# Recording Optimized Airway in Your Own Voice — the streamlined way

Goal: one episode, start to published, in about 75 minutes of your time.
No audio engineering. No editing software you have to learn.

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## The stack (pick one row)

| Setup | Gear | Cost | Quality |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Fastest** | iPhone + Voice Memos, in a closet | $0 | Fine for week 1 |
| **Recommended** | Samson Q2U or Shure MV7+ into a laptop, record in Buzzsprout's browser recorder or QuickTime | ~$90–$350 | Sounds professional |
| **Overkill** | Interface + condenser + treated room | $600+ | Not needed |

The single biggest quality jump is **not** the mic — it's the room. Record in a
closet with clothes in it, or sit on the floor with a duvet draped over a chair
behind you. Soft surfaces kill the echo that makes audio sound amateur.

## Settings that matter

- Mic 4–6 inches from your mouth, angled slightly off to the side (say past the
  mic, not into it) — kills the "P" pops.
- Record a 10-second test every session, listen back on the phone speaker (not
  headphones) before you commit to a full take.
- One take, no editing: if you fumble a sentence, **clap once**, pause two
  seconds, and say the sentence again from the start. Buzzsprout's editor lets
  you see the clap as a spike and trim it in ten seconds.

## The 75-minute loop

1. **Print the script** (or read from an iPad, brightness down, airplane mode).
2. **Read it out loud once cold** — no recording. Cross out anything that
   doesn't sound like you and write your version in the margin. This is the step
   that makes it sound like a person, not a script.
3. **Record in three chunks** — top, middle, close. Stop between chunks, drink
   water, restart. Never try to nail 13 minutes in one pass.
4. **Upload to Buzzsprout** → turn on **Magic Mastering** (levels, EQ, noise
   reduction — this is your entire post-production).
5. **Intro/outro auto-splice** is already configured, so you only ever record
   the body.
6. **Paste the show notes** from the script file, set the episode number, hit
   schedule for Tuesday 6:00am ET.

## Pronunciation card — tape this to the mic

Say these out loud twice before every session:

- **hygienist** → *hai-JEE-nist* (hy-JEE-nist). Never "hy-genist."
- **myofunctional** → *MY-oh-funk-shun-ul*
- **myo** → *MY-oh* (rhymes with "high oh"). Never "me-oh."
- **orofacial** → *or-oh-FAY-shul*
- **frenectomy** → *fren-ECK-tuh-mee*
- **ankyloglossia** → *ang-kih-loh-GLOSS-ee-uh*
- **obstructive sleep apnea** → *AP-nee-uh*
- **buccal** → *BUCK-ul*
- **palatal** → *PAL-uh-tul*
- **SureSmile** → one word, *SHUR-smile*
- **Cerum** → *SEER-um*

The scripts now write these phonetically inline the first time they appear
in each episode, so you don't have to remember.

## Delivery notes

- **Pace:** ~150 words/min. Slower than feels natural. The scripts are written
  to that pace, so if a 2,000-word script runs 11 minutes you're on target.
- **Smile on the first sentence.** It's audible and it sets the whole tone.
- **[BREATH]** markers in the script = full stop, inhale, continue. Don't rush
  them; they're where the listener catches up.
- **Read to one person.** Picture one specific colleague. It stops the
  broadcast voice.

## If you re-do the existing episodes

Order of operations:
1. Re-record the **trailer** first — it's 90 seconds and it's the sample most
   people hear.
2. Then Episodes 1–3 (the launch block), replacing the AI audio in Buzzsprout.
   Buzzsprout lets you swap the audio file on a published episode without
   changing the URL or losing stats.
3. Episodes 4–5 stay unpublished until the first three are in your voice.

## Weekly rhythm that keeps this sustainable

- **Sunday, 20 min:** read next week's script cold, mark it up.
- **Monday, 40 min:** record + upload + schedule.
- **Tuesday:** episode drops 6:00am ET; post the audiogram.

That's it. Everything else is optional.
