In recent years, podcasting has become immensely popular, and the amount of people who want to join in and start their own podcast is increasing daily.
However, a lot of new and amateur podcasters may not realize just how much work goes into creating a high-quality podcast.
Having a good podcast isn’t simply about having a podcast with good content or on an exciting topic, it also needs to have good audio quality, otherwise, your audience won’t be able to listen to it for very long before they decide to turn it off.
Most people will assume that to ensure that your podcast has great audio quality, all you need is a decent microphone, headphones, and audio interface.
But, the reality is that you also need to edit your podcast correctly too.
So, if you want to learn some great tips and tricks when it comes to podcast editing, then keep reading on and we’ll teach you everything you need to know!
Before We Start
Before we can delve into some extremely helpful tips, it is worth noting that great audio editing has two different sides to it.
The first one is knowing your way around the audio editing software that you use, and the second one is being able to be creative with the way in which you edit your podcast’s audio, so keep this in mind when you edit your podcast.
Podcast Editing Tips 101
Podcast editing is crucial for creating engaging and professional content. Focus on editing before mixing, and learn key combinations in your DAW to save time (See also: Best DAW For Podcasting). Add fades to smooth transitions and play tracks at double speed to quickly identify filler words. Remove filler words and adjust breaths for a natural flow, but avoid over-editing. Introduce “beats” to reset the listener’s ear during cadence changes and use ambiance clips for smoother transitions.
Handle multiple speakers effectively by untangling overlapping conversations, removing false starts and apologies, and editing out excessively agreeable speakers. Edit on consonants for a natural sound and delete background noises during silences. Use reference tracks and time stretching to ensure alignment, and be mindful of maintaining speech flow. If working with a list of cuts, edit in reverse order to prevent confusion. Overall, strive to create a polished podcast that keeps listeners engaged.
27 Top Podcast Editing Tops For 2023
- Listen to your interview once before editing
- Take notes of things to edit using timestamps
- Keep the blank space while editing
- Listen at regular speed
- Edit before mixing
- Learn key combinations in your DAW
- Add fades to tops and tails of clips with abrupt entrances
- Play tracks at double speed to identify filler words
- Delete filler words and interpolate
- Fade out pronounced breaths instead of removing them
- Tighten up natural pauses and breaths for better delivery
- Add a “beat” between vocal cadence changes to reset the ear
- Let hosts ramble to avoid abrupt cadence changes
- Use ambiance clips for silences and flow “beats”
- Tuck music fades behind content
- Use a long crossfade when connecting two pieces of audio with different background sounds
- Use Strip Silence to see where conversations overlap easily
- Untangle multiple speakers talking over each other
- Remove apologies, false starts, and phrase restarts
- Edit out excessively agreeable speakers
- Edit on consonants
- Delete background noises during silences
- Drop the source file into a separate track for reference
- Time stretch the longest file(s) to fix audio drifting
- Be mindful not to disrupt speech flow
- Edit in reverse when handling a long list of cuts
- Give it one last listen
Learn Your Editing Tool
It might seem basic, but everyone needs to start somewhere.
Editing tools are known as DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations), and are a place where you can either record and edit your audio, or import your audio and then work on it from there.
Whichever option you decide to choose, learning and mastering the editing tool that you use is the key to creating a good podcast.
Once you become more familiar with your tool, the editing process will become much easier, and you’ll soon be able to really imprint your own style onto the way you edit your audio.
This individual style is one way that your podcast can stand out from the rest too!
Interviewing And Microphones
If your podcast revolves around interviewing someone, or you regularly have guests and other hosts on your podcast, then investing in additional microphones is going to not only improve the quality of your podcast, but it will also make audio editing much easier too.
Whether you’re in the same room or miles away, you should try to ensure that both you and your other hosts have the same microphone to ensure that the audio quality is consistent throughout.
Checking Your Environment
If you’re just starting out with your podcast then the chances are you probably don’t have a properly soundproof recording studio at home, nor do you have the money to hire a professional studio for a few hours either.
Recording in an unprepared environment can be a nightmare when it comes to editing the audio, so keep these few things in mind when choosing when and where to record your podcast.
Firstly, pick a room that you’ll have full control over, no interruptions, no instructions, nothing, this will ensure that you’re undisturbed whilst recording and won’t have to start over and over again.
Secondly, try to soundproof as best as possible, even things such as curtains and a carpeted floor can dramatically reduce the amount of noise that echoes whilst recording.
Thirdly, try to record when there’s going to be the least amount of noise outside, as not only will it distract you whilst you’re talking, but it’ll also make the editing process much easier.
Background Noise
Speaking of background noise, it is arguably one of the most annoying things to have to deal with when it comes to editing a podcast, so being able to reduce it as much as possible is advised.
Background noise doesn’t just come along noises from the outside though, and can also occur when you speak into the microphone.
To help with this, we recommend investing in a pop filter, which can help reduce any noise picked up by your microphone, and will save you loads of time when it comes to the editing of your podcast!
Keep It Simple
When starting out, it can be extremely tempting to try and really overcomplicate the editing process by adding in a bunch of fancy transitions and cuts, but in reality, it can have a detrimental effect on the quality of your podcast, as well as only increasing the workload you’ll have when it comes to editing the podcast too.
If you’re new to podcasting and audio editing, then you probably won’t have the knowledge to do anything too fancy, and trying it will possibly just make it sound worse.
So you should try to keep things as simple as possible, and master the basics first.
Preparation
Our last tip really isn’t about audio editing, but if you ask any professional podcaster for some advice, they’ll all tell you the same thing: Be prepared.
If you put a good amount of time into the preparation for your podcast, then the likelihood is that things will go much more smoothly.
Check all of your equipment beforehand, especially the microphones, headphones, and audio interface, ensure that you’re recording properly, and that there’s no unwanted noise.
What Specs Do I Need for Podcasting and Editing?
This will ensure that not only is the editing process easier, but also that you’ll be more comfortable when it comes to actually talking in the podcast.
You should also prepare scripts for you and your guests, even if they’re just simple prompts on what to talk about throughout the duration of your podcast!
Summary
Overall, there are a whole lot of different things that can make the editing process of your podcast easier, but we hope that at least some of these tips will help you out!
