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Is Text to Speech the Way Forward for Producing Podcasts?

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Is Text to Speech the Way Forward for Producing Podcasts?

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Podcasts are constantly on the rise with more listeners and marketers investing hugely in this audio format. As a result, content creators, advertisers, and media companies have increased their involvement in the podcast industry. This trend is projected to continue in the coming years with artificial intelligence innovations such as text to speech technology.

The podcast format has grown in popularity as the world has become busier. The listener can multitask while listening to audio content. According to recent research , 49 percent of podcast listening occurs at home, while 22 percent occurs while driving.11 percent occurs at work, and 8 percent occurs while exercising. A podcast's length usually allows for a deep dive into a topic or a prolonged chat between two people.

One of the most captivating features of listening to downloaded podcast episodes is that the listener has control over the playback option. It's much easier to set your own rhythm, rewind, and fast forward when listening to an interview podcast, particularly.

Listeners can dive into topics using podcast audio content without having to place a time to read or watch a video. Podcasts also provide articles in small portions, which are ideal for busy schedules.

The purpose of using text-to-speech technology to create an audio interface to content in textual form has therefore become a trend lately.

Text to Speech was once thought of as a piece of accessibility technology. It has, however, been put to a variety of interesting uses, ranging from automatic announcements to smart speakers, thanks to better and natural sounding voices.

To synthesize voice from sentences/words, text to speech apps often use a text to speech engine. Most operating systems have a text to speech engine built-in, although the fluidity and naturalness of the voices vary.

We'll find out through our analysis how podcasts have shaped the process of storytelling and why text to speech technology can intervene in creating them.

How podcasts impact the process of storytelling

Podcasts have a youthful audience profile, which is one of the reasons for their growing popularity with marketers. Podcast listeners are 34 years old on average, which is younger than those who listen to broadcast radio (47) or network television (57). Furthermore, the percentage of 12-to-34-year-olds who listen to podcasts on a monthly basis has increased from 27% in 2017 to 49% in 2020.

Another great aspect of podcasts is how personal the experience is for the listener. Podcasts allow them to hear their own feelings directly into their earbuds, making it a very personal and intimate experience.

When it comes to podcasting, you connect to an actual host. They're also a lot more available on social media and via email than the typical media personality. Therefore, listening to a podcast is similar to hanging out with friends and participating in a conversation about a topic you're interested in. This developed relationship encourages listeners to always return.

Podcasts give conversations a new touch of reality by allowing people to not only hear what others are thinking but also to feel as if they are part of the conversation. It becomes similar to a private interaction between the listener and the podcast creator.

In fact, the more specific the story is to the person, the more likely it is to resonate with a larger audience. When people look for podcasts, they're more likely to find someone who sounds like them, has their perspective or is interested in the same topics as them. It gives an unprecedented opportunity for connection by distance.

Podcasts, in many aspects, allow a broader range of people to have a voice. The relative ease with which a podcast may be created allows a far bigger number of people to communicate their ideas with a wider audience.

Not only does this industry make it easier for more people to start their own podcasts about topics they're interested in, but it also allows podcast hosts to invite others from marginalized groups to share their messages. Those who have platforms have a responsibility to assist those who are struggling, whether it is the struggle to be heard or the struggle to get opportunities.

With all that being said, launching your podcast doesn't necessarily require the purchase of audio equipment that can be unnecessary. Since AI technology is now advanced, you can straight up produce a computer-generated voice from your text only. The only requirement is the initial writing process. Text to speech apps can do the rest.

Why Creating Podcasts Using Text to Speech is Worth A Try

Text to speech has become more accessible thanks to developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence. The best aspect for writers is that the technology is easy to use, and there are plenty of features to choose from.

Lately, text to speech voices are developed in a variety of styles. The voices are more natural as technology advances. It makes it simpler to identify a specific section of a written text, as you can select any part of your content to read out loud in order to customize it.

Indeed, with a wide range of text to speech customization options, your voiceovers can turn out the way you desire, by setting the tone, the speed, the accent, the background soundtracks, and much more. It is a key way to personalize your content as much as possible.

With all that being said, launching your podcast doesn't necessarily require the purchase of audio equipment that can be unnecessary. Since AI technology is now advanced, you can straight up produce a computer-generated voice from your text only. The only requirement is the initial writing process. Text to speech apps can do the rest.

Why Creating Podcasts Using Text-to-Speech is Worth A Try

Text to speech has become more accessible thanks to developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence. The best aspect for writers is that the technology is easy to use, and there are plenty of features to choose from.

Lately, AI technology voices are developed in a variety of styles. The voices are more natural as technology advances. It makes it simpler to identify a specific section of a written text, as you can select any part of your content to read out loud in order to customize it.

Indeed, with a wide range of text-to-speech customization options, your voiceovers can turn out the way you desire, by setting the tone, the speed, the accent, the background soundtracks, and much more. It is a key way to personalize your content as much as possible.

When it comes to podcast creation, the conversion time varies depending on the length of your story. You can start listening to the audio, and you can change the computer-generated voice depending on the tone and gender you are looking for. To make it easier to hear, you can adjust the volume based on your preference. You may also share the link with your friends or on any social networking platform.

With the growing popularity of text to speech apps, automated voices definitely have various reasons to exist in the podcast creation process.

Recount your story without using your voice

As you're working on a sequential podcast that narrates a story, you'll need to choose a narrating voice, which will be your podcast's main voice, the one that gives the story its identity. You should consider the right voices carefully, as the options are varied and you can get to choose between male and female voices, as well as old and young tones to customize your speech as much as possible.

It's a good idea to give the actors in your story a vocal characterization. Will the narrator be timid and introverted, joyful, or authoritarian? The voice reveals a lot about the podcast's story and tone and can help bring your story to life. Allow your creativity to go wild with text-to-speech technology as you write your story.

The user interface of text-to-speech apps allows people to upload a document from their computer to the server and customize their preferences such as voice types and execution speed. The user experience is enhanced by greater voice quality. In fact, pausing, rhythm, intonation, and other features all have an impact on speech quality. Poor pronunciation and other types of degradation require much greater user effort for speech assimilation and increase the risk of misunderstandings.

Users with learning difficulties may find it beneficial to listen to an audio podcast at a slower tempo, but users who are accustomed to a faster learning process may choose to listen at a faster speed. A trade-off between reading speed and user understanding is found using speed reading techniques. Depending on the user's abilities, listening to podcasts at a quicker rate may result in faster information acquisition. Humans can normally understand speech played at a faster rate than normal, with speedup rates ranging from 1.2 to 1.8 times faster.

Make your content accessible to a wider audience

Another advantage of the podcasting format is that it provides an infinite amount of alternatives. Any topic a person is interested in can usually be found as a podcast on the internet. And it's easier than ever for a new podcast creator to deliver information about their topic on a podcast hosting service.

Text-to-speech apps can make writing and editing much easier by enabling the writer to hear their words read aloud without having to use their voice, which is a process that can work for podcasts as well as audiobooks, as you can find out here .

As a matter of fact, text-to-speech helps content creators repurpose their content. Their written thoughts can be turned into audio or a podcast. After a few revisions, a podcast can be turned into a video, which anyone can then upload into video streaming platforms. All of this can help them reach out to new audiences.

The audience can consume content in a variety of ways when the creators repurpose it. They have the option of reading, listening, or watching the visual aspect of the stories.

Text-to-speech software allows writers to make content more accessible. According to the World Health Organization, there are 285 million people across the globe who are visually impaired and 39 million people who are blind. Therefore, it is necessary for writers to contribute to a more inclusive world by constantly recognizing the true value of accessibility.

While technology is making text-to-speech tools sound more realistic, they still can't capture the whole range of human emotions. This shouldn't prevent you from using these tools for the time being, however. The advantages clearly exceed the drawbacks, and artificial intelligence technology is definitely showing improvement steadily.

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Is Text to Speech the Way Forward for Producing Podcasts?

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Podcasts are constantly on the rise with more listeners and marketers investing hugely in this audio format. As a result, content creators, advertisers, and media companies have increased their involvement in the podcast industry. This trend is projected to continue in the coming years with artificial intelligence innovations such as text to speech technology.

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Step by Step Tutorial on How to Transcribe a Video Automatically

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Step by Step Tutorial on How to Transcribe a Video Automatically

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If you've ever tried to transcribe a video or an audio file manually then you have definitely gone through some challenges in the process. Manual transcription is a tiring and time-consuming task. You are trapped sitting down listening to every word, writing them down, and proofreading the outcome for any misspelling, or wrong sentence structure.

What if you are asked to manually transcribe a video in a foreign language? You have probably clicked on the repeat button so many times that you just can't bear looking at your final written material for further inspection. A very burdensome task indeed!

A burdensome task if you consider that a human's average attention span is down from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds now, which is less than that of a goldfish. This was the case in 2017 and it is still proven in 2021.

Transcription shouldn't be challenging or demanding. The ability to convert audio or video to text material automatically can save you countless hours, especially if this is your daily task.

Following a video and writing down the text can take up to 8 hours for a video of 1-hour duration. Now imagine if you can transcribe video to text in less than 1 minute!

With the proper video transcription software, it's now possible.

You can use automated video transcription if you are a podcaster and you're planning to reach more audiences . The text material of a podcast can be used as a blog post for example.

For journalists, it will be advantageous to pay attention in an interview by recording either a video or audio format than trying to catch up while writing at the same time. This method has long gone.

Transcribing video to text can also help radio broadcasters to offer their content to non-listeners. They can post the transcript online for easy reach. Lecturers can also offer a written transcript of their lecture or dissertation to their students.

In the business context, companies may transcribe a video to search for any mentions of their brand, reuse quotes or facilitate the transmission of content for people with hearing impairment.

How to Transcribe a Video Automatically

There are different video transcription softwares that can convert your video to text in a matter of seconds. They all vary in terms of features, pricing, and video format supported.

The following tutorial explains how you can transcribe video to text using Streamr Software .

Streamr allows you to explore beyond boundaries and reach out to customers from around the world. The software is not only an automated video transcription software, it can also translate videos, add subtitles and customize them, voiceovers, and more.

Streamr can be considered pretty cheap and has a one-time payment policy compared to other online video transcription softwares. Once you purchase, you will receive your login details.

1- Add Any Video You Want

The first step is to add your video to Streamr. You have the possibility to add your own video or add any youtube video. You can also use the search tab to browse Youtube videos with Special creative commons license for free.

2- Add Subtitles To Your Video

One of the many exciting features in Streamr is the ability to add subtitles to your video. These subtitles will then help you automatically transcribe video to text.

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Step by Step tutorial on how to transcribe a video automatically

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If you've ever tried to transcribe a video or an audio file manually then you have definitely gone through some challenges in the process. Manual transcription is a tiring and time-consuming task. You are trapped sitting down listening to every word, writing them down, and proofreading the outcome for any misspelling, or wrong sentence structure.

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Road to Video for Marketing Success Using Animated Explainer Videos

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Road to Video for Marketing Success Using Animated Explainer Videos

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2020, the year that marks the peak of the video for marketing success. No one can deny the impact video has on any industry marketing strategy. Video has become an essential path for marketers and small businesses/startups. One type of video has particularly garnered positive reviews from marketing specialists. We are here discussing animated explainer videos.

It's important for business marketers to ask themselves a few questions that will determine how they will go about the video for marketing success. Before engaging in any campaign, we need to know what makes an outstanding video first. We also need to establish what story we should highlight, and how to look for elements that will keep the audience both entertained and informed. These questions provide factual information that will contribute to the structure of your video campaign.

If you find the answers to your questions, then you have unlocked the road to video for marketing success. It's true that successful campaigns require time and effort to reach prominent success. If you ask any of the big companies' marketing team you will notice that they have all started from level 0 to reach their position. Yet, this shouldn't discourage small businesses that have only managed to create a few campaigns and generate modest customer conversion rates.

As a starting point to your video for marketing success, an animated explainer video is one of the popular mediums you can use in your campaign. It's renowned for all age ranges. The reason is the fact that people get emotionally attached to animated videos. Therefore, they can connect on a deep level with the product showcased.

Emotions are considerably assisting the transmission of the right message to viewers. They are the ultimate brands' target to increase revenues, traffic, and most importantly loyalty. You will notice that most brands choose to express happiness in their ads or use children. This is because the happiness score is higher and it is the most popular affection among viewers when watching a video. Fun videos are also popular. The study was conducted and compiled in data by Unruly, a video ad tech company.

Besides emotions, many elements need to be considered when working with animation videos to achieve video for marketing success. Before diving into these elements, let's first take a look at what should be avoided in your video marketing campaign.

Video for Marketing Success: Strategies to Avoid in 2021

For small businesses and startups, coming up with a video marketing strategy means allocating the majority of savings in order to reach that video for marketing success. Some of these companies hire a professional marketer or simply use modest tools to advertise their brand.

In both cases, content creators need to plan ahead and conduct a thorough case study. They also need to research what their audience would most likely enjoy watching. The one thing you don't want to experience is for you to create your video marketing campaign and be defeated. You can't risk your time, money, and energy preparing and expecting video for marketing success without actually knowing common trends and strategies.

The following are few actions to avoid when working on your video marketing campaign:

1- Overly Promotion

You definitely want to skip this plan. When working on your animated explainer video, you don't want to come across as a pushover. You want the viewers to click on all the links and check your products subconsciously. The more natural you come off on screen the more people will be driven to check your website and might as well purchase your brand on the first encounter.

Video marketing is essentially selling your brand to strangers. So when you create different animated explainer videos demanding people to check something, 95% of the audience will decline your offer and might as well block anything from your company. You can't risk being shut down by a group of people as you will limit your audience reach.

Businesses should aim to establish relationships by covering and showcasing products' functionalities. Animated explainer videos should not force people to purchase the product otherwise people will try to skip your ad. You should aim to be clear and informative. People will be inclined to check your website for more information.

2- Long Videos = Repetition

Who has time to watch a 10 min ad on social media? We live in a fast-paced world where people acquire information in the fastest way possible: social media. As of 2020, the average daily social media usage is 145 minutes per day. People spend around 3 hours and 53 minutes on social media each day worldwide according to Statista .

This implies that people scroll up and down social media platforms for 3 hours daily. So when people browse the internet and encounter a 10 to 15 min ad, they will most likely check the first 5 seconds and move on. Only people who are already familiar with a certain brand would go through the whole video and expect new updates.

Long videos also tend to be redundant. You can't fit all aspects of a product into a single video. That is why there are different types of videos for each stage: introductory video during a product launch, animated explainer video for product features, training videos to publish on Youtube, short video for a special discount for example to add to Instagram stories, and so on!

If you add all this information in bulk to a single video, you will risk its significant value. Plus, the human being's attention span is limited day by day. The perfect length to create your animated explainer video is under 3 minutes. Furthermore, it also depends on the platform you intend to use for your video marketing strategy.

3- Beating Around the Bush

Video for marketing success depends first and foremost on a clear call to action. It is a closing statement in which you guide viewers to the next steps after watching the video ad. They are essential to a video in a sense you most certainly secure a deal.

Sometimes call to action in videos marks the shift or the turning point in the storyline. If you're marketing a product or a service by recounting a story through an animated video, the climax is generally where you should add your call to action. It can either show how that specific product can help the protagonist in your videos, or how using the brand's service will lead to a happy ending.

It's important to note that the storyline in an animated explainer video needs to be in line with the product's functionality. You can't just use a random storyline or lie about a specific feature on your product just to get views.

4- Shallow Promotions

Just as we expressed that overpromotion can sometimes kill your video creativity, a shallow promotion also has undesirable side effects. The golden rule to learn here is that you need to promote your products based on what you would like to achieve for your video marketing strategy. Just as marketers need to conduct research on potential audience and revenue, they also need to understand what they would like to gain from these promotions and how they will affect the brand.

Moderation is key to everything. You can't promote your videos on a single platform and outcast the rest. Most social media platforms and any content platform today support videos. You need to consider promoting on Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Websites, and more! One of the perks of today's world is that people consume digital content more than any other medium. Therefore, promoting on all these platforms is crucial to generate organic traffic and secure potential customers.

Social media platforms make it easy to upload your animated explainer videos and add any additional information or links. The best part is that the process is free and only takes a few seconds to grow your brand awareness.

5- No SEO Strategy

Video SEO is essentially optimizing your video content. SEO indexes and ranks videos higher on the search engine results pages using relevant keywords. Since the video for marketing success has become popular in the business industry, the number of videos online is peaking every single day. (a 2021 study by Youtube shows that content creators upload around 300 hours of videos on the platform every minute!)

Accordingly, it has become more challenging to rank in the universal search results with the extreme competition in the video industry. Therefore, videos need to go through an SEO strategy as well to increase viewership rates.

Seo strategy concerns optimizing videos by adding the proper keywords, eye-catching thumbnail, meta tags, title descriptions, reduce image sizing, etc.

Video for Marketing Success- How to Build your Own Viewership

Animated explainer videos are one of the mediums many content marketers can use to aim for their video for marketing success. Regardless of whether you choose to work on animated explainer videos or live-action depending on your budget, you need to make sure that the content speaks to your audience.

The core focus should be on stories and not sales. Yes, the revenues are crucial but they are just a small part of the whole package. Since the competition in the digital marketing industry can be quite draining, brands need to aim to build a relevant relationship with an audience that will always have their back.

If you want your video creation to be viewed by more people, you need to create a value for them to claim. Videos that are heavily promotional and poorly advertised will face failure. Brands always need to attach a significant story in animated explainer videos.

These stories can be brand creation stories, solutions to an existing issue, success stories, etc. The better you recount about the brand in these videos, the more credible people will understand what your company is presenting and how the services can be of use to them.

You also need to make an impact in the first few seconds of playing your video. We have seen how people are now busier and their attention span is decreasing by the day. Most people will only watch the first few seconds to understand what the video is about and based on it they will choose to continue watching or scroll past it.

No need for all the boring information, the best practice is to start off the video straight away with the necessary information. You might as well go straight to the call-to-action segment. Another aspect that could help in this matter is to attach an eye-grabbing thumbnail to your video. This way you will give your audience a first impression of what they can expect from your video.

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Road to Video for marketing success using animated explainer videos

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2020, the year that marks the peak of the video for marketing success. No one can deny the impact video has on any industry marketing strategy. Video has become an essential path for marketers and small businesses/startups. One type of video has particularly garnered positive reviews from marketing specialists.