.
Ask the other participants in the call to use a similar handset.
Even one poor handset on the call can introduce background noise that will become a distraction throughout the call.
For example, one participant with a cheap speaker phone will cause every person who speaks to be echoed and ruin the entire recording.
C.
If possible, use a conference calling service that allows you to record the call from the conference bridge, rather than from one of the handsets.
By recording the call from the bridge, you minimize the drop-off in volume that occurs as phone calls traverse multiple networks.
In addition, if you record from the bridge, no additional equipment is required to make the recording.
D.
Many conferencing services allow individuals to mute themselves, and some services allow a moderator to mute everyone and then un-mute people at appropriate times.
Take advantage of this.
Mute everyone who isn't speaking, in order to reduce background noise.
E.
Use audio processing software to clean up the recordings afterward.
Do not simply publish the raw audio file.
It's easy to improve the audio file with just a few minutes of work.
The Open Source package Audacity is excellent, and the price is right.
The Conversations Network Levelator is also excellent, and also free.
1.
Convert your audio file from MP3 to WAV.
Load your MP3 file into Audacity, and export it from Audacity in WAV format.
2.
Level your file.
Run it through the Conversation Network Levelator.
This simple tool makes all the speakers sound about the same volume.
Drag your file to the Levelator.
A few minutes later you will have a new file called "yourfile.
output" which is a "levelled" version.
3.
Truncate silence.
Human beings naturally pause (and sometimes these are lengthy pauses) between speaking thoughts.
These dead spaces can account for 10% or more of a recording's length.
Removing these spaces improves the listenability of the recording, giving it more energy and making it more engaging.
Also consider editing it out the many verbal ticks that find their way into everyday speech - for example "um", "ah", "you know", and "like".
4.
Adjust bass.
Telephone recordings can have a very flat quality.
Increasing the bass portion of the recording by as little as 6db can add richness and timbre to the recording that simply makes it easier to listen to.
5.
Add introductory music and voice overs.
For a few dollars you can buy high quality stock music from any number of vendors on the network, and record your own introductory text.
Import these into Audacity, and combine them with your spoken files.
6.
Export the file from Audacity as an MP3 file.
Play with the quality settings.
I use Variable Bit Rate, with a quality setting of 5.
Bottom line: turn your recorded conference calls into income producing products, and watch your profits soar.
Are you ready to get started? Then I invite you to sign up for our FREE Conference Calling service, Calliflower, and get started today.