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If you want to learn about Converting your articles and/or eBooks to Audio products, this is a good place to start. Why would converting these products be of benefit to you and your business?

• Almost anyone can create an audio product. (If they know how to proceed)
• Most marketers won’t do it. (So you are already ahead of the game if you do)
• Most marketers don’t use the right techniques. (They don’t have or ever have considered using a director/producer)

Here are a few tips you should be able to apply right away, which will give you a good start at converting articles and eBooks into quality audio recordings.

If you can understand that almost anyone can create an audio product, then you will have the confidence to make your product a success. You just need to know the process.

The equipment you will need is important. Now you probably know or already have a good microphone and audio recording software, but did you consider your “studio environment”. By studio environment I mean a place or room that:

• Is quiet
• Not to big and has very little or no echo
• Has a chair that is comfortable, but in which you can sit in an upright position
• And has a music stand or table top for your script.

Once you have set this up. You now have your “studio” that you will record in.

Now… How do you improve your read?

Here are a few techniques directors use and you can use right away, to improve your audio narration.

Pretend to talk to someone across from you - A big mistake that most non-professional narrators do when reading a script is reading to a “crowd”. In most cases 1 person is listening to your narration at a time. So imagine that you are explaining your content to a friend or business associate. Be conversational and not just read the text.

A mirror in hand — When I was recording voice-overs in professional sound studios, we didn’t always work with professional narrators. And the best way to get someone to give the right style of read was to have them read a few lines while referring back to their facial expression while reading.

For example, a serious read put on a serious facial expression, upbeat and happy, then smile while you read, etc.

Use hand gestures — Be free with your hands. Use them to express yourself as you read. This will give more dynamic variation in the read. This is one reason why these article to audio software programs don’t really cut it… unless you are only interested in making a one time sale and then having customers who are less than impressed.

Also, print out your script and go over it and add or remove anything that will help you accomplish a better read.

Bonus tip: Don’t be afraid to use some natural pauses and put in a few seconds pause after a main point that you want your listener to really absorb.

Now this brings us to why most marketers won’t do it:

• Lack of confidence in their own voice
• Too time consuming
• Too much work

However, you now know that a few of the principal “director’s techniques” will build your confidence. And these same techniques can also be applied to on-camera narration in video. So get yourself setup and start applying these tips for better quality recordings.

How to set up a home recording studio can depend on the location, the walls, even what’s under and above the room. These are 4 tips I personally utilize in my own home studio, as well as my studio away from home. You’ve came to the perfect place to find more helpful information for your home recording studio whether you’re a rookie or a rookie veteran.

1. Save Your Money!

Do not spend your rent money on studio equipment like many people do. This is a very common problem because people feel the need to go after their dreams by risking all of their expenses. They do this with the hopes of getting all their money back in a short period of time. Very seldom does this situation turn out the way people want it to. Start small and finish big.

2. Where to Begin?

Keep it simple when you’re just beginning. Purchase a good computer if you don’t already have one. You need good music production software, a condenser microphone, and a mixer. This is all I needed to get started. More information on this below.

3. Food

A great way to attract people to your studio is a refrigerator. Yes, a mini or large refrigerator will keep your musicians and artists coming back to pay you. People will choose your studio over many others because of this great product that keeps people alive, food. Moreover, you don’t want to have everyone walking around your house, going into the kitchen, and waking people up in the middle of the night to get bottled water. Keep your refrigerator conveniently right next to your sitting area.

4. Water

Many public speakers drink room temperature water before they get up to speak. This same method can be used for your artists. To prevent the redundant throat clearing and overly excessive recording of tracks, drinking warm water is essential.

Bonus Tip

A bonus tip on how to set up a home recording studio is installing carpet in the room. This helps with eating up the sound waves so they don’t bounce all around the room back into your microphone.

Digital audio books have rapidly gained in popularity over the last few years due to their convenience. In the past listening to audio books meant having to deal with multiple cassettes. Tapes were cumbersome and made it inconvenient to listen to a long story. Also cassette tapes could be troublesome due to the fact that they were so prone to damage from heat, etc. When CDs entered the picture they certainly changed the world of audio books for the better. However CDs were still cumbersome and inconvenient albeit less so than tapes.

What has truly revolutionized the audio book industry is downloadable digital audio books. You just can’t beat the convenience of a digital file for a good number of reasons. For one thing, you no longer have to worry about storing and caring for a bunch of cassettes and CDs. You certainly can’t scratch a digital file or break it! Now you can listen to your audio books anywhere you like with an iPod or other mp3 player. You can even listen on your PC or Mac if you like. And for listeners who occasionally require CDs (such as car stereos that don’t have an iPod input) digital audio books are the best of both worlds as they can be easily converted to a standard audio CD.

Nowadays you can find nearly every genre in audio format, from fiction to business to children’s books. And with publishers rapidly releasing both new titles and old classics you’re sure to find nearly all of the titles you would want.