Augmind StudioA coach needs three things from a home recording: the whole take in one piece, a voice they can hear, and a child who was speaking rather than reading. Everything else — the room, the lighting, the nerves — is fine. Here is the setup that gets a usable take on the first try, and the two mistakes that make a take useless no matter how good the phone is.
What a coach can and cannot use
Can use: a nervous take, a take with a stumble in the middle, a take that runs short, a take recorded in a kitchen with a dishwasher going. Nerves and stumbles are evidence — how a student recovers is one of the things a report scores. Background noise is survivable if the voice is louder than it.
Cannot use: a take that was cut and restarted (the coach can’t see the recovery that matters most), a take read off a screen (the report quotes the student’s words, and read words are somebody else’s), a whisper, and a video where the parent’s voice is the loudest thing in it.
The five-step setup
- Pick the prompt before you pick up the phone. “Tell me about something you’re really good at, and how you got good at it” works for almost every child. Give them one minute to think, no writing. (The prompt bank has ninety more.)
- Quiet room, door closed, TV off. A bedroom beats a living room. You’re not after silence, just a voice that’s the loudest sound in the recording.
- Stand them up, put the phone at eye level. Prop it against something about five feet away, sideways if it’s video. Sitting on the couch flattens the voice and the energy with it; a phone held in a parent’s hand wobbles and picks up the parent.
- Say the prompt back in the first sentence. “The thing I’m really good at is…” — it starts the take cleanly, and a take that names the prompt can’t drift off it.
- Start the timer and be furniture. No faces, no nods, no mouthing the next word. If they stop, wait; if they say “can I start over?”, say “keep going.” The take ends when they stop or at ninety seconds. Then, without discussing it, ask for one more.
The two mistakes that make a take useless
Rehearsing it into a recitation. After the fourth run-through, a child stops speaking and starts performing a memory. The words get smoother and the evidence gets thinner: a coach can no longer tell what the student does when they have to think. One minute of thinking time and two takes is the ceiling.
Coaching mid-take. “Louder.” “Look at the camera.” “Say the part about the tournament.” Every interruption resets the child and puts your voice in the recording. Save all of it for after the second take — or better, let the report say it. A note from a coach lands differently than the same note from a parent.
What happens after you upload
On the free speaking check the report appears on the spot: five dimensions, a score and a comment each, with the student’s own words quoted as evidence, and one thing to work on this week. A coach listens and adds one note by email, usually within a day. The recording is heard by our coaches and you, nobody else, and is deleted after ninety days. For students in our classes, the same home take is homework: the software drafts the report, the coach reads it beside the video, edits it, and signs it before you see it.
Read the report with your child, evidence lines first — here’s how to read one. Then pick the one next step and record the same prompt again next week. Two takes a week, same prompt, is the whole practice plan for a beginner.
Questions parents ask
Video or audio?
For the free speaking check, either: record in the browser or upload a phone video — we keep only the sound, so the camera angle doesn't matter. For students in our classes, homework takes are video: the coach needs to see posture, eye line, and hands, and the platform won't accept audio-only homework.
Does my child need to memorize something first?
No. The best first take is unscripted: a prompt they know something about, one minute to think, then talk. A memorized piece is fine too if they already have one — pick “their own piece” on the check — but a recited script tells a coach less than sixty honest seconds.
How long should the take be?
About a minute. The speaking check accepts up to 90 seconds and needs at least a few full sentences to score. Longer isn't better: a coach hears what they need in the first sixty seconds, and a child who knows the clock is short speaks more freely.
What if the first take is a disaster?
Record it anyway, then do a second one. The second take is usually the real one — and if you send only one, send the second. A stumble that gets recovered is good evidence, not bad; a take that was stopped and restarted five times isn't evidence of anything.
Recorded one? Let a coach hear it
Upload the take or record right here. The five-dimension report appears on the spot, and a coach adds one note by email within a day. Free, no account, sound only.