So many podcasts, so little time
Many podcasts are long (over 20 minutes), which may be longer than our attention span for listening to a headless, faceless voice talk to us. Pauses in the audio give our minds time to wander and wander they will. The truth be told, we can actually listen and comprehend faster than many people speak. (I live close enough to NYC to know that we can really talk fast!) StevePavlina.com has a tip that can help us get through longer podcasts more quickly by adjusting the speed of the audio. Yup...play the podcasts faster. How? For example, Windows Media Player allows you to adjust the speed (View, Enhancements, Play Speed Settings). Steve suggests that you increase the speed in increments, so that you can adjust to the faster talking. Once used to it, you may find yourself able to listen to more podcasts in a shorter amount of time.
what if you could have slides synchronized to the audio, would the attention span problem still be present?
by the by, at work i used to cut audio files and could listen and comprehend audio at chipmunk speed, so this is a useful and realistic tip.
Posted by: Randal | Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 13:20