2.9 – Working with Audio Files Lesson

Lesson Overview

This lesson focuses on using audio files as sources within Google NotebookLM. Often, ideas, reminders, or recordings from meetings are stored as audio—whether from a voice memo app or any other recorder. Traditionally, extracting information from these files takes time: listen back, transcribe, then organize the content. With NotebookLM, uploading an audio file can instantly generate a summary and highlight key discussion points.

You’ll discover practical ways to use this for personal productivity, like organizing a backlog of voice notes or converting interviews and meeting recordings into summary notes. This is especially helpful if you use an app that labels files generically or records long audio snippets, making it hard to remember what each file contains. In real scenarios, educators might record lectures, business owners may record brainstorming sessions, and students often save voice memos as reminders. NotebookLM streamlines reviewing and understanding all this content without having to listen to each file in full.

Who This Is For

This lesson is useful for anyone who collects, reviews, or acts on information stored as audio files.

• Educators recording lectures or class discussions
• Students or researchers organizing voice memos or field notes
• Business professionals summarizing meetings or interviews
• Content creators managing podcast snippets or idea recordings
• Anyone with a habit of capturing thoughts on their phone via voice
• Project managers wanting a faster way to review spoken updates

Where This Fits in a Workflow

You’ll use these skills whenever you receive or create audio files containing information you need to review or summarize. For example, after recording several voice memos about ongoing projects, you can upload them all to NotebookLM and quickly view a list of talking points from each. Meeting facilitators may upload group call recordings to get structured notes, making it easier to share outcomes with a team, or reference discussion details later.

This function isn’t just about archiving—it helps bring unstructured spoken ideas into your organized research or project workflow. It supports reviewing, decision making, and reporting by making audio content instantly readable and searchable.

Technical & Workflow Benefits

Previously, working with audio recordings meant spending time playback each file, manually jotting down notes, or using a separate transcription service. In NotebookLM, audio files—including MP3 and M4A formats—can be uploaded directly, where the AI instantly transcribes, summarizes, and highlights key topics. This speeds up the process of finding relevant information, allowing for batch review and easy cross-referencing with other sources.

For example, a project manager can upload four meeting voice notes at once, review bullet-pointed summaries, and rapidly spot follow-up actions—compared to hours of listening and manual notetaking. When used over time, this approach helps anyone with recurring audio content eliminate redundancy and capture value from every recording, increasing clarity and output quality.

Practice Exercise

To apply what you’ve learned, try this practical scenario:

1. Record three short voice memos on your phone—each covering a different topic you want to remember (e.g., a project update, an idea for an article, and a to-do list).
2. Transfer or airdrop those audio files (MP3 or M4A) to your computer, then upload them into NotebookLM as new sources.
3. Use NotebookLM to generate a summary for each recording. If possible, request a five-bullet-point summary across all uploaded files.

Reflection: Compare the NotebookLM-produced summaries to your original spoken content. Did it capture the main points? How much manual review or correction was needed, if any?

Course Context Recap

Audio source handling builds on earlier lessons about adding and summarizing video or text files in NotebookLM. Previously, you explored source uploading and text extraction; now you’re leveraging those same skills with audio inputs for even broader content coverage. Next, the course will look at using AI-powered audio overview features—helping you create podcast-style recaps based on everything you’ve uploaded. Continue to the next section to expand your abilities and streamline your workflow even further with Google NotebookLM.