Sharing your best practices can take several forms. With social media technology readily available, you can record a podcast or video, capture a series of steps and provide voiceover narration or write a job aid that details the procedural steps involved in completing a complicated task. Leave a legacy at your workplace to get respect, reward and recognition.
In the past, professional actors recorded narration for formal training programs. With current technology, anyone can share their insight from their home computer, laptop or mobile device, and publish it for others’ benefit. You’d be surprised that even career interviews are now being done through recordings. Follow these tips for making the best deliverable possible:
- Record in a quiet place, keeping your headset’s microphone about six inches away from your mouth to get a clear voice without ambient or distracting noise. Record a practice session to ensure the setup works. Avoid multiple rehearsals by developing a script in advance. No one wants to waste time re-doing an interview or demonstration. When recording yourself, shut down other applications to ensure your computer operates at peak performance and efficiency.
- Practice completing a series of steps in advance. You may want to produce a job aid so that listeners can follow along with a written procedure as you describe what to do. Resist the temptation to include animation and music unless they genuinely enhance the learning experience. Sharing your best practice should be simple and straightforward. Use conversational language to make it easy to understand and follow.
- Focus on producing a consistent message by keeping your task short, no more than 12 steps. Long presentations tend to lose the attention of the average learner. Rehearse your script repeatedly, but don’t read it. Consciously avoid saying “um” or “ah” to prevent the need for re-takes or complex edits. Speak slowly and clearly, and your listeners will appreciate it. Pause between steps to allow for your learner’s to catch up if they become confused.
- When you’re done recording, do not forget to double check not only the quality but its content. Check on what you’re saying, what was recorded, and more importantly, what you included on the recording. A better recording process is that you will always have something you need to omit or add when necessary. Never stop rechecking just because you think everything is clear and good.
- For recorded interviews, you might have to list down all questions you might need to know from your applicant. Ask them like you would during a personal interview. Remember, you’re getting to know your applicant, so start from there.
Share your best practices for success on any topic by developing a full script and practicing what you want to demonstrate. Then, the actual recording process should go smoothly. Whether you’re addressing a group with an important message, recording a series of screen captures or making an audio podcast, creating a deliverable for publication on social media has never been easier.
