Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter
It&#x27;s also really easy to have high quality audio! The author recommends a &quot;podcasting&quot; microphone, but a $35 standalone headset mic[1] is almost as good and much easier to use. If you want to hear a comparison, I got kind of obsessed with this problem at one point and took some comparison recordings here[2].<p>(You need a standalone mic since most headsets, even really nice ones, have really bad mics because most headset buyers don&#x27;t care about or even know how good their mic sounds. The one I linked is wired because wireless is evil[3] and in particular, Bluetooth will silently degrade your audio quality. If you want a pair of wired headphones, I like these[4] which are &quot;open back&quot; and therefore sound more natural + cool your ears better, although the open back also means they &quot;leak&quot; sound and are only suitable for working without people next to you. But you shouldn&#x27;t be having calls with people next to you anyway!)<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone-Gaming-Communication&#x2F;dp&#x2F;B00BJ17WKK" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone-Gaming-Comm...</a><p>[2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.benkuhn.net&#x2F;vc&#x2F;#get-a-better-microphone" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.benkuhn.net&#x2F;vc&#x2F;#get-a-better-microphone</a><p>[3]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.benkuhn.net&#x2F;wireless&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.benkuhn.net&#x2F;wireless&#x2F;</a><p>[4]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Philips-SHP9500S-Precision-Over-ear-Headphones&#x2F;dp&#x2F;B00ENMK1DW&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Philips-SHP9500S-Precision-Over-ear-H...</a>