Three Options for Better Meeting Audio

Earlier this week, I went into the office for an in-person team meeting. I was excited for what I thought would be a heartfelt reunion, but instead I found myself alone, staring at a screen in the conference room. After two-plus years of a pandemic, I wanted that electricity and energy. I got dressed for it. Even though some of us were in-person, we still connected virtually from different rooms in the same office. Others were in different cities.

Welcome to a continuation of our new normal. I put my headphones on for the virtual meeting only to find Sofia's voice still echoing, Eliott's background, still with a visible pile of laundry, soft-spoken Rita still inaudible. Straining to hear what they were saying made me tired and stressed out. It made me wonder; after years of us all working from home, why isn't our audio getting better?

Now is a good time for me to tell you three ways to improve your meeting audio so that you can be clearly heard, get your point across and win your audience.

Why do you need better meeting audio? Echo (or reverb) actually makes it more difficult to hear you, and not hearing you means not always connecting with you. Not connecting with you hinders the relationship building process. All of this demands more of life's most precious resource: time.

Let's face it. The variability in people’s computer audio setup is yet another factor that drains all of your energy in a meeting-filled day. To maximize engagement with your colleagues, customers, or anyone really, abandon your computer's onboard mic and invest in a microphone. Achieving NPR-like audio quality is achievable at home with a few modifications. Mic’ing your voice puts it closer to the ears of listeners, moves information faster across video/virtual mediums and is actually proven to make you sound smarter.

I am tired. Why does this happen?

Sound travels. When we sit in rooms at home with hard surfaces (e.g., bare walls, untreated windows, hardwood floors, no couches, pillows or beds), the sound reverberates (or bounces) off these surfaces, creating room boom. The computer mic picks up the room boom. So our audience's ears are discerning all of that echo data from voice data. Phew. I'm tired just typing about it.

Sold. What should I get?

There are levels to audio gear, starting with GOOD and going all the way up to PROFESSIONAL grade. They get more technical the further up you go. The goal should be something you can work with easily, is plug-and-play, inexpensive, and close to your mouth.

Let’s start with FREE things everyone should do to sound treat their offices. A few of these treatments combined with any of the below audio setups will set you up for an elevated audio experience. After that, we'll then go through your audio setup options starting with NOT GOOD/things to avoid. From there, we'll get into the bare minimum setup for GOOD vocal quality, then into some GREAT options, and end with how to sound PRO.

FREE - Things everyone should do to sound treat their offices

Here are some ways you can soften hard surfaces in your offices. Floors: Throw down an area rug, or even two! If you have wall-to-wall carpeting, or those carpeting squares, lay them out. Hard surfaced floors are part of the problem. Space: couches, beds, or daybeds with lots of throw pillows on them will absorb echo in a room. Walls: you could hang quilts/fabrics/tapestries on any wall. Yes, I agree it's unsightly. Perhaps you could do it off camera to capture some of the echo. Another option is to purchase sound absorption foam tiles ($37 for a 12 pack) and place them at key points around the room. Think: the wall/flat surface behind your computer setup where your voice will first hit, then, behind you on the wall where your voice will bounce to next. When arranged in patterns, sound foam tiles could also pass as fashionable interior design. Windows: if you could treat your windows with any fabric curtains, that will help reduce echo. You could go as far as getting soundproof curtains, but those will come at a cost. Any fabric, at minimum, will help here.

NOT GOOD - Things to avoid

Onboard Mac or PC microphones, while functional, capture room boom (and background noise in the environment). This creates more info for your audience’s ear to discern. Some of these factors can be controlled for if you soften the hard surfaces in the room (window treatments, bedding, carpeting, sound foam, anything that helps “deaden” the sound).?

GOOD - What is the bare minimum I can do for good vocals?

At minimum, USB headsets commonly used for regular day-to-day business meetings, wired (or bluetooth) like AirPods, headsets that come with the iPhone or anything from the Logitech USB headset line are good. One note on Airpods: because of their minimal at-ear design, they may still capture some echo (or boom) in a room with many hard surfaces.

GREAT - But how about great vocals without the extra hardware fuss?

Any USB Condenser Mic in the $120-200 USD range like a Blue Yeti (and a simple pair of headphones or earbuds that do not have a mic) will plug-and-play via USB and change your audio game. (Macbook users: Don’t forget a USB-C to USB dongle or a USB-C hub like this one by Anker)

Here’s a great set of options with nice comparisons on features and price.You could use a pop-filter on any of these as well if you want to be thorough ;)

Amazon and other retailers sometimes sell great bundles like:

• This Blue Yeti bundle with a pop filter (to hold back plosives) and a USB hub (if you don't have one of these at your computer now)
• Same mic, another bundle with pop filter and better headphones. You don't have to get these exact headphones, but be sure to avoid headsets with mics built in.

PRO - Hello radio smooth vocals!?

Professional studio, podcasting and broadcasting environments use pro-grade vocal microphones. These run the cost gamut from hundreds to thousands of dollars. I (and every podcaster in the universe) use the $400 SM7B cardio dynamic vocal microphone.

Hear what I mean on the podcast I host for the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium's podcast, CLOC Talk.

It is not plug-and-play. It runs via a (sold separately) $50 XLR cable plugged into an (also sold separately) audio interface connected to my MacBook Pro. Audio interfaces range from starter ($) to professional ($$$$$). Professional is for aspiring audio engineers. Here's one that's affordable and gets the job done without too much software fuss: the $180 Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

To get my radio-like tone, I went pro and used software to engineer a vocal chain.

This involved pulling up videos on YouTube University and turning knobs until my voice sounded radio smooth (so technical, right)? Most importantly, I asked for feedback throughout my work meetings.

Regardless of audio interface setup, you'll need headphones for monitoring. I use $120 AKG k371’s.

“P”'s (or plosives) pop. So if you’re recording, add a $14 pop-filter.

Don’t forget a stand! These mics don’t hold themselves up. Desktop versions exist and reduce clutter. Or you can get the arm-mount stand going.?You could use a pop-filter on any of these as well if you want to be thorough ;)

Any of the above options from GOOD to PRO will help get your voice to your audience’s ears more quickly.

We might still all be in hybrid offices, closet offices, or back in your company-supplied office three days a week, but that doesn't mean you can't improve your audio setup. Everyone wants to hear what you have to say. Make your meetings more efficient and conversations more engaged with better audio.

Now if you want to record any of this for, say, a podcast, that's a whole other story. Tune in to future blogs on podcasting for beginners.