SkillCasting

There is an interesting article over at Learning Visions about audio in e-learning. While the results aren’t scientific, they’re finding that slightly un-polished audio comes across as more authentic. I think in a word, it’s because it’s real.

Having professional talent read a script isn’t the same as the expert explaining it from the heart.

That deep “radio voice” in the perfect sound proof room is too much. If your production is “over-the-top” listeners wonder why it’s so slick and start thinking about what you’re trying to cover up.

Here are three tips to keeping your audio real:

1. Stand-up and talk with your hands. I used to remotely record subject matter experts for technical sales training. While these engineers knew their stuff, they were kinda boring. Even though I was recording these over the phone, I would have them stand up and talk with their hands. I wanted to capture their energy, enthusiasm, and passion. Trust me, it comes through your voice when you do.
2. Never, ever, read a script verbatim. I introduced one of the PowerPoint to Flash tools to my organization and the HR department decided to use the tool to literally read policy to the employees. It was 45 minutes of hell. And oh yeah, it was required for compliance. What a waste. And worse, the tool was blamed for being ineffective. If you’re reading it, save us all the trouble and just send a document out. People read faster than you can speak so save everyone the aggravation. Do use a script as an outline to make sure you stay focused, but don’t let it sound like you’re reading it.
3. Talk from the heart. People won’t remember the exact words you use, they’ll remember the way you made them feel. Speaking from the heart allows you to connect with your listeners. I remember working with an executive who just couldn’t get his words out. He was getting so frustrated during our recording session because he was so concerned with his word choice, phrasing, and perception. After the f-bombs started flying in frustration, I calmly sat him down and just had him talk to me about why this was so important to him. His true passion came through when we talked about how he felt. It was more moving than anything that could’ve been scripted.

Keep your presentations and training real by being authentic.

Okay, I admit I’m not much in the kitchen. But that’s not what attracted me to “How to Slice & Dice an Onion Like a Pro” over at LifeHacker. It was how they recorded it. And it made me think of what else can be recorded like this.

Basically, the author wanted to learn how to cut an onion from a chef. Okay, so we all want to learn new tips, no big deal there. What’s different is that he recorded it with his pocket camcorder, the Kodak Zi6. (Shamless plug: you can see my comparison review between the Kodak Zi6 and the Flip Mino HD here.) The quality is good and more importantly, it’s effective.

This made me think what else can be recorded like this. How can you “productize your knowledge” with something as simple as a $150 camcorder? Could you build a series around it? I think you can.

Lets take a professional plumber. There are all sorts of tricks to plumbing. If you had your camera with you while on a job, you could document how you fix that leaking faucet. It’s nothing fancy and it surely isn’t over produced. It just shows you changing the o-ring or replacing the gasket. This video positions you as an expert and allows you to build your library of solutions. If you added it to your customer facing website, you’d build rapport with your customers by showing them how to do it but since most people don’t want to do it themselves, they’d still call you because they’ve gotten to know and trust you.

How can you build a library of small videos like this around your area of expertise?

Today over at Freelance Switch, there is a post on 5 Passive Income Opportunities for Freelancers. Idea number 4, Sell Subscriptions caught my eye.

The author, Thursday Bram, states that it may be the least passive but it offers the most potential for growth. I concur.

Creating a membership or subscription site does take a lot of work. And lets face it, most of us have years of experience in our industry – not in online video, payment gateways, and websites. If you’re a freelancer, a consultant, or even laid off executive, odds are you don’t have the technical knowledge to pull all this together. What are you to do?

You partner.

Lets face it, you can’t know everything. And if you’re going to be good at something, you have to specialize in it. Why would you expect your online endeavor to be any different? You could find a vendor to sell you an application or a hosted solution but it’s not the same. If a subscription site is going to work, you need a partner and you need to leverage each others strengths.

You need someone who has a vested interest in your online business. Most companies are just all too happy to sell something and then move on. A subscription site isn’t a single traction type of business though. It’s a relationship between you and your subscribers. It’s a long term contract with the potential of substantial reoccuring monthly revenue.

Subscription sites are a great model for passive income streams. Just find a partner to help create the content, help manage the site, and perhaps most importantly, to hold you accountable to actually get it done.