[MUSIC] Recording your narration is a major component in the digital storytelling process. In this step, you will record yourself speaking the words of the script you wrote for your digital story. Using your own voice allows you to personalize your story and connect with your audience. There are many tools that you can use to record your voice, such as built in microphones on a laptop, microphones that plug into a computer, smart phones, and digital audio recorders. In this video, we will look at some tips to improve the audio quality if you record your voice with a microphone. When recording with a microphone, try to use a USB mic rather than one that plugs into the computer sound card. USB microphones generally sound better and are available from many different manufacturers, from inexpensive to expensive. Although mid priced models that cost between $50 and $100 can produce very good results. If you are using a PC running the Widows operating system, the first thing that you need to do before you record your narration is to adjust the audio recording level. We suggest that you set the recording level somewhere between 70-80, make a test recording, and listen to how it sounds so that you can adjust the recording level if needed. If you're recording on a Mac computer, you can go to the system preferences and click on the sound icon, then the Input tab, and adjust the sound recording level there. Another tip for recording your narration, is to get the microphone or recording device close to your mouth when you are recording. This, however, can cause a problem know as plosives, or popping Ps. Plosives occur with some microphones and you get the popping sound when using letter P, B, T, or S. Placing a wind screen over the microphone can help reduce plosives. You can make a good low budget wind screen by using a clean stocking or a sock or even a cloth or paper napkins is shown in these images. You might also try moving the microphone to the side of your mouth so that you're not speaking directly into the front of the microphone. This technique can sometimes help, but you may need to speak louder or increase your recording volume to compensate for moving away from the main pickup area of the microphone. Try to record your narration in as quiet a setting as possible. Pay close attention to whether you're sitting near a heating or air conditioning vent because intermittent background noise may occur when the fan comes on. Also if possible try to move the microphone away from your computer CPU. Since many computers have noisy fans that you may not notice but the sound maybe picked up during the recording. Another tip is to relax and read slowly, enunciating each word and phrase. And finally, do several takes, don't be discouraged if you make mistakes because even professionally trained narrators often require several attempts before they get it right. [MUSIC]