At the time, I didn’t know enough to scout the location before I showed up to record so I’d know exactly what equipment to bring. Or, that if it wasn’t possible to scout beforehand, I should bring floor and tabletop mic stands, as well as long and short microphone cables. There was so much I didn’t know back then.

Wearing headphones will allow you to hear, while recording, exactly what your listeners will hear. That will help you with quality control during recording and editing.

Busy has become a badge of honor. Busy people project an image of importance. But the older I get the more I think of busy people as unfortunate individuals. While they hurry through their days, they miss opportunities to connect with other people, including members of their family. They miss opportunities to learn from elders and nurture new friendships—relationships with real friends, not people looking to benefit from their professional network.

I’ve recorded myself and others in closets, fields, libraries, hotel rooms, and, yes, kitchens. In fact, my own kitchen often becomes a studio whenever I need to record a voice-over for a news story, narrate books or online articles, or make practice vocal harmony recordings to share with members of my band.

Almost anyone can tell a story. But not many people can tell a great story. Great stories inspire us. They are compelling, riveting. Great stories make us want to read and listen again.

No matter which option you choose, the first step will likely be the most challenging. But don’t let fear stop you. Commit to 15 minutes of writing or making a recording on your phone, and I think you’ll be surprised at what happens next.

Reducing the file size also reduces the sound quality. Once the file has been compressed, you can’t retrieve the source file’s original data lost during the compression process.

If you’re a bow hunter out for a target practice session, you take aim at the bullseye before you let the arrow fly. The same is true of aiming for an audience. It’s critical to know who you’re talking to before you turn on a microphone. As much as you’d like to believe that your audience is everyone, it is not.

Think about how the action in a film moves forward with scenes and how a book moves forward with chapters. And then organize your questions in a way that moves your story forward.

Different types of microphones use different pickup patterns, which means that each type picks up sound differently. The most common microphones you’re likely to encounter are cardioid, omnidirectional, bidirectional, and shotgun. Consider each type to see if it’s appropriate for the recordings you plan to make.

We like to imagine that the thing we want to do is too complicated and difficult. We like to make excuses. We like to talk about all the barriers to our success: lack of money, lack of education or skills, lack of time... We want to want to do something grand, but it’s easier not to do it, so we don’t. We then like to hate ourselves for not doing what said we wanted to do.

You didn’t learn to read or write or solve calculus equations instantly, and you won’t adopt new ways of thinking overnight. Like making anything else into a habit, learning new thought patterns takes practice. But you can do it!

Who knew that grandma used to play electric guitar in a rock band and grandpa once planted a thousand trees in Belgium? Stories are how we understand the world. We can learn a lot about ourselves and each other during holiday storytelling sessions.

The loudness of sound is measured in decibels (dB). In time, any sound that’s 85 decibels or higher can cause hearing loss, or other problems, such as tinnitus (hearing ringing, roaring, buzzing, hissing, or whistling sounds that won’t go away).

As is the case with most any project, you need to begin with the end in mind. What do you want to make? Knowing the answer to that question will give you the information you need to gather the tools and information to get started.

One reason for the popularity of audiobooks is that people can be informed and entertained while they do something else: drive, exercise, cook, laundry, clean. Listening to audiobooks allows us to accomplish two things at once — a big boost in the productivity of busy people.

Ideal gifts are personal. They come from the giver’s heart. And what’s more personal and heart-felt than a true story?

Summer gatherings offer great opportunities to tell stories from the past and to create new stories for the future. But most story-telling sessions include arguments. Every person involved remembers something different. We all have our own version of any story, which is why you can only tell what’s true for you.

So how can you make friends with your voice, and get on with recording your podcast or oral history interviews?