Recent Shout Outs

Recording Instructions

Find a quiet room and open a recording app on your phone. (Here are tips on how to record yourself properly.)*

* Please see updated information at end of this message.

Speaking in full sentences, please tell us about your Army service member. No need to write down your story and read it from paper— speaking conversationally is best. A recording of 3-5 minutes is plenty. Your story should include (but does not need to be limited to):

• Your full name and where you’re from.
• The full name of the Army Veteran or service member who you would like to give a shout-out.
• A description of the person. What are some of their defining characteristics? What do they look like, talk like? Paint us a picture of them.
• The specific moment or event that prompted you to shout this person out. Tell us as much about that event as you can remember — what the scene was like, and what emotions you felt.
• If they were standing in front of you right now, what would you say?
• How does this person continue to impact you and your life?

Submit Your Shout out

Recording Tips

Interested in sending a shout out for an Army Veteran or Army servicemember to AUSA's Army Matters Podcast? Here are instructions for how to record a voice memo with your idea:

• Find a quiet space to record. Generally, softer surfaces like carpet make for better recording than hard surfaces like hardwood floors. You could record in a small quiet room, a closet, or even build yourself a pillow fort!
• Open up a recording app. If you have an iPhone, all you need is the Voice Memos app that automatically comes with every phone. If you have an Android, Smart Voice Recorder is a good option.
• Hold the phone up to your face as you would for a normal phone call. Or place the recording phone on a stack of books or paper towel roll about 6 inches away from your face (usually a little over a fist’s length away).
• Hit the record button. Often it’s a big red circle.
• Record a message about your Army Veteran or servicemember! Please speak in full sentences. For example, if you’re telling us what you would say to them today, you could say “If [Insert Army Veteran's name or Army service member's name here] was standing in front of me right now, I’d tell them…”
• When you’re done and still recording, sit quietly for about 30 seconds. This will allow us to collect room tone, which will be helpful in our editing. Then hit the stop button.
• Save the recording. Some apps allow you to do it immediately, but others require you to do it yourself.
• Fill out the form found here with all the required fields and select 'Upload recorded message' for Shout Out Type. Then click the Browse Files button and select your recording.

If you own your own mic and want to get fancy about recording, you can check out a guide from NPR here.