Helpful Tool
Jul 04, 2012
By
Andy Bowyer
In another discussion, the idea of "timing narration" came up.
As a professional narrator, I'll always be a fan of having audio recorded before any time-specific work is done (i.e. timing to video) but in those cases where it just can't be done that way, there is a pretty cool tool out there I'd like to share:
There are several "written word to spoken word" calculators out there, but this one is about the most accurate I've seen to date. Now granted, nothing is ever 100% accurate, and such tools should be used as guidelines only. But like I said, this one seems to be pretty slick.
Stick it in your toolbox today!
ab
6 Replies
This is a really great tip and tool! We like to begin with "This course takes about XX minutes" and this will help! Thanks!
I've seen that exact verbiage in several scripts.
But like I said, be careful: these things don't account for "activity" time or situations where the learner must do reading that's independent of the narration. Don't forget to account for those things as well, and remember, this tool is only useful for putting in a script and getting the approximate time it'll take to narrate it at a given pace.
Regardless, I'm glad you like it, and hope it comes in handy again and again!
ab
Hi Andy - thanks for this. This will certainly help me out.
cheers
Sarah.
Hello Andy - nice tool and easy to use, thanks for posting!
Andy,
That's really a cool tool. Wondering do you add audio with your narration and do you have a specific guideline as to the length of your narrations? What I learned in grad school was not to go over 6 minutes because you could lose your audience. Do you have any specific tips on recording? Just curious.
James.
James, given that I'm "just a narrator" and not an eLearning designer, I essentially take scripts that are handed to me and say the words. I've narrated eLearning shows that went in excess of 30 minutes, however. But understand that wasn't a "single" narration for a that length, rather individual files or slides that were spread out over an entire course, or series of modules. I'm not sure if there's a rule of thumb about narrative lengths. You'd have to ask a design expert on that one.
As for "adding audio to narration," do you mean music/sound effects? If so I have both the tools and resources to do that, but only typically do so if a client requests it.
As for recording tips: get a good mic and a good digital interface. Find yourself a nice *quiet* recording environment that creates as little room ring (echo) as possible. Then find some editing software you're comfortable working with, and have a blast. That's what I do. I love working with audio. Next to being with my kids, it's my favorite thing.
ab
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