Trainers Talk Tech

I have received a mountain of emails, hits and link backs regarding our first podcast with Jenna. The responses have been extremely positive. Thank you to YOU for tuning in, and thanks again to Jenna for an awesome interview.

In some of the email's I've been receiving, people have asked me what I used to record the session and how I got it all online. Here are the details:

I used Skype. Yes, the free software you can download to make calls using voice over IP. Jenna did not have a Skype account, so I called her cell phone using Skype's land line service - at a whopping .02 cents per minute.

I recorded it using a cool $15.00 tool called Call Recorder from eCamm. It plugs right into Skype and is easy to use:

1. Login to Skype
2. Call the person you want to talk with
3. Click the record button

It's just that easy! It records any conversation in Skype, land line or Skype to Skype.

It saves the recording as a .mov file which I gets into Quicktime Pro and converted to a .wav file. I then took the .wav file and dropped into Adobe Soundbooth. I found some copyright free music, added 4 seconds to the front and back of the Skype recording and then exported it as a .mp3 file.

I use a podcasting host called HipCast to store and catalog my podcasts. Its $9.95 per month and is a killer deal. I uploaded the mp3 recording to hipcast and then embedded it into my site.

In an earlier post, I talked about adding Web 2.0 functionality to your eLearning. I spent $20 on a microphone, $15.00 on the Skype recorder and Soundbooth came with my CS4 purchase. For less than $100, I recorded an interesting conversation and shared it with the world. It took less time to produce it then it did to record it! You can do it too!

Add podcast functionality to your LMS. If you use SharePoint, you can connect to the HipCast stream from the RSS Web Object that comes with it. If you blog, HipCast can auto-feed into your blog. Imagine an eLearning program around leadership that comes with a weekly or monthly leadership podcast, where you interview leaders around the firm. What about a customer service program that allows users to register for the Customer Service Podcast where you interview people in the firm who are doing a great job with customer service. The possibilities are amazing, but you must figure out how to make it work in your environment. The investment is very small, but the impact can be huge!

Now...go build something cool! I'm boarding a plane to ASTD TK 09 in Vegas!