The 8 steps to performing an EVP session

On this #TechniqueTuesday we looked at one of the proper methods of performing an EVP session.  This information was posted out over our social network; however, we felt it was important to post it here as well for future reads and comments.

1.  Find out the background of your site. What kind of experiences are people having? Who are believed to be the spirit(s) haunting the site? What types of historical events have occurred? Are there and y news reports about the location
2. Find out more about the entity thought to be at the site. What was the person’s history? Remember, entities were once live people like you and me. The more you know about what happened to them in life, the more chance you have of being able to communicate with them after death. For instance, is the entity believed to be an employee who shot himself? You can try to talk to him about why he did it. Does he wish he hadn’t? What does he think of how the building has changed over the years? You can go even further and become more personable. Ask them questions that you would ask people as if you were talking to them. Example: What is you favorite color. What did you do for a living? What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
3. Get your equipment ready. Your recording device will be useless to you if it is not prepared. If you are using a tape recorder, make sure it has a fresh tape in it. If you are using a digital recorder, make sure you have free space to store your recordings. No matter what you are using, make sure it has fresh batteries and it is a good idea to have an extra set with you.
4. Know the signs of an entity. This will help you to know if an entity is nearby. Signs can include shadow figures, unusual and untraceable EMF (electromagnetic field spikes), or sudden unexplainable battery drainage. Other signs may include, sudden temperature changes, unexplainable knocks or footsteps , or even disembodied voices or whispers. 
5.  Talk to the entity. Do this even if there are no signs of the entity in the area. This may feel strange to you, talking to midair without any kind of response, but keep it up. Pause for a little while in between questions to give any entities you are speaking with time to respond. Don’t get discouraged if nothing happens that you can see. Review is where the EVP’s themselves will show up. 
6.  “TAG” your actions and contamination sounds. This will keep you from accidentally mistaking something you did (or heard) for something paranormal. If you make (or hear) a strange sound, say to the recorder what it was. If you or someone with you is walking around, or interacting with something, tell the recorder. This will help immensely in analysis, especially if you do not review materials right away. You could forget what happened before you review. 
7. Review your evidence. This is the most boring, tedious, dull part of the investigation. When you are all done with your investigation, you need to take every bit of evidence, in the case of your recordings, and go over them in real time to listen for EVPs. You have to listen very closely or you might miss something. If you do not find anything, don’t get discouraged. You can have over 100 hours of recordings, and not find a single EVP. Here are a couple tips to assist your analysis process:  Try keeping you sessions short (between 2 and 5 minutes.) If it may take you a while to have time for review, make sure you always tag the beginning of the recordings with the location, date, and who is with you. Use a good pair of headphones when listening to recordings in a quiet room. Once you get into EVP processing, you may want to get into computer software to help identify spikes in the audio, this will help you pick up whispers and lower quality EVPs. Over time you will perfect your technique.
8. Treat anything you find objectively. Don’t hear something and automatically assume it is a ghost talking to you. Examine it closely. Try to come up with other things it could be. Share it with others so they can help you analyze it. If after objectively reviewing the evidence over and over, you and others cannot explain the EVP, you then have something that could be paranormal.