Requuuuuest Request Request Request!

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maoFv4bleV0
(the coding wasn't working, or more likely, I have forgotten how)
Kindly watch this and give me feed back! The sound quality is kind of rough and there's some editing I need to re-do, but any thing else I can improve on?

[ivor]

Toadally awesome!  It was like Nova for emoticons!

Do you have a link for the Seakittens?

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Interesting.

Although I myself prefer fast speaking voices, you may find that on average, most folk prefer a slightly slower speaking style-- the voice-over almost sounds hurried as result.

Or to put it another way, slow down, pause a bit more (without falling into "um" -- kudos for zero "um" ) and allow a bit more natural rise and fall of tone.

Other than that, well done!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Well, my son caught me watching it and stopped to see the whole thing, so it is compelling enough.

I noticed that at some points in the audio there were little respite between paragraphs and a point in which the audio repeated it self a bit. Nothing ground breaking but to check if you want it completely clean.

Beyond that I think its works beautifully.   

[Griffin NoName]

Yes, I found the speech a little fast (on the other hand, it fitted with the speed my mind worked in picking up the ideas from the visual content......... my usual complaint is that the speech in such presentations is too slow). I am not the best judge as I am having to process the american accent - most was clear but the endings on certain words weren't - are you aiming at an international audience?

It's a very clear explanation of emoticons.

[Sibling DavidH]

It's a very professional presentation, and congratulations.  But you want constructive criticism! 

Yes, the audio quality is rough in parts.  And I agree with some of the others that you could speak a little more slowly.  Otherwise, IMO it's an excellent production.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Now that I think of it, you should watch some Zero Punctuation*, not that I suggest the rapid fire of the man but the mix with the graphics might give you some ideas.

* Warning: reviews may contain frequent use of curse words, sexual and eschatological references.

[The Meromorph]

I don't know if you've heard the 'tact filter' theory ... 
Briefly it runs - Everyone has a 'tact filter' in their head.
Most people run it as they're speaking.
A large minority (e.g.nerds, techies, etc.) run it as they're listening.
Each technique works well within it's group.
WHEN ONE OF THE FIRST GROUP SPEAKS TO ONE OF THE SECOND GROUP, they come across as 'weaseling,never saying what they mean, wimpy'.
WHEN ONE OF THE SECOND GROUP SPEAKS TO ONE OF THE FIRST GROUP, they come across as 'DAMNED RUDE'.

I think all the feedback so far has been in 'first group' terms.

This is in 'second group' terms..

1. Don't speak a little more slowly! Speak a LOT more slowly.

2. Don't put the words on the display. Use the display for the graphics (with short legends when absolutely necessary).

3. The content is excellent, the presentation kills it.

I hope this helps.       

'cos this could be legendarily good...


P.s.  If you can, when doing the voice over, add a little bass boost, and a generous midrange boost to your voice. Possibly a hint of reverb, too.
You have a beautiful speaking voice, and it must be a killer in person, but with the compression inherent to the video medium, and the cheesy quality of most computer speaker units, you need to modify the signal to achieve a realistic end result for your listeners. Kinda like when pop music had to be mixed very differently for playing over cheap transistor radios... We always had a set of cheap speakers in the control room to check how it was going to sound in the worst conditions, after we'd mixed it on the good speakers.

[Darlica]

Good and interesting

I'm with the rest of the pack on the talk slower thing. IMHO not much slower, just a little, too slow is usually worse than too fast from a attention POV. You are not competing with someone and there is no need to rush (well if there is a time limit you might want to cut something out) think of the punctuation.   

Your accent isn't a big deal for me, but some words do get "blurred" especially at the end of the presentation, mostly because of the sound quality I think, also because you're talking even faster at the end than in the beginning.   

I'm sure you got your facts right but check the "verbal communication" % with more sources, just to be sure, I think my books on the matter said 70% non verbal not 90% (although knowing how bad the author of my course literature checked his facts you're probably right). 


Keep working on it and it'll end up perfect!

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Yeah, I did kind of rush toward the end... Eighth time I recorded it and I was on the verge of doing un-Taddy things to nearby objects. And, lol, that's slower than I usually talk. I wrote notes all over the script "SLOW DOWN!"

I'm sure you got your facts right but check the "verbal communication" % with more sources, just to be sure, I think my books on the matter said 70% non verbal not 90% (although knowing how bad the author of my course literature checked his facts you're probably right). 

http://www.cba.uni.edu/buscomm/nonverbal/index.html and also my anthro text.

Toadally awesome!  It was like Nova for emoticons!

Do you have a link for the Seakittens?

Thanks! and http://features.peta.org/PETASeaKittens/index.asp

Or to put it another way, slow down, pause a bit more (without falling into "um" -- kudos for zero "um" ) and allow a bit more natural rise and fall of tone.

I HATE um, so I went out of my way to get it um-less. Fortunately, I've mostly pruned it from my vocabulary. And LOLfail on my editing.

1. Don't speak a little more slowly! Speak a LOT more slowly.

noted

2. Don't put the words on the display. Use the display for the graphics (with short legends when absolutely necessary).

I'll keep this in mind. I'm keeping the quotes, but I'll fix it otherwise.

3. The content is excellent, the presentation kills it.

Thanks and ok.

I hope this helps.       

'cos this could be legendarily good...

Thanks! And yes, best feedback yet.

P.s.  If you can, when doing the voice over, add a little bass boost, and a generous midrange boost to your voice. Possibly a hint of reverb, too.
You have a beautiful speaking voice, and it must be a killer in person, but with the compression inherent to the video medium, and the cheesy quality of most computer speaker units, you need to modify the signal to achieve a realistic end result for your listeners. Kinda like when pop music had to be mixed very differently for playing over cheap transistor radios... We always had a set of cheap speakers in the control room to check how it was going to sound in the worst conditions, after we'd mixed it on the good speakers.

Can't. I has free trial-version of a screencast program, and there ain't no way I'm shelling out for a program I'll use only once. This laptop is shite, too, though the recording it better off it than I thought it was. On it, I have trouble telling what I just said sometimes.
I thought I sounded kind of boyish, so thank you. I used what tricks they gave us but it wasn't quite enough, I suppose.

Yes, I found the speech a little fast (on the other hand, it fitted with the speed my mind worked in picking up the ideas from the visual content......... my usual complaint is that the speech in such presentations is too slow). I am not the best judge as I am having to process the american accent - most was clear but the endings on certain words weren't - are you aiming at an international audience?

It's a very clear explanation of emoticons.

Nope, just my classmates and teacher. Yeah, that's a feature of my accent or, more likely, just sloppiness on my part. Thanks!

Well, my son caught me watching it and stopped to see the whole thing, so it is compelling enough.

I noticed that at some points in the audio there were little respite between paragraphs and a point in which the audio repeated it self a bit. Nothing ground breaking but to check if you want it completely clean.

Beyond that I think its works beautifully.   

Thanks! Yeah. That's the result of my crappy editing.

I'm going to re-record tonight. The current save is probably not salvageable, lol.

[Sibling DavidH]

Scrib, as for playback quality on your computer:  my laptop has really bad speakers and little volume.  So I've got a long lead permanently plugged into my hi-fi, on a spare input.  All I have to do now is to haul out the long lead from behind the sofa, plug it into the laptop and select DVD on the amp.  Excellent sound.  Is there any way you could rig up something like that?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Her problem would be more related to her microphone. Decent ones are expensive, but some headsets with microphones aren't as bad. Still, considering the target the easier solution might be just speaking closer to it. 

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

I've seen pretty good mics for less than $50US, but they are large-ish -- not an issue here I'd think.

Those little teensy-tiny ones you see on TV are quite pricey, though-- $150 and up for starters-- not including the radio pack...

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Scrib, as for playback quality on your computer:  my laptop has really bad speakers and little volume.  So I've got a long lead permanently plugged into my hi-fi, on a spare input.  All I have to do now is to haul out the long lead from behind the sofa, plug it into the laptop and select DVD on the amp.  Excellent sound.  Is there any way you could rig up something like that?

I've had it suggested to me that I get a usb headphone thingy, which I will investigate in the near future. It's supposed to be pretty good.

Her problem would be more related to her microphone. Decent ones are expensive, but some headsets with microphones aren't as bad. Still, considering the target the easier solution might be just speaking closer to it. 

I've seen pretty good mics for less than $50US, but they are large-ish -- not an issue here I'd think.

Those little teensy-tiny ones you see on TV are quite pricey, though-- $150 and up for starters-- not including the radio pack...

I use it for skype, when I use it at all. I'm not concerned 'cause this was a one-time deal. Thanks for the suggestions, though, guys.