octoprof
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« on: January 30, 2011, 11:11:52 AM » |
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So, I'm teaching this online course and have recorded many lecture videos (voice-over-PowerPoint) and demonstration videos (voice over OneNote -working the problems in OneNote in the same way I work it in a live class).
I hate my voice.
First, I hate the way it sounds. It sounds awful to me when I listen to the videos. It does not sound the way I sound to me when I'm talking live. Others tell me this is a normal reaction but still...
Second, I hate the way I speak as far as word choices and mumblings. Well, not really mumblings, but I don't know the word for "um" or whatever. I also don't like my over use of contractions nor my use of very Southern-sounding words. I don't think my accent sounds overly Southern but I do use some words that Really Must Go.
How do I improve this?
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Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things... Mark Twain
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Professor Dumbledore
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spectacle
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« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2011, 11:34:48 AM » |
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This might sound weird, but does your campus have a radio station?
I recorded a bunch of radio ads for our community development courses, and the radio equipment allows you to hear with pretty good accuracy exactly how you sound as you're recording. Someone else probably knows the language for it, but it's something to do with how the headphones loop back what you're saying into the mic.
If you can play around with that equipment a bit, you'll find that you modulate your voice much differently for recording - the voice recordings I did for my online class after I'd been playing with the radio equipment are about a million times better than the ones I did before.
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I think this thread is going well. Don't you think this thread is going well?
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octoprof
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« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2011, 11:36:22 AM » |
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This might sound weird, but does your campus have a radio station?
I don't think so but I'll find out! |
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Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things... Mark Twain
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Professor Dumbledore
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glowdart
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« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2011, 11:50:27 AM » |
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Are you scripting your videos? That step might at least get rid of the particular words that are irritating you. Script it, then rehearse a few times, and then record.
Are you "talking" to the camera or "teaching" to the camera?
Don't watch the videos? ;)
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octoprof
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« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2011, 12:02:47 PM » |
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Are you scripting your videos? That step might at least get rid of the particular words that are irritating you. Script it, then rehearse a few times, and then record.
Are you "talking" to the camera or "teaching" to the camera?
Don't watch the videos? ;)
I don't watch the whole videos any more, just the parts I know need editing. ;-) I am not scripting them. For the lectures, I'm lecturing on things I've lectured for years and using powerpoint slides that I've developed over several semesters. I did that for one of the early ones and I sounded like I was reading a script, not like I was teaching exciting and new concepts. So, it'll take even more hours and sound scripted. For the demonstration videos, I'm working through an example problem. I don't think a script makes sense there. Since I'm not videoing myself (i.e. no camera needed), it's all about the voice and I'm trying to use the same teaching manner I use in the classroom. I'm not sure I'm succeeding, though. |
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Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things... Mark Twain
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Professor Dumbledore
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glowdart
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« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2011, 12:18:58 PM » |
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Since I'm not videoing myself (i.e. no camera needed), it's all about the voice and I'm trying to use the same teaching manner I use in the classroom. I'm not sure I'm succeeding, though.
Ah.... well, could it just be that you're not used to hearing yourself and that you're being too critical? (It could also be that the speech patterns really are distracting from the content, but just in case, I thought I'd toss out the self-critical aspect.)Honestly, unless you're saying Um every ten seconds, then I think the southernisms and regular placeholders can make you sound more human -- which can help your students to relate to you, no? But, you're right -- it will take a long time to write, practice and record lectures so that they don't sound scripted. Maybe if it is still irritating you, you could make a plan to re-record a couple each semester and gradually replace them over time? |
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octoprof
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« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2011, 12:31:35 PM » |
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Since I'm not videoing myself (i.e. no camera needed), it's all about the voice and I'm trying to use the same teaching manner I use in the classroom. I'm not sure I'm succeeding, though.
Ah.... well, could it just be that you're not used to hearing yourself and that you're being too critical? (It could also be that the speech patterns really are distracting from the content, but just in case, I thought I'd toss out the self-critical aspect.)Honestly, unless you're saying Um every ten seconds, then I think the southernisms and regular placeholders can make you sound more human -- which can help your students to relate to you, no? But, you're right -- it will take a long time to write, practice and record lectures so that they don't sound scripted. Maybe if it is still irritating you, you could make a plan to re-record a couple each semester and gradually replace them over time? My students are much more Southern than I, so they probably don't notice that much. I think your last paragraph is right on point. I'll probably do that since I'll be rotating teaching full online with teaching hybrid for this course for the foreseeable future. |
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Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things... Mark Twain
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Professor Dumbledore
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glowdart
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« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2011, 12:43:23 PM » |
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I think your last paragraph is right on point. I'll probably do that since I'll be rotating teaching full online with teaching hybrid for this course for the foreseeable future.
Would it make any sense to record the hybrid sessions to be edited for later use in the online course? |
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octoprof
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« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2011, 02:16:18 PM » |
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I think your last paragraph is right on point. I'll probably do that since I'll be rotating teaching full online with teaching hybrid for this course for the foreseeable future.
Would it make any sense to record the hybrid sessions to be edited for later use in the online course? The online course is live now. So everything or it exists in advance of the hybrid course, which will be offered next semester. I don't have a way to record what I'm doing inside the classroom (live) and get the quality that I get when recording at home in my erstwhile (not really a) recording studio. Plus, live, you have interruptions and questions (some of which are irrelevant), which the mic won't pick up and I'd look pretty silly wearing the headphones/mic in the classroom. :o) It's an accounting course, so I record what I do on the tablet PC in OneNote and what I'm saying as I work and explain it. I do not record live class or anything that involves an actual camera, because the resulting video wouldn't show the students what they need to see (which is the problem demonstration, not my face or body or the whole board which would be too small to understand). Sorry, I'm rambling... |
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Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things... Mark Twain
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Professor Dumbledore
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glowdart
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« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2011, 02:28:01 PM » |
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Sorry, I'm rambling...
and I'm throwing out potentially useless observations from far away! |
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octoprof
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Posts: 32,747
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« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2011, 02:31:01 PM » |
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Sorry, I'm rambling...
and I'm throwing out potentially useless observations from far away! Bookends! HA! |
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Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things... Mark Twain
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Professor Dumbledore
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wishingiwasfishing
and that someday I will be more than just a
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« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2011, 01:30:54 PM » |
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Hi Octoprof,
I also found that I hate listening to my own voice. I have changed this semester to adding the notes at the bottom of the powerpoint slides with what I would have said if I was recording it and just posting the slides for the students to review at their leisure. I now offer dedicated live chat times, and still record all the examples and the homework solutions.
The students like this format much better because they can then go through the powerpoint at their own pace, and they only have to watch the videos on the homework they had incorrect so it saves them time.
For some of the really difficult concepts, I am still putting together short "explanatory" videos to supplement the powerpoints. The feedback I received last semester indicated the students liked many short videos rather than one long one, so I try to keep them all under 10 minutes each.
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