Express Yourself With Audio Files

The first thing a lot of people say to me when I meet them is "I know you. I know that voice."

They know the voice because I use a lot of audio on my web sites. It is a great way to create a richer personal experience and connection with the people who visit your site.

Audio is very inexpensive. I record using the free program http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ . This lets you record directly to your PC, edit and mix. It creates .wav or .mp3 files among others.

You can use any cheapo, cheapo microphone and jack it directly into the audio input plug on your PC. I find the $5.00 mikes from Toys R Us have sound quality that is so poor it is irritating. I recommend against this. You want to be able to be heard.

I went the expensive route. I went to a local music store and bought a small mixing board for $79.00. I tried the Radio Shack first, but it just did not work.

You can get a great quality used Shure microphone with a standard RCA cable for around $100.00. Then you just jack the mixing board into the back of your PC instead of the microphone.

This combination gives you truly professional sound.

I mostly use the audio files as voice overs for Camtasia videos. I will talk about Camtasia in another post, but suffice it to say Camtasia records your computer screen while you run programs or PowerPoints or other things. I prefer voiceover to directly recorded audio on Camtasia because it allows you better control of editing. In plain English, it lets you cut out all the pauses and "Uhs, Ohs, and you knows".