Turn your course into a podcast

Some learners would rather listen than read. You can turn any CourseConverter course into a conversational audio recap — two hosts discussing your content — using Google's NotebookLM, and the documents you already export.

There's nothing to build and nothing to buy. It takes about ten minutes.

What you'll need

Export these three documents from your course (Export in the editor):

• Course manual — the whole course, in readable form. This is the substance.
• Facilitator guide — timings, key points, discussion prompts. This gives the hosts a sense of what matters and why.
• Resources pack — key takeaways, glossary, and further reading. This helps them land the concepts.

You don't need all three, but together they produce a noticeably better result than the manual alone: the facilitator guide tells the AI what's important, not just what's there.

The steps

1. Go to notebooklm.google.com and create a new notebook.
2. Select Add sources and upload the documents you exported.
3. In the Studio panel on the right, select Audio Overview.
4. Select Customize to choose the format. Deep Dive produces a lively two-host conversation — this is the one you want for a course recap. You can also set the length (Short, Default, or Long) and tell the hosts what to focus on.
5. Select Generate. It takes a few minutes.
6. When it's ready, download the audio from the player.

That's it. From three documents you'll get a full conversational episode — a course of eight modules typically produces around twenty minutes of audio.

Making it better

Give it focus. The customise panel lets you tell the hosts what to concentrate on. "Focus on the practical steps rather than the theory" or "Emphasise the compliance requirements" will change the result meaningfully.

Structure helps. The documents CourseConverter produces are already well-structured with clear headings — that's part of why this works. Unstructured source material produces rambling audio.

Generate more than once. The output varies between runs. It's worth generating two or three and picking the best.

Before you distribute it

Check the terms. Google does not clearly state whether NotebookLM audio can be redistributed commercially. If you're putting this into a client's paid LMS, or selling it as part of a training programme, check the current terms of service before you do — don't assume it's permitted.

You only get two voices, and they're American. NotebookLM gives you two AI hosts with no control over voice, accent, age, or tone. If you need an Australian voice, a specific delivery style, or consistency across a series, this isn't the tool.

It's English only at the time of writing.

If you need control

If you need specific voices, a particular accent, or clear commercial licensing, produce the audio yourself instead:

• ElevenLabs Studio — full control over voices and delivery, with unambiguous commercial terms. If you already use ElevenLabs for CourseConverter's AI narration, you have an account.
• Wondercraft, Descript, and Murf offer similar control.

For these, feed them the course manual and write or generate your own two-host script.

What this is good for

An audio recap is a genuinely different mode of learning, not a replacement for the course. It works well as:

• A pre-read before a classroom session
• A refresher weeks after the training
• Commute learning for people who won't sit at a screen
• An accessible alternative for learners who process audio better than text