Whether you’re a DIY podcast editor or you outsource to a professional, these tips will help make life easy for everybody involved. Let’s get into how you can make podcast editing easy.
Avoid Filler and Acknowledgement Words
Editing can remove a lot of “um” and “mhm” words from your podcast recording, but what’s even better is never saying them in the first place. As a podcast host, you need to banish these words from your vocabulary. Refrain from saying um, you know, or uh during speech, and also anything like “right” and “mhm” repeatedly while the guest is speaking.
No matter who does the editing, it’s a time saver, and you may even be able to switch to a lower-cost service if you have no filler words to cut!
Finally, not every um can be removed since sometimes it just sounds unnatural to make harsh edits. Those would have to be left in, and therefore, best if never said at all. How guests speak is out of your control, and that’s where editing can really help out, but as a host it’s well within your control to improve!
Don’t Hack Your Podcast To Death
Just because you can edit doesn’t mean you should. Going over a transcript with a fine-tooth comb and trying to remove individual words, parts of sentences, or replace them with newly recorded bits is a nightmare and, most often, a waste of time. It usually results in a podcast that sounds very unnatural.
Learn to conduct your podcast interviews so they’re concise, interesting, and free of any audio issues. This way, your recording is already quite good and will only need minor tweaks to create the finished product.
Know where to draw the line between too much editing and too little. Think about how much of a difference the changes will really make at the end of the day. If you have a big mistake during recording, you might even note down the approximate time to make podcast editing easy later.
Know How To Restart
Sometimes you or your guest will lose train of thought, a dog will bark, or the doorbell rings, and you’ll have to restart.
Many times we can’t remember exactly what the last clean word said was. Or, maybe we get it wrong and end up not having a perfectly clean part of the recording to patch in. In these cases, it may be better to completely ask the question again. When you pick up recording again, clap into your mic to create an easily-findable editing point, and start in a way that’s easy to edit. “So, right, I was talking about…” is not going to make sense when edited back to the previous point before getting off track. The transition needs to be seamless. Completely start the thought over to make podcast editing easy.
Prevent Noise and Create a Great Recording
Some noise can be fixed in editing, but some cannot. Inevitably you’ll sometimes end up with a guest who sounds to be joining the call from the SpaceX launch pad. Be proactive about these problems by providing a guest prep sheet. Always maintain the “let’s fix it now” instead of “let’s fix it in editing” attitude. Not only will life be easier, but then the problems that can’t be fixed in editing won’t even exist!
Don’t make podcasting harder than it needs to be. Avoid trying to be a perfectionist or get stuck in analysis paralysis. This will let you publish more effective content, keep up with your schedule, and avoid frustration.
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