For spoken word I would expect that the "pad" switch on the mic should be off (assuming that you are not yelling into the mic).
Next thing in line is the pre-amp.
Ensure that phantom power is on.
Ensure that the input level is set appropriately (not too high or too low). The "clip" LED should not come on - turn up the input level so that it "just" starts to flash when you speak loudly, then back it off a bit.
Next thing is the Windows sounds settings.
Open the
Windows Sound Control Panel and check that all effects and enhancements are off, and that there is no "boost" setting enabled.
Finally there is the setting in Audacity. This is just a duplicate of one the the Windows controls, so there's no need to use this at all.
Apparently some USB sound cards can behave a little strangely if you are recording in mono. I've not been able to test this myself as I don't have a sound card that does it, but the problem is that clipping can occur at -6 dB. One workaround for this problem is to record 2 channel stereo, then split the track to mono and delete the empty track. Note that there settings in both the
Windows Sound Control Panel and the
device toolbar for setting the number of channels. You may need to play around with the channel settings to find what works best.
Let us know how you get on.
This forum is for Audacity on Windows.