Editing your podcast can seem like a daunting and even tedious task. We all want to look and sound professional in our chosen career and podcasting is no different. How do you achieve that polished sound without throwing money at the issue? Our industry professionals here at CMD have all had successful voice over careers and are trained to give you the skills necessary to build a successful podcast and attract listeners. In this BLOG we’ll share some industry standard tips and tricks to giving you the sound and finished product you’re looking for.
5 Successful Editing Tips
There are some professionals who choose not to edit their podcasts as they want an authentic sound. However, if you aren’t as adept at public speaking or cold reading, editing will make your podcast easier for your listeners to follow and will better hold their interest. Here are some of our top editing tips:
Watch your tone. One of the most noticeable editing mistakes comes when there is a shift in vocal tone. Often you are required to edit together two different segments of audio, merging sentences. Watching your tone and volume, and making sure it is as consistent as posible, will make editing much easier.
Spacial awareness and pacing. The pace and vocal spacing in your podcast is essential for ease of the listener. Too much space can seem unnatural and cause your listener to become disinterested. Too fast a pace can make your delivery seem choppy and unfocused. Find a flow that feels natural for you and your guest. Natural pauses are necessary to allow the listener to internalize information.
Breathe Naturally. One common mistake when editing is cutting off a breath too quickly or not allowing for one at all. Watch for double breaths, missing breaths or a cut off a breath as these stilt the natural flow of your podcast and sounds unnatural. Try increasing the size of your waveforms in the DAW to spot breaths. And be sure to listen to each edit with a good amount of pre-roll to hear it in context.
Check your F’s and H’s. When you’re watching for those breath mistakes, be sure you don’t cut off the end of a consonant. “S” consonants often look like a football on a waveform. “F” and “H” consonants are a bit more difficult to spot on the waveform. When editing separate takes together, consonants make great places to do that because consonant tones usually don’t change much.
Music edits. I know, why do you need to know how to edit music, podcasts are about audio. While 90% of your podcast will be dialog, there will usually be a music intro or finale with music during transitions. One of the most noticeable editing mistakes is mis-edited, ill flowing music. Find an ideal loop point in the music where elements stay fairly static and line up two transient points in the waveform. If your edit sounds jarring just try again until it feels smooth.
CMD Will Professionally Record and Edit Your Podcast!
At CMD, we have helped a plethora of corporate clients professionally edit their podcast. While we typically provide services to professional organizations and producers, we also strive to publish meaningful information like this for those individuals who might not have the budget to utilize our Manhattan studio.
With our state of the art sound and mixing equipment, professional voice over coaching and innovative courses, you can’t go wrong with choosing CMD. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by due to fear of the unknown, call 212-213-9420 today!
