Exceedingly interesting. A little quiet in recording and only a LITTLE too stilted in style.
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“Exceedingly interesting. A little quiet in recording and only a LITTLE too stilted and 'metronomic' in style.
Overall this is a great podcast and congratulations to you in finding such a cheap and efficient tech support
(your daughter might one day sue you for back pay you know!)
As the last post said your volume level is a little low and if you could raise it a touch - as well as make sure it is level between all episodes, so I don't have to lurch for the phone in the middle of the night as it switches - that would be wonderful.
I've been thinking about this overnight and listening to more of your podcast. Sorry if I am having a hard time expressing exactly what my advice is; rather difficult to capture voice issues in text.
I think it actually comes down to sounding too stilted. You are reading from a fully written word by word script, yes?
You do have somewhat of an up and down in tone metronome quality.
The up and down and spacing betwen words follows a totally regualr pattern rather than varying much with your meaning or content.
The result is somewhat like a chant. Not flat and emotionless but not natural and conversation at all; it is the classic trap to fall into when reading a prepared text; you are reciting at us not speaking to us.
Thus it sounds too hypnotic/sopophric and does not showcase your excellent content half as well as it could.
To understand clearly what I mean please try this experiment:
Turn on the voice memo record function on your phone or just turn on the mic on your computer and now have a conversation with an adult friend. They ask you, "So, Sharyn, what is your latest podcast about then?"
If you answer them and talk normally for 3 or 4 minutes explaining the contents of the episode then play it back you will see what I mean.
- Your voice will sound 100% more engaged, natural and engaging.
Even if you make one or two stumbles it still sounds better. Plus, you can always edit out those errors later before you post a podcast.
I used to do a lot of public speaking and coach it a fair bit; I not being mean to you just trying in my own inept way to help ;-)
If you hear the difference and agree with what I am saying I'd suggest you try this when it comes to recording your podcast:
Instead of reading a script that has the words
"So, the crusaders, lead by Baldwin, marched onto Antioch and suffered greatly from the extreme summer heat."
You instead write your script in note form such as
"Baldwin + crusaders -> Antioch [HEAT!]"
You researched and wrote the material only a few days before; you will NOT forget what you meant to say and when you formulate it as a
sentence on the fly it will SO SO much better and natural. It will engage and hold the interest much more effectively.
As I say, you are not broadcasting the podcast live so you can make mistakes and always go back and edit out / correct any totally egrerious errors without fear.
Even if you leave in the occasional tiny stumble or "errr" I swear the end result will sound so much better.
Or here is an alternative suggestion for recording technique:
Read to yourself SILENTLY a paragraph of your script. Put it down. Hit record and tell us what you just read. Stop recording.
Read the next paragraph silently to yourself, put it down, hit record and tell us what just happened. stop record
... + REPEAT till finished episode.
Most importantly of all - please don't stop recording. This is a very fine series - quiet and slightly metronomic or not.
Please don't take umbrage I am only trying to help you improve what I already rate as a very good podcast.”Read full review »
Nickname, why? via Apple Podcasts ·
Great Britain ·
02/23/13
More reviews of History of the Crusades
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“This podcast is give in a well spoken voice with decent intro music and with a sense of humour. The content so far is pretty typical of the crusades without anything too controversial, not a criticism, see 5 star rating.”
hal thiere via Apple Podcasts ·
Australia ·
04/06/13
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“Nice job covering an interesting period of history. Not quite as entertaining as the history of Rome podcast but appreciate her effort. I do not discern any particular religious/cultural bias as mentioned by some other reviewers. She also presented a particularly well done guest episode...”Read full review »
SkepticalWV via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
08/11/13
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“Wry, pithy, detailed and well paced. Thank you Sharyn!”
RichardBarnett via Apple Podcasts ·
Great Britain ·
06/04/13
Do you host a podcast?
Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Get Chartable Analytics »
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Listen now
Links
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Patreon
Genres
Artwork or description wrong?
Request an update »
Updates may take a few minutes.
Do you host a podcast?
Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Get Chartable Analytics »
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
