September 16, 2024 • 6 mins
In this episode of Be a Better Podcaster, we dive into the art of editing and why embracing pauses and natural breaths can improve your podcast.
Learn how over-editing can make conversations sound robotic, how to find the perfect balance between too much and not enough editing, and how slight imperfections can enhance the listener's experience. Sure, AI editors are useful, but the nuance of the human touch matters to avoid a "too polished" result.
Key Tips:
- Embrace natural pauses and "ums"
- Avoid overusing AI editing tools
Mentioned in today's episode
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Equipment:
Recommended resources:
Be a Better Podcaster is a tips and growth podcast brought to you by Jamie and Jaayne. These are AI hosts - their voices are auto-generated, reading content created by Danny Brown, host of One Minute Podcast Tips and 5 Random Questions.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jamie:
All right, so imagine this. You're really getting into a podcast, right? (00:02):
undefined
Jamie: Like maybe it's some crazy true crime thing or you're finally hearing about (00:05):
undefined
Jamie: that cool new tech everyone's talking about. (00:09):
undefined
Jamie: And then, bam, something just yanks you right out of it. (00:12):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, I know that feeling. (00:17):
undefined
Jamie: And it's not even the ads or anything like that. It's the editing. (00:19):
undefined
Jamie: Oh, yeah. Or like the over-editing. (00:22):
undefined
Jaayne: It's like they're afraid of any silence or something. (00:24):
undefined
Jamie: It's like listening to a robot, (00:26):
undefined
Jaayne: You know? Yeah, totally. (00:28):
undefined
Jamie: And that's actually what we're diving into today, giving podcasts some room to breathe, (00:29):
undefined
Jaayne: You know? Okay, I like that. (00:34):
undefined
Jamie: We've got this article, Give Your Podcast Permission to Breathe. (00:35):
undefined
Jamie: Love the title. And it's all about finding that sweet spot with audio editing. (00:40):
undefined
Jaayne: I see, I see. (00:44):
undefined
Jamie: And you don't have to be like a podcasting expert to get this, by the way. (00:46):
undefined
Jamie: This is about those little things that make a huge difference in how you experience, (00:50):
undefined
Jamie: well, anything you listen to. (00:55):
undefined
Jaayne: Absolutely. (00:56):
undefined
Jamie: So this author, he starts off talking about this poll he did on Twitter, (00:57):
undefined
Jamie: asking people what their biggest podcast turnoffs are. (01:02):
undefined
Jamie: All the usual stuff came up, right? Like too many ads, weird format changes. (01:05):
undefined
Jaayne: Right, right. (01:10):
undefined
Jamie: But a lot of people chose other. And when he looked into it, (01:10):
undefined
Jamie: a bunch of them were saying editing was their big issue. (01:13):
undefined
Jaayne: Interesting. It's so true, though. We think about the hosts, (01:16):
undefined
Jaayne: the sound quality, but we don't always think about the editing. (01:19):
undefined
Jamie: Yeah. And it makes sense because as a listener, you don't always notice every single edit. Right. (01:22):
undefined
Jamie: But those little changes really affect how you experience the whole thing. (01:28):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, I'd say so. It's like you don't notice every brushstroke in a painting. Exactly. (01:32):
undefined
Jamie: But they all add up to make the whole picture. (01:36):
undefined
Jaayne: And just like with too many brushstrokes, too much editing can kind of ruin the whole thing. (01:39):
undefined
Jamie: Totally. And that's how you get that staccato voice thing that the article mentions. (01:43):
undefined
Jaayne: Oh, yeah. The author had that great line. The human voice is not a staccato. (01:47):
undefined
Jaayne: So true. Yes. When we try to make it this perfect rhythm, taking out every little (01:51):
undefined
Jaayne: pause and breath, it just sounds... (01:57):
undefined
Jaayne: wrong. (02:00):
undefined
Jamie: It's true. And our brains can tell. We know how real speech is supposed to sound. (02:01):
undefined
Jamie: Think about it. In a normal conversation, you wouldn't expect someone to never (02:06):
undefined
Jamie: take a breath between sentences. No way. (02:11):
undefined
Jamie: Exactly. And it's those little imperfections that make us sound, well, human. For sure. (02:13):
undefined
Jamie: It's like we just instinctively know, you know, when someone's speech sounds too perfect. (02:19):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah. Too polished. It's like that uncanny valley thing, but for audio. Totally. (02:24):
undefined
Jaayne: And speaking of uncanny valleys, one of my biggest pet peeves is when they edit out all the breaths. (02:28):
undefined
Jamie: Ugh, yes. It's like they're scared of a little silence, so they just cram everything together. Right. (02:34):
undefined
Jaayne: You get to the end and you're like gasping for air. (02:39):
undefined
Jamie: I know, right? So what's the solution then? Just got to let all the awkward (02:41):
undefined
Jamie: pauses and stuff stay in. (02:45):
undefined
Jaayne: Well, it's about finding that middle ground, right? (02:47):
undefined
Jaayne: Not totally raw, but not robotic either. The article actually had some good tips for this. Okay. (02:50):
undefined
Jamie: Yeah. What were those? (02:56):
undefined
Jaayne: So the first one is actually to embrace the um. (02:57):
undefined
Jamie: Really? I'm usually pretty quick to edit those out. (03:00):
undefined
Jaayne: I know, right? But an um can actually make a conversation better sometimes. Hmm. (03:02):
undefined
Jamie: Okay. When does that even work? (03:08):
undefined
Jaayne: Think about someone like Ira Glass from This American Life. Oh, sure. (03:10):
undefined
Jamie: Yeah. (03:13):
undefined
Jaayne: He's a great storyteller and he uses ums on purpose almost to give you a little pause. (03:14):
undefined
Jaayne: You know, like those little pauses are part of how he tells a story. (03:19):
undefined
Jamie: That's a really good point. I'm going to have to listen for that now. (03:23):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing how much something that small can change things, (03:25):
undefined
Jaayne: right? That's for sure. And that kind of leads into the next tip, (03:29):
undefined
Jaayne: which is about breaths. Okay. (03:32):
undefined
Jaayne: Obviously, we don't need to hear every breath, but a few natural ones here and (03:34):
undefined
Jaayne: there just make it sound more real. (03:38):
undefined
Jaayne: Less like you're reading a script, you know? (03:40):
undefined
Jamie: Like that balance. Yeah. Right. Sounding natural, but not like you're out of breath. (03:43):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, exactly. And they even suggested like instead of cutting breaths out completely, (03:46):
undefined
Jaayne: just lowering the volume of the really loud ones. (03:51):
undefined
Jamie: That's actually really smart. So, it's still there, it just doesn't like blow out your ears. (03:54):
undefined
Jaayne: Right, it's like subtle editing, not trying to make it perfect. (03:59):
undefined
Jaayne: Which actually, speaking of, that brings us to the last tip, (04:02):
undefined
Jaayne: which is about all these AI editing tools. Yeah. (04:05):
undefined
Jamie: Those are everywhere now. Yeah. So what's the AI editing warning? (04:08):
undefined
Jamie: I feel like there's got to be one. Lay it on me. What's the catch with AI editing? (04:13):
undefined
Jaayne: Well, it's not really a catch. More like a heads up, right? Those AI tools, (04:18):
undefined
Jaayne: they can be amazing, but they can go a little overboard sometimes. (04:22):
undefined
Jamie: Overboard how? (04:26):
undefined
Jaayne: It's like they get a little too excited about cleaning things up. (04:27):
undefined
Jaayne: and they might end up chopping out those breaths and pauses that actually make (04:30):
undefined
Jaayne: the conversation sound natural. (04:34):
undefined
Jamie: So it's like those grammar checkers, you know? Yeah. You just need a comma. (04:35):
undefined
Jamie: They want to rewrite the whole sentence. (04:38):
undefined
Jaayne: Totally. Like AI editing tools are great, but they're tools, (04:40):
undefined
Jaayne: right? You still need a human to listen and make sure it flows right, you know? (04:43):
undefined
Jamie: Yeah, make sure it doesn't sound like too processed. (04:47):
undefined
Jaayne: Right. It's like when you can tell someone's used those AI photo things to smooth (04:50):
undefined
Jaayne: out every little wrinkle on their face. (04:54):
undefined
Jamie: It's like too perfect. (04:56):
undefined
Jaayne: Exactly. And that kind of takes away from it, you know? (04:57):
undefined
Jamie: It's like we connect more with the real stuff, you know, like those little imperfections (04:59):
undefined
Jamie: that remind us we're all just human. (05:04):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, absolutely. And that's a big part of why podcasts are so cool. (05:05):
undefined
Jaayne: It's like you're just part of this conversation, right? (05:09):
undefined
Jaayne: And that goes away when it's all edited to death. Right. (05:11):
undefined
Jamie: Like we're programmed to think perfect is better, but sometimes those little (05:14):
undefined
Jamie: imperfections actually make it more interesting. (05:19):
undefined
Jaayne: Totally. So, like, next time you're listening to something, try to listen to the editing. (05:21):
undefined
Jamie: Oh, that's a good point. (05:26):
undefined
Jaayne: Like, notice those little breaths, those pauses, even the ums and ahs. (05:26):
undefined
Jaayne: Do they make it better or do they distract you? (05:32):
undefined
Jamie: That's such a great point. It's like anything, the more you pay attention, (05:35):
undefined
Jamie: the more you start to notice the little things. (05:38):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, exactly. And who knows? You might even catch those over-edited podcasts (05:40):
undefined
Jaayne: and be like, man, this thing needs to chill out a bit. (05:43):
undefined
Jamie: Totally. Well, I think that's a perfect place to wrap up our deep dive into (05:45):
undefined
Jamie: the world of podcast editing. (05:50):
undefined
Jaayne: I agree. (05:51):
undefined
Jamie: So, until next time, folks, remember... (05:53):
undefined
Music: Music (05:57):
undefined
undefined
Jamie: Like maybe it's some crazy true crime thing or you're finally hearing about (00:05):
undefined
Jamie: that cool new tech everyone's talking about. (00:09):
undefined
Jamie: And then, bam, something just yanks you right out of it. (00:12):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, I know that feeling. (00:17):
undefined
Jamie: And it's not even the ads or anything like that. It's the editing. (00:19):
undefined
Jamie: Oh, yeah. Or like the over-editing. (00:22):
undefined
Jaayne: It's like they're afraid of any silence or something. (00:24):
undefined
Jamie: It's like listening to a robot, (00:26):
undefined
Jaayne: You know? Yeah, totally. (00:28):
undefined
Jamie: And that's actually what we're diving into today, giving podcasts some room to breathe, (00:29):
undefined
Jaayne: You know? Okay, I like that. (00:34):
undefined
Jamie: We've got this article, Give Your Podcast Permission to Breathe. (00:35):
undefined
Jamie: Love the title. And it's all about finding that sweet spot with audio editing. (00:40):
undefined
Jaayne: I see, I see. (00:44):
undefined
Jamie: And you don't have to be like a podcasting expert to get this, by the way. (00:46):
undefined
Jamie: This is about those little things that make a huge difference in how you experience, (00:50):
undefined
Jamie: well, anything you listen to. (00:55):
undefined
Jaayne: Absolutely. (00:56):
undefined
Jamie: So this author, he starts off talking about this poll he did on Twitter, (00:57):
undefined
Jamie: asking people what their biggest podcast turnoffs are. (01:02):
undefined
Jamie: All the usual stuff came up, right? Like too many ads, weird format changes. (01:05):
undefined
Jaayne: Right, right. (01:10):
undefined
Jamie: But a lot of people chose other. And when he looked into it, (01:10):
undefined
Jamie: a bunch of them were saying editing was their big issue. (01:13):
undefined
Jaayne: Interesting. It's so true, though. We think about the hosts, (01:16):
undefined
Jaayne: the sound quality, but we don't always think about the editing. (01:19):
undefined
Jamie: Yeah. And it makes sense because as a listener, you don't always notice every single edit. Right. (01:22):
undefined
Jamie: But those little changes really affect how you experience the whole thing. (01:28):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, I'd say so. It's like you don't notice every brushstroke in a painting. Exactly. (01:32):
undefined
Jamie: But they all add up to make the whole picture. (01:36):
undefined
Jaayne: And just like with too many brushstrokes, too much editing can kind of ruin the whole thing. (01:39):
undefined
Jamie: Totally. And that's how you get that staccato voice thing that the article mentions. (01:43):
undefined
Jaayne: Oh, yeah. The author had that great line. The human voice is not a staccato. (01:47):
undefined
Jaayne: So true. Yes. When we try to make it this perfect rhythm, taking out every little (01:51):
undefined
Jaayne: pause and breath, it just sounds... (01:57):
undefined
Jaayne: wrong. (02:00):
undefined
Jamie: It's true. And our brains can tell. We know how real speech is supposed to sound. (02:01):
undefined
Jamie: Think about it. In a normal conversation, you wouldn't expect someone to never (02:06):
undefined
Jamie: take a breath between sentences. No way. (02:11):
undefined
Jamie: Exactly. And it's those little imperfections that make us sound, well, human. For sure. (02:13):
undefined
Jamie: It's like we just instinctively know, you know, when someone's speech sounds too perfect. (02:19):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah. Too polished. It's like that uncanny valley thing, but for audio. Totally. (02:24):
undefined
Jaayne: And speaking of uncanny valleys, one of my biggest pet peeves is when they edit out all the breaths. (02:28):
undefined
Jamie: Ugh, yes. It's like they're scared of a little silence, so they just cram everything together. Right. (02:34):
undefined
Jaayne: You get to the end and you're like gasping for air. (02:39):
undefined
Jamie: I know, right? So what's the solution then? Just got to let all the awkward (02:41):
undefined
Jamie: pauses and stuff stay in. (02:45):
undefined
Jaayne: Well, it's about finding that middle ground, right? (02:47):
undefined
Jaayne: Not totally raw, but not robotic either. The article actually had some good tips for this. Okay. (02:50):
undefined
Jamie: Yeah. What were those? (02:56):
undefined
Jaayne: So the first one is actually to embrace the um. (02:57):
undefined
Jamie: Really? I'm usually pretty quick to edit those out. (03:00):
undefined
Jaayne: I know, right? But an um can actually make a conversation better sometimes. Hmm. (03:02):
undefined
Jamie: Okay. When does that even work? (03:08):
undefined
Jaayne: Think about someone like Ira Glass from This American Life. Oh, sure. (03:10):
undefined
Jamie: Yeah. (03:13):
undefined
Jaayne: He's a great storyteller and he uses ums on purpose almost to give you a little pause. (03:14):
undefined
Jaayne: You know, like those little pauses are part of how he tells a story. (03:19):
undefined
Jamie: That's a really good point. I'm going to have to listen for that now. (03:23):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing how much something that small can change things, (03:25):
undefined
Jaayne: right? That's for sure. And that kind of leads into the next tip, (03:29):
undefined
Jaayne: which is about breaths. Okay. (03:32):
undefined
Jaayne: Obviously, we don't need to hear every breath, but a few natural ones here and (03:34):
undefined
Jaayne: there just make it sound more real. (03:38):
undefined
Jaayne: Less like you're reading a script, you know? (03:40):
undefined
Jamie: Like that balance. Yeah. Right. Sounding natural, but not like you're out of breath. (03:43):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, exactly. And they even suggested like instead of cutting breaths out completely, (03:46):
undefined
Jaayne: just lowering the volume of the really loud ones. (03:51):
undefined
Jamie: That's actually really smart. So, it's still there, it just doesn't like blow out your ears. (03:54):
undefined
Jaayne: Right, it's like subtle editing, not trying to make it perfect. (03:59):
undefined
Jaayne: Which actually, speaking of, that brings us to the last tip, (04:02):
undefined
Jaayne: which is about all these AI editing tools. Yeah. (04:05):
undefined
Jamie: Those are everywhere now. Yeah. So what's the AI editing warning? (04:08):
undefined
Jamie: I feel like there's got to be one. Lay it on me. What's the catch with AI editing? (04:13):
undefined
Jaayne: Well, it's not really a catch. More like a heads up, right? Those AI tools, (04:18):
undefined
Jaayne: they can be amazing, but they can go a little overboard sometimes. (04:22):
undefined
Jamie: Overboard how? (04:26):
undefined
Jaayne: It's like they get a little too excited about cleaning things up. (04:27):
undefined
Jaayne: and they might end up chopping out those breaths and pauses that actually make (04:30):
undefined
Jaayne: the conversation sound natural. (04:34):
undefined
Jamie: So it's like those grammar checkers, you know? Yeah. You just need a comma. (04:35):
undefined
Jamie: They want to rewrite the whole sentence. (04:38):
undefined
Jaayne: Totally. Like AI editing tools are great, but they're tools, (04:40):
undefined
Jaayne: right? You still need a human to listen and make sure it flows right, you know? (04:43):
undefined
Jamie: Yeah, make sure it doesn't sound like too processed. (04:47):
undefined
Jaayne: Right. It's like when you can tell someone's used those AI photo things to smooth (04:50):
undefined
Jaayne: out every little wrinkle on their face. (04:54):
undefined
Jamie: It's like too perfect. (04:56):
undefined
Jaayne: Exactly. And that kind of takes away from it, you know? (04:57):
undefined
Jamie: It's like we connect more with the real stuff, you know, like those little imperfections (04:59):
undefined
Jamie: that remind us we're all just human. (05:04):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, absolutely. And that's a big part of why podcasts are so cool. (05:05):
undefined
Jaayne: It's like you're just part of this conversation, right? (05:09):
undefined
Jaayne: And that goes away when it's all edited to death. Right. (05:11):
undefined
Jamie: Like we're programmed to think perfect is better, but sometimes those little (05:14):
undefined
Jamie: imperfections actually make it more interesting. (05:19):
undefined
Jaayne: Totally. So, like, next time you're listening to something, try to listen to the editing. (05:21):
undefined
Jamie: Oh, that's a good point. (05:26):
undefined
Jaayne: Like, notice those little breaths, those pauses, even the ums and ahs. (05:26):
undefined
Jaayne: Do they make it better or do they distract you? (05:32):
undefined
Jamie: That's such a great point. It's like anything, the more you pay attention, (05:35):
undefined
Jamie: the more you start to notice the little things. (05:38):
undefined
Jaayne: Yeah, exactly. And who knows? You might even catch those over-edited podcasts (05:40):
undefined
Jaayne: and be like, man, this thing needs to chill out a bit. (05:43):
undefined
Jamie: Totally. Well, I think that's a perfect place to wrap up our deep dive into (05:45):
undefined
Jamie: the world of podcast editing. (05:50):
undefined
Jaayne: I agree. (05:51):
undefined
Jamie: So, until next time, folks, remember... (05:53):
undefined
Music: Music (05:57):
undefined
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