Problem! Very uneven audio level throughout my recording.

[Canon GL-2 Guy]

Audio solution needed please:

I recorded a presenter that alternately shouted when he got excited or to emphasize his points, talked softly or moderated his speech level now and then. The direct result was a audio track that’s uneven to say the least.

I need to be able to smooth the whole thing out as boosting the individual sections that require it would be tedious and very time consuming. Adding gain universally to the whole track would of course result in even more distortion and spikes!

Considering the above, what is my best course of corrective action to make the best of the situation and to have something that would be broadcastable on cable? I don’t know all that much about audio. As tools I have Adobe Premiere 6.5, Pro 2 and Pro 3.
What applications, processes and procedures should be utilized? Free or low-cost downloads preferred.

It would be greatly appreciated if someone who has experienced a similar problem which must be fairly common I would think would explain to me in detail exactly how they addressed the problem to successfully resolve it.

Thanks for any practical advice or pointer offered.

[zoobie]

try normalizing the audio and see if that helps
yes, editing is time consuming...but you usually end with the desired results