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Now you’ve worked out how to look the best you can on screen through a clear shot and adequate lighting, make sure that viewers can hear what you’re saying.

The quality of the in-built microphone on modern cameras is constantly improving, so you won’t need to purchase an external microphone unless you plan on shooting outside. If you’re simply talking to a camera while sat inside your house, then the microphones on a Canon G7 X or Sony Cyber-shot RX100 are more than capable.

For outside shots, a camera’s built-in microphone isn’t the best as it always picks up the closest sound. This could be wind or traffic noises if you’re filming outside, making the background sounds appear louder than your voice. The only way to solve the problem is to move the camera closer to your face, defeating the point of being outside as viewers will only see your face and not the scenery. This is why vloggers who do lots of pranking, comedy or action-sports videos while out and about tend to ignore the audio function on their camera and use a portable digital recorder to capture sound. These look like dictaphones, they’re usually very small and they can be hidden in clothing to ensure they’re being held as close as possible to your mouth while remaining out of shot of the camera. You can also ask a good friend to assist you for the day and hold the portable mic close to you but out of shot.

The popular vlogging website Vlogger Pro (vloggerpro.com) recommends the Zoom H1 portable audio device to vloggers starting out because of its low price point and impressive technical capabilities. It will help you create great-quality recordings thanks to its two overlapping unidirectional microphones. This feature means that you will get an accurate stereo recording of your voice while minimising background noise. You can also buy a furry hat for the recorder which will help reduce the buffeting sounds created by wind. The Zoom H1 Handy Recorder is currently priced at £89 on Amazon (amazon.co.uk) but it will make your videos feel a million times more professional.

If it’s a very windy day or you’re worried about where to put the audio device, consider investing in a lapel mic (also known as a ‘lavalier mic’). You clip these tiny microphones to your clothing and attach a belt-pack transmitter to your body, usually in a back pocket. Then you plug a wireless receiver into the mic input on your portable recorder to pick up the transmissions coming from the belt-pack. You need to make sure that the transmitter and receiver have fresh batteries, both are powered on, and that the lavalier mic isn’t rubbing against your clothing or picking up any wind noise. They’re very small, so it’s easy to clip them to clothing, and you can put the wireless transmitter with your audio device anywhere that’s out of shot, such as your handbag or camera bag.

As lavalier mics are available for prices as low as £40 on Amazon, you can achieve professional-quality sound very cheaply. Audio-Technica lavalier mics are currently very popular as the belt-pack transmitter is tiny, making it easy to stash on your person without it being in shot.

Once you’ve finished recording audio on a portable device or with the lavalier set-up, you’ll need to sync it up with the visuals when you come to the video edit. This is known as ‘double-system’ shooting. It’s important to match it up correctly because viewers will be put off if they see your lips moving ahead of or behind the words that you appear to be saying. There’s one trick you can apply to make syncing easier – clap your hands. Do this before you start speaking, then match the sound of the clap with the visual in your edit. If you get the clap right, the sound of your voice will sync with the movement of your lips perfectly.