Podcast Production: Editing Tips and Tricks
Editing is where a lot of the magic happens. It is often worth hiring someone to help with this stage as it takes years to get good at it. Here are some quick Tips and Tricks for editors of all skill level.
What is Editing?
This stage is where a lot of the magic happens. It is often worth hiring someone to help with this stage as it takes years to get good at it.
Before Recording
Content is more important than sound quality. While sound quality is important, your focus should always be on the content.
If the story isn’t good, nobody is going to listen anyways.
People would rather listen to the “I Have a Dream’ speech with poor quality than the best recording money can buy of a person discussing a boring topic.
Plan everything so that you are not wasting time fixing mistakes during the recording and editing process.
Many of our clients use Airtable or Trello to plan out episodes.
Make sure everyone involved with the episode understands how it will be recorded and how they can make the sound quality better (Speaking into a microphone, turning off cell phones, wearing headphones for video calls).
Editing 101
The editor is responsible for checking and cleaning every single cut that they make.
Editors must find a balance between too perfect and full of distracting mistakes.
Unless you are going for something very creative, most edits should not be noticed by the listener.
A bad edit will take a listener out of the experience and distract them.
Never cut in the middle of a breath. Either let the breath finish or remove it.
When you make a cut, you decide how quickly the next clip will come in. Keep the space and pace natural.
People make mistakes. In normal conversation, we say ‘um’, ‘uh’, ‘like’, ‘you know’, and fumble over our words. Leaving some in does not distract listeners because they are used to it in everyday life.
False starts are when a speaker starts a sentence or thought, mess up, abort it, and try again or move on. Similar to filler words, false starts can be necessary to show contemplation, confusion, break up a thought, or even be comedic.
The beginning, middle, and end are the most important. This may sound like everything is important, but it means you need a strong hook, followed by a compelling narrative or topic, that is wrapped up by a memorable conclusion.
You want listeners to start listening, keep listening, and come back to listen again.
Need Professional Help? Check out our Production Services.