Commons:Voice intro project

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Screenshot of an English-Wikipedia infobox including a Voice Intro Project audio file. In this case the subject is Paolo Nespoli, who made his recording in November 2017, on board the International Space Station!

A project to make audio recordings in which Wikipedia subjects speak their own name, and introduce themselves.

First suggested in a blog post, "Requesting open-licensed, open-format recordings of the voices of Wikipedia subjects for Wikimedia Commons" by Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing).

Why?

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So that we know how a notable person pronounces their own name, and what they sound like. The sound of their voice can be helpful, for example:

  • as a way of identifying a person for people that have a vision impairment
  • to confirm a person's identity, if you've heard them on, say, the radio
  • to distinguish them from someone else with the same name

The pronunciation is useful:

  • if you are about to meet them
  • if you are about to mention them in a presentation or on air

In fact, you’d have the canonical pronunciation of their name: their own.

What to do

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If you are the subject of a Wikipedia article, or a Wikidata item, please upload an MP3, FLAC or ogg audio recording of your own, normal speaking voice - you can use the Upload Wizard to do that.

If you're a Wikimedian working with notable people, you can do that for them.

If you are (or your subject is) fluent in more than one language, please record a separate file in each.

Try to find somewhere quiet to make the recording - even taking a few steps away from other people's conversations helps. If you're outdoors, get out of the wind.

I can't do that

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If you can't make an MP3, FLAC or ogg file (or don't know what that means) you can e-mail us a recording in whatever format suits you and release it under an open licence. If the file is too big to be e-mailed, you can use file sharing or sound hosting services like SoundCloud or Vocaroo. We'll do the conversion for you. You're welcome to drop a note on this page's talk page if you have questions or need help.

Another alternative is to contact a volunteer on WhatsApp - please ask for contact details.

What to say

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Typically people say:

Hello, my name is [name]. I was born in [place] and I have been [job or position] since [year]

Please include a brief pause between "my name is" and your name.

You're welcome to say more!

Listen to some of the examples, in the project's English-language category.

What not to say

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  • Don't mention that you're making a recording for Wikipedia/Wikipedia Commons
  • No advertising, pitching for work, advocacy, proselytizing or politics
  • Nothing time-dependent (so not "I am currently...", "ten years ago", or "This year..." - your recording is for posterity!)

Further steps

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  • Add a link to the recording, from the subject's page on Wikidata, using P990, with a qualifier specifying the language used.
  • Transcribe the recording, as Timed Text captions.

The files

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Files are sorted into categories, by language. See a list of categories, at Category:Voice intro project.

Press coverage

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see Commons:Voice intro project/Coverage