Podcast Guest Audio Guidelines

Thanks so much for agreeing to be a guest on an SCP family podcast. Below are some helpful suggestions that can greatly improve your audio and video quality.

  • We record using Zoom. Because episodes are shared in video, audio, and text formats, please be prepared to appear on webcam.

  • Before we go live, reboot your computer, close all unnecessary apps, and minimize any background noise in the room.

  • Ensure that no one else in your home is using the internet for high-bandwidth activities such as streaming. To ensure that there is no audio lag, we reccomend having at least 10 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed. You can test your speed here: speedtest.net

  • For best audio, an external microphone is strongly recommended instead of the microphone built into your laptop. If you do not have an external microphone, please wear earbuds with an attached microphone. This will greatly enhance your audio quality and minimize background noise.

  • Also, be sure that you’re wearing headphones—as opposed to using external speakers—so that the sound of the interview isn’t accidentally fed back in your microphone.

  • Ensure that the room is well lit so your face can be easily seen.

Zoom Settings for Best Audio

Please follow these steps to check for the optimal Zoom settings:

  1. Open Zoom’s Settings, then select Audio on the left. See the image below for how yours should look.

2. When we begin the meeting, the following setting will appear at the top left of the meeting window. Be sure to turn Original Sound ON, but only if you are wearing headphones.

You can click the arrow on the left side of the Original Sound menu to confirm your preferred microphone is selected.

3. Once connected we will do a brief soundcheck to ensure everything is good.