How to Edit a Podcast in 8 Steps

• Diana Aghumyan
• December 15, 2022
• 10 min read

Podcasts are widely popular forms of entertainment. There are more than 2 million podcasts as of 2022. So, if you have a passion for podcasts, why not create your own? For beginners, podcast editing can be quite challenging, but learning how to record a podcast will help you. That’s why many people start procrastinating and worrying about how they are going to handle that task. However, it has never been easier to edit your podcasts yourself. There are plenty of useful tools and software that allow users to edit their podcasts in the best possible way.

Besides, there are no certain rules for how a podcast should be edited. It all depends on your budget, time limits, approach, and content.

So, any podcast can be taken to the next level, thanks to editing. You just need good podcast editing software that meets your needs and requirements. When you are equipped with the right tools and make the right preparations, the editing process becomes much easier, and you can make your podcast from mediocre to truly perfect.

If you are wondering how to edit a podcast, this article will definitely help you. We have put together some important tips for complete beginners who need help knowing where to start.

An 8-Step Guide On How to Edit a Podcast

Knowing how to record a podcast is not enough to kick off a podcast. You should also learn how to edit a podcast episode. Below, we have put together some tips to help you get started.

1. Define the Length of Your Podcast

Before you start editing your audio files, you need to decide how long your podcast is going to be. Podcasts can last from 20 to 60 minutes in length. If you have just started making podcasts, you can publish 20-30 minute long episodes at first. As it is important not to bore your audience, short episodes are the most convenient option for you as a beginner. Once you manage to grab the attention of your audience and win their loyalty, you can record longer episodes.

However, the length of your podcasts also depends on the content you are going to cover. If it is about science, for instance, you might need more than 20 minutes to discuss the most important terms and facts unless you are perfect at delivering complex information in a short period of time. So, it all depends on how you outline your speech and what message you want to emphasize the most.

2. Make Your Podcast Intro and Outro Memorable

Put yourself in the shoes of a new listener who has never heard of you and is not interested in your content yet. They found your latest episode and hit play. You have only a few seconds to impress your listener and make him/her listen to your podcast till the end. However, it does not mean that you should focus on the beginning and ignore the last part. The end is equally important as the introduction.

Two things that can surely grab people’s attention are the intro and outro of your podcasts. So, if you are curious about how to edit a podcast in a way that attracts more people, consider making your podcast’s intro and outro memorable.

Whether it is music you play at the beginning of your episode or a few spoken words over music at the end, you need to think about having an impressive intro and outro, as they can have a long-lasting impact on your audience.

3. Use Music and Sound Effects

Using music and sound effects in your podcasts can be an effective way to establish a strong connection with your listeners. Regardless of whether your podcast episode is funny, thrilling, or scary, music and sound effects can highly strengthen its tone and mood. However, you should be careful while choosing music as it can easily cheer up people or ruin their mood. Therefore, you need to spend time searching for the right music for your podcast.

As you cannot use any copyrighted music unless you have the right to use it, you should look for royalty-free music on the web. Luckily, there are many websites like Pixabay, Motionarray, and Tunetank that offer free music of different genres.

You may wonder how to use music and sound effects in your podcasts. Below you can find some ideas.

• Intro music։ Your podcast intro music is the music you play at the beginning of your episode. It sets the tone and mood for the show and allows people to know what energy to expect when they start listening. Depending on the genre of the episode, music can vary. It typically lasts 10-30 seconds.
• Background music։ If you want to emphasize a specific moment during your podcast, you can use background music.
• Transition music։ Podcast transition music allows you to switch from one topic to another smoothly.
• Outro music։ If you do not want your podcasts to end abruptly, you can use outro music at the end of your podcasts.

4. Optimize Your Sounds and Music

If you want your podcasts to have a pleasing sound, you need to optimize them during the post-production process. The better your podcast sound quality is, the more your listeners will be eager to listen to it. So, below you will find some sound and music improvement tips for your podcasts.

• Record your podcast in a quiet place: Find a room that is away from any noise. Also, make sure to get rid of all distractions that could possibly affect the quality of the sound.
• Use EQ (equalization): When mixing, you can use equalization, which will allow you to change the balance of the frequencies in your recording. In this way, your audio sound will be more natural as you remove high and unpleasant frequencies from your recording.
• Use a compressor: A compressor will compress the dynamic range of your recording. It is a process in music production that helps to equalize loud and quiet parts of a sound.
• Use noise reduction: If your room is not fully soundproofed, you can undertake steps to minimize noise before you start recording. Some ways to get rid of unwanted noise in your podcast include removing background noise and plosives.
• Choose good equipment: It has been said a lot, but the quality of your sound highly depends on the equipment you use for recording and editing your podcasts.
• Listen to it before publishing: Double-checking is an important step to take. There might be some flaws you have overlooked. So, check one more time and make sure that everything is ok with the sound.

5. Focus On The Most Important Content

Some people think about how to edit a podcast in a way so that the most important information does not get lost. When editing your podcast, you need to decide what story you want to tell your audience. If you cut out the most important and engaging part of your podcasts, listeners will get bored soon. So, you need to make sure that the most important part of your story is there.

Let’s say you interview a professional in the healthcare industry. You may ask your guests questions like what it is like to work in that field, what difficulties they have to face, how to recover from a specific illness, and so on. So, when choosing what content to leave and what content to cut out from your show, you should ask yourself if that particular moment adds to the story you tell.

6. Use a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

If you wonder how to edit a podcast efficiently, you need to use DAW (digital audio workstation). It is a device or software that allows you to convert the recorded audio into a readable format on your computer and provides you with the tools for editing these audio files. If you want to edit your podcasts more precisely, then a DAW is a great solution. However, if you are a beginner, working with DAW software might seem complex and complicated for you. Some of the famous DAW software include Audacity, Reaper, Pro Tools, and GarageBand.

Before choosing any DAW software for editing your podcasts, you need to consider some questions.

• First, you need to make sure that your operating system (PC or Mac) is compatible with the software you are planning to use.
• Next, you need to decide how much you are going to spend on buying the software. If you want to have the best quality for your podcasts, then it would be great to invest a little more. However, if you have little money, you can start with software that works for your budget.
• Finally, you need to understand how good and experienced you are at editing. Not all editing software is easy to use. Some have complex features, and you have to spend time learning them. If you know how to edit a podcast episode, you will not face difficulties while using any editing software. On the other hand, if you are a beginner and do not have basic editing skills, it would be useless to purchase advanced software.

7. Listen to Your Podcast and Make Final Improvements

The final step of our guide on how to edit a podcast is listening to a podcast a few times to make sure everything is ok. Whether you are a beginner or a skilled podcaster, you need to double-check everything before publishing. The number of podcast listeners is currently 383.7 million which means that you have a great chance to get your content in front of these people. You just need to make sure your content is unique and has excellent quality.

When you listen to your podcast more than once, you can understand what works well and what does not. Maybe, there are some issues you have overlooked. For instance, the quality of the sound is not good enough, or the music is not relevant to your podcast. So, listening to your podcast will allow you to identify those weaknesses and find proper solutions.

8. Promote Your Podcast

Wait. There is one more bonus tip for you. Once you are done with the editing process, start thinking about how to promote it. You have spent a lot of time and energy editing your podcast to have the best quality. So, why not share it on social media and streaming platforms like Spotify? By the way, if you wonder how to start a podcast on Spotify, you can read our guide.

Why is podcast promotion important? Bringing your content in front of many people will allow you to reach large audiences. Next, you will be able to work with social media influencers who will market your podcasts to their audience.

If you manage to grow your audience and have a loyal fan base, you can start thinking about monetizing your podcasts and making money. So, as you can see, podcast promotion can bring you many opportunities for growth and development.

The Takeaway

Podcasts are a great way to entertain people. As people are busy with their daily tasks and jobs, they can listen to podcasts and do other things at the same time. However, today’s audience has become quite demanding. It is quite difficult to win their trust and loyalty. Therefore, you need to make more effort to create engaging and good-quality content for people.

In order to produce excellent quality for your podcasts, you need to know how to edit a podcast properly. With the right software and other tools, you will be able to achieve the quality your audience demands. By following the above-mentioned steps, you can easily get started, even if you are a newbie in the world of podcasting.

We hope our guide will help you. Thanks for reading, and good luck with your podcasting career!

SEO Content Writer

Diana Aghumyan

Diana is an experienced creative SEO content writer at SayNine. She is passionate about writing and giving value to people with her articles. Her blogs revolve around advertising, digital marketing, and other similar topics.