Stand and Deliver Your Digital Story
Do you think telling your digital story is similar to how you give a presentation? Or maybe it is like how you share stories from your vacation with a group of friends? Or maybe it is similar to how you present your part of a group project? Or maybe it is like how you see yourself voicing your favorite character in a play? Or the voice you use to tell a story to a class of young children? Or maybe it is like how you naturally talk every day?
You could deliver your digital story in of any of these ways when narrating it to others. But none are likely the right way to tell your digital story. That can’t be done until you find the right voice, tone, tempo, and feeling for the story you want to tell at that moment.
Narrating a story is an art form. Many people would argue that some people can do it and others can’t. But it’s true that everyone has a story to tell. And the most compelling person to tell your story should always be you. It’s about you finding the right voice, tone, tempo, and feeling to tell the story you want to tell.
Tom Kuhlmann, in his blog titled 13 More Tips to Help You Record Narration Like the Pros, provides a high level list of thirteen tips for how to narrate better for eLearning courses:
- Place your microphone in the right position.
- Record a demo to make sure it all sounds right.
- Listen to the audio playback with headphones.
- Don’t get distracted with animations and annotations.
- Make sure your script is conversational and easy to read.
- Stand up while recording.
- Don’t ad-lib.
- Have plenty of liquids available.
- Get rid of the plosives.
- Record 10 seconds of silence.
- Relax and don’t rush your words.
- Mark your retakes.
- Dampen the sound.
My favorite advice from the whole list is to stand when you record. It makes a difference because it frees you to move around, to animate your story, to breathe better, and to talk with your hands.
That standing point for me made a big difference in my narration because it made feel alive in the story I was telling. I may have limited experience in telling digital stories but I gained confidence in telling my first digital story by standing and delivering it with the voice, tone, and tempo that felt right for the digital story I was telling.
If you want to learn more about finding your voice for narration, I recommend starting with the following resources:
5 Tips To Find Your Narrative Voice For Your eLearning Course
How to Develop a Perfect Speaking Voice – wikiHow
How to Narrate: 15 Steps (with Pictures) – wikiHow
How do you find your right voice, tone, tempo, and feeling for the digital story you want to tell?
