Top 5 Podcast Editing Tips To Maximize Efficiency and Creativity
Welcome back to our Sounder Coaching Series, where we invite experts from around the podcasting industry to help you podcast smarter! Today, freelance copywriter, filmmaker, and podcast host Doug Fraser tackles best practices for audio editing. Fraser hosts and produces NPR’s What We Do podcast, where he explores the people behind the world’s most intriguing passions, hobbies, and jobs. He is also a contributor at Podcast Movement and an aspiring voiceover actor.
Editing your podcast can feel liberating. With every cut and music bed you place, you’re honing your skills as an auditory master. It’s moving. It’s powerful. It’s…daunting.
At times, the questions outweigh the answers. Before you know it, you’re banging your head against the keyboard. Where should I cut? Why do I feel like I’m starting from scratch with every episode? For the love of all that’s holy, there’s got to be a way to save time, right?!
Fret not, dear podcasting friends. Here are five editing tips I’ve picked up over a year-and-a-half of podcast editing to help you cut time, open doors to creative possibilities, and put the fun back into editing your podcast.
1. Know Your Theme(s)
Before you make a single cut, ask yourself, “What’s this episode about?” Having a grasp on your episode’s theme is crucial when it comes to knowing what — and when — to cut. By theme, I mean the underlying purpose or message of your episode. For example, the theme of an episode I did about a mob prosecutor was that justice isn’t black and white. Every choice I made whether to cut or keep a clip was based on sticking to that theme.
The classic advice of “kill your darlings” (i.e. even if you love an idea or segment, if it doesn’t work you have to cut it) can be tough to implement. Knowing your theme(s) make the call easier to remove parts you love for the sake of the end product.
Try this: One exercise I’ve found that works wonders in mining for an episode’s theme(s) is the 4-word pitch. Pretend you’ve got a new listener and you’ve only got 4 words to convince them to listen to your episode. What would you say? Answering this helps distill the concept, giving you a concise premise for your episode and a starting point for your theme(s).
2. Get Yourself Organized
Organization helps save time by allowing you to focus on the task at hand. I don’t know about you, but I’m a late bloomer when it comes to organizing things. Is it a way to rebel against growing up? Maybe. Has it made complex problems, like editing, even more difficult to solve? Infinitely.
Document managing apps like Scrivener have been a huge help for me on my journey to achieve organizational enlightenment. For example longer episodes I’ve produced, like Tales from a Mafia Prosecutor, would have been a nightmare to piece together without it.
In that episode, I had to figure out how to weave three distinct mobster stories and several overlapping behind-the-scenes stories into a single, flowing narrative. Scrivener was there to help every step of the way, keeping my interviews, research and thoughts organized.
Try this: Don’t want to reinvent the wheel with every episode? Create an episode template to alleviate the pressures of starting from scratch. Then use a document managing app to help organize your thoughts and research.
3. Give Yourself Permission to Play
Don’t take audio at face value. From your voice to the music, every sound of your podcast can be played with to create the exact feel you’re going for. Use tools like crossfade to seamlessly marry audio clips together or smooth out pops that can arise at intro and exit points. Toy with the pitch or tempo of a song to create a different mood.
Try this: Give yourself permission (and time) to play around and try new techniques with each episode. You might be surprised at what you discover. I’ve found this freedom of creativity keeps podcasting fun and exciting.
4. Create Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts
As fun as editing can be, one thing’s for certain: It’s repetitive. Click this. Drag this. Repeat. Your editing software allows you the freedom to create keyboard shortcuts for just about any action. Rather than a few clicks of the mouse, assign that action to a single key on your keyboard. This small change has a big, lasting impact on the speed at which I can edit and the rate of brain drain from performing unnecessary tasks.
Try this: While editing your next episode, notice which functions you use the most and create a keyboard shortcut.
5. Know When To Stop
There’s always one more thing you can tweak, one more idea to bring in. The truth is, you could work on a podcast episode for years if you wanted.
Knowing this, set deadlines for yourself so you’ll have a finish line to work toward. Contrary to some beliefs held by creatives, structure isn’t the enemy. It’s actually a key player in harnessing your creative potential. Embrace it so you can create better content and move on to your next episode.
Try this: You may already have a publishing deadlines for yourself, but try giving yourself an editing deadline too. This way, you remain focused while editing and don’t let the perfectionism may podcasters face get in the way.
So, that’s the scoop! Whether you’re new to podcast editing or have been working on it for some time, I hope these tips help you focus, produce, and have fun! Remember, editing your podcast should be an exciting challenge. These are a handful of tips to keep it that way.
What podcast editing tricks do you use? Share them in the comments! If you want to read more about audio storytelling, check out my work on Podcast Movement. And if you have a new episode ready to upload, check out Sounder!
