Learning Audacity

Audio Recording, Writing,

Editing and Production

Writing for the ear

"When you wish to instruct, be brief; that our minds take in quickly what you say."

...Cicero, a famous Roman statesman

"... never using two words when one will do."

...Thomas Jefferson, a former president of the USA

Writing for the ear is an specialized form of writing. It is different than most of our writing in school. When we write for the eye, we can use bigger words and if we do not understand, we can go back and re-read the sentences as many times as we want.

When writing for the ear, your audience does not have a chance to see what you have written. They can only hear see what you say. So it is important write in plain language, at about a grade 4 to 5 level, so it is easy to understand.

Fog Index

To calculate your reading level, use the fog index. It takes into the number of words, how many syllables in each word, the number of sentences and the speed of light (joking). There is a rather complicated formula used to determine fog index, or you can simply use an online fog index calculator.

For example, in the above paragraph, the readability is grade 10.

Here are a few dos and don'ts for writing for the ear:

Do:

Use a large font, about 15 to 20 points size, so it is easier to read from a little further way.
Set your line spacing to 1.5 or double, so you can add jot notes .
Set wide margins, at least two or 2 and a half inches wide, so you do not lose you place when reading.
Use words for numbers between 1 and 10, use numbers between 11 and 999. After that use words. It is hard to read out loud a numbers like, 5, 338, 456.

All the above steps help you read your script out loud.

Don't:

Split sentences over two pages
Use big or multisyllable words like multisyllables.

Click here for more on writing for the ear

Doing Interviews

Your first step is to pick a topic . Once you have your topic, you have to writes your own introduction. Remember that no one likes a long-winded introduction. It should be no more than 20 seconds.

Then decide on your questions. There are two types of questions you can ask:

The first question is a closed ended. The answer is usually a short yes or no. For example, you first closed ended question could be:

• Do you think the school week should be 4 days?

The forces your subject answer with either a yes or a no. A close ended question is also less intimidating and allows your subject to warm up to the questions that will follow.

Your second question should be open ended. An open ended question allows your subject to give a longer explanation based answer, rather than a simple yes or no or a one word answer. It gives your subject a chance to explain why they said yes or no.

Here are a couple of questions you could ask:

• How would students suffer from not spending enough time in school?

• How do you think students would spend their extra time?

Your third question is a leading or pointed inquiry. It has an edge to it. Your last question should follow this example.

• How would you prevent students from causing damage, like breaking into people's homes instead of being at school?

This allows your subject to react with some emotion like anger, passion, concern, resentment and show how they really feel on the topic.

Why is this 3rd question so important? Politicians do this all the time. Can you think of any examples where political leaders ask questions like question 3? Sometimes this is called a wedge question. It causes a divide between members of your audience.

The reason I have included a description like questions 3 is to hopefully make you aware of how easy it is to trip people up by playing with words. The lesson I want you to remember is to listen carefully to what you are being asked and be careful as to what and how you answer any questions.

Audacity is a free audio or sound recording and editing program. You will use it to edit and record things for you podcast and any sound production. It is very easy to use.

Audacity is similar to Adobe Audition, which we have access to through the Adobe Cloud. Although, Audition is harder to learn and you have to pay of it.

Here is a link to download your free copy. Audacity Link.

https://www.audacityteam.org/