Pre-Visit Video from Debbie
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Greetings! You were probably directed to come to this page by me because you have booked a visit through The Author Village and I’m preparing a pre-visit video for you to share with your school, or because I have offered to do a pre-recorded visit or response for a Flipgrid visit. My goal for the Author Village pre-visit video: to create a short (around 1-2 minutes) video letting your young readers know how excited I am to be visiting! To do this, I’d like to make sure I am using proper name pronunciations. e.g. “I can’t wait to visit students at Lycée Thiers Elementary” or “Mrs. Hrechka’s 2nd graders” etc. In the previous examples, I would appreciate pronunciations for the phrases in italics. “I can’t wait to visit <record pronunciation>.”
If the pronunciation of your school or name is obvious (e.g. Smith Elementary or Mrs. Smith’s 2nd graders), no need to make a recording; just let my assistant know what phrase I should use. However, if you think there’s even a chance of me mispronouncing, I would very much appreciate a recording!
SUGGESTION ON HOW TO SEND ME PRONUNCIATIONS:
(Thanks to Jennifer Lagarde for the tip!)
- Record your audio at online-voice-recorder.com. No sign-up is required. Speak slowly and clearly. Before saving, PLEASE CHECK YOUR RECORDING to make sure names are CLEARLY ENUNCIATED, thanks.
- Save the file as MP3 and upload to a folder in Google Drive.
- Send me and my assistant the link to the file.
In most cases, you will have already been in touch with my assistant about this. If you are emailing or sending the actual recording, please send to my assistant’s email Office.DebbieRidpathOhi [at] gmail.com; feel free to send to me as well, but always make sure my assistant is included. I tend to get a lot of email, and I don’t want to miss yours! I prefer to get just the link to the file rather than the file itself, if possible. Bonus: You can also use the link for other author/illustrator visits!
OTHER WAYS TO SEND ME YOUR SHORT AUDIO RECORDING:
Record your pronunciation on whatever recording app you have (see resource list further down on this page) on your phone, email to address above. If your recording is LONG (e.g. more than just a few seconds), then it probably means your file is big; in that case, please use a file transfer service like WeTransfer.com or Dropbox – also send a separate email to my assistant to make sure she received the recording ok.
Record your pronunciation via Online-Voice-Recorder.com (no registration necessary). Free to use, no hidden payments, no need to enter your email. When you’re happy with the recording, click SAVE and you’ll be able to save your MP3 to your computer. At that point, follow instructions above re: sending.
If you are on Flipgrid, record your pronunciation via Flipgrid Short or any other method you’d like, send me a link/invite. You can record audio only, if you prefer. My pre-recorded video will likely be via Flipgrid Short. Note: Flipgrid is FREE for educators, and super easy to use! Find more info about how to get started here.
Record your pronunciation via one of the many “how to pronounce” services online. I haven’t tested these all out, and many require you to register with an email address (which may or may not put you on company mailing lists). These include: Rev Online Voice Recorder, Namedrop.io, How To Pronounce.
RECORDING APP AND SERVICE RESOURCES:
10 Best Voice Recorder Apps For iPhone (2021)
10 Best Voice Recorder Apps For Android (2021)