A blended learning course means the student is educated both ways – in a traditional classroom and online. In some cases, the traditional classroom setting is more prominent and the instructor merely uses multimedia or online tools to make the learning process more interesting.
An important part of any multimedia material that is used in a hybrid learning course is the audio. While the visuals will make it interesting, the audio should never be disregarded. The sound that learners will hear while they are watching any video is the key to hook their emotions to what is being seen. When you can hook their emotions, it will make the material more memorable and valuable. That will help increase retention of the lesson. Of course, this is easier to do when the audio refers to music. But what about the voice-over? How can you create a voice-over for your blended learning course that will help make it more effective and engaging too?
It is certainly not just about narration. You need to learn how to do it properly so you can hook the learners in your course. Here are some tips that you need to do.
- Plan the voice-over throughout the course. Outline where the voice-over is needed, how it is to be delivered and when it is to share the spotlight with some music. While it is possible to do the voice-over with a background music, there are instances when only a voice-over is needed and there are times when only music is appropriate. You need to know how to combine these two audio forms.
- Consider the delivery of the script. A voice-over naturally requires a script. You want to make sure that the lines are conversational so a natural delivery is possible. You also need to note what tone to use at a particular portion of the script, etc. A monotonous tone is not really appealing to the ears. You want the listeners to feel like they are talking to someone who is friendly and approachable. Although you want the course to be serious, a business-like tone can be boring and you might lose your students that way.
- Time your voice-over. You do not want to talk too fast just to cram everything in your course. Usually, 100 words equate to 1 minute. So if you think that you have too much to say, substitute the words instead. You can use images to illustrate points. Keep your recording brief. That way, the learners will not drown you out when they lose interest. Take note that the voice over is not the only thing that you need to time in the lesson. You also have to time the screen transitions, and any reading time of the students – not to mention the time you need to give them to absorb whatever is being discussed.
- Do not be afraid of silence. Take note that you do not have to keep on talking all the time. You can keep quiet or let the music take over for awhile. When reviewing what was discussed, you can let the screen do the talking and let some background music keep the interest of the learners. Silence is also a good way to make a point or highlight an important line in the script.
- Test the script with the visuals. It is important that you test the script first and make sure that it aligns with the visuals in the multimedia. Not only that, you want to make sure that points that need the right emphasis will be delivered perfectly. If they work harmoniously with each other, you can create a really good presentation for your blended learning course.
All of these tips should help you create the right voice-over for your course. Just make sure that the audio of your multimedia presentation will not steal the show. Let the visuals and the text shine if they need to. Try not to make the sound too loud or overpowering. Sometimes, it is possible to make it too loud that the learners become distracted from absorbing what is being discussed.
A multimedia material for any blended learning course is a combination of a lot of elements. Make sure that you know how to use all of them together to make your course a success.
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