Received the good news that the recording of the audiobook version of The Learning Imperative is now available here. It will also be available soon from all of the usual Audible / Amazon / iTunes sources in the next few week.
From the page to the soundbite
The process of creating a book for audio is not as straightforward as sitting down with a microphone and reading from a ‘physical’ copy of the book. There is quite a bit of preparation required for any book to ‘work’ in audio. This was the first big learning point.
First, many sections of the manuscript needed to be either re-phrased or adapted to take into account that:
- The listener can’t see graphics, tables, and other visual cues. Audio books lack the processing advantage that dual coding provides. This required the creation of additional downloadable resources for the listener.
- Removing any visuals require further consideration about whether accompanying sections of text help provide more clarity to the listener or not.
- Simple references in the manuscript to ‘book’ or ‘on the previous page’ clearly just don’t work on audio.
After much discussion and revising, the manuscript is then signed off and ready for recording. Thanks to Daniel at Crown House Publishing for his invaluable feedback, patience and expert advice.
Can you say that again…
Then onto recording.
Firstly, the experience of sitting down for two days reading out loud. The concentration that it required, left me quite exhausted. I challenge you to do it sometime, particularly with a sound recordist pulling faces at each mispronunciation! My hat goes off to TV newsreaders who make it look so effortless.
Thanks to Kevin Mulryne for his patience, attention to detail, and ability to still smile even when I’d mispronounced ‘Lencioni’ for the eighth time!
Re-connection
The lengthy process of adapting the book for audio provided two important reflection points for me.
Firstly, it re-connected me with parts of the book that had slipped from the forefront of my memory. Mainly because I’d not read all the way through the book since it was published. They were only small things, but it was worthwhile to be reminded of them.
The second point was that it reminded me of the importance of the sequencing of the key principles in the book. Ordering them in a way that they were presented in the most logical order.
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