Hey. Hey. And welcome back. In today's episode, we're going to talk about podcast editing. I've heard time and time again that editing is the biggest pain point for existing podcasters and is one of the main factors holding back aspiring podcasters. I started out in the podcast industry as an editor, and I love the attention to detail. So I can't necessarily personally relate to the idea of the process being painful, but I do understand where it comes from. I can certainly relate to the time suck of the editing process, though, especially as a perfectionist.
We'll talk more about that in a few minutes. The simplest answer to the editing struggle is just to outsource it. Hire someone else to do it for you, get the time back, and relieve yourself of the headache. But I realized that this isn't an option for everyone. So today, I'm going to share some of my strategies as well as my secret weapon for easy podcast editing. The first basic principle of editing is that garbage in equals garbage out. In other words, no amount of editing and postproduction will make bad audio sound good. With a lot of effort, you can probably make it sound less bad, but it's never going to sound good.
So the first and most important editing strategy is to buy a professional microphone, use it correctly, and set up your recording environment the best that you can. And you don't need to break the bank to set yourself up for good sound. My favorite professional microphone is the Samsung q two u, which runs about 70 USD. I have a free equipment guide that includes videos showing how to set up the equipment and demonstrating proper microphone technique as well as tips for your recording environment. If you wanna check that out, you can grab it at the podcast teacher.com/equipment. The point here is, as the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Seriously, if you don't take anything else away from this episode, remember that garbage in equals garbage out. Set up some good foundations, and you will save yourself time, energy, and headaches in the long run.
Okay. Are you ready for my secret weapon for easy podcast editing? Drumroll, please. It's a dog clicker. Yes. One of those little handheld devices that you use to associate the click noise with a reward when you're training a dog. So how on earth does a clicker come into play for podcast editing? I know it's a little weird, but the noise of the dog clicker creates a very sharp and distinct noise. When you're editing your podcast, if you're using a traditional waveform editor and looking at those little audio wave squiggles, the sound of a dog clicker makes a very sharp and distinct spike that is very visually unique. When you record, you use the dog clicker to identify a point where editing is needed.
I'll talk more about that in a second. Then when you get to the editing stage, you take a look at where those distinct spikes from the dog clicker are, zoom in on those areas and those areas only, make the necessary edits, and then you don't even need to listen to the rest of the episode. So instead of relistening to your entire 20 minute recording start to finish, you can spend less than 5 minutes addressing just the spikes, and then you're done. Great. Right? Okay. So when you're recording, when do you use the dog clicker? You're going to use it anytime that you need to make an edit. In most cases, this is going to be for a restart, Like, when you say something and it comes out wrong or you trip over your words, use the dial clicker and then begin your sentence or thought over again. You might also use it to mark a spot where you cleared your throat or you sneezed or something else where you need to edit that out.
When you make the clicks, I suggest holding the dog clicker right up to the microphone. The closer it is, the more pronounced the spikes are, and the easier they are to see in the visual waveform. I like to do 3 quick clicks in a row to make them even more visually distinctive. You can say something with the clicks too if you'd like to make a verbal note to yourself about the edit. Experiment with it and create a system that works for you. I'll leave a link to my favorite dog clicker in the episode description. It has a little loop on it so that I can have it hooked on my finger and at the ready while I'm recording, but you can really use any dog clicker. Some people actually like to clap or click their tongue instead of using a clicker.
But I like using the clicker because it produces the same exact noise each time, and the spikes always look the same as opposed to a clap or a tongue click that might vary in volume or duration. Many of my podcast Startup Academy students have called this dog clicker trick an editing lifesaver that they never would have thought of on their own. So I hope that you find my secret weapon equally as valuable. And to wrap up, my last editing strategy for you is to embrace imperfection. If you've been listening for a while, you're probably not shocked to hear that this is something that I am still struggling with. But I'm working on practicing what I preach, and I'm getting better at letting the little things go. I used to cut out every single filler word, reduce every loud breath, and remove every single crackle of saliva noise, but that takes forever. And I always put my client work first, So more often than not, I'm working on my podcast at the last minute.
When I'm already short on time, spending hours on editing is not a good use of it. The reality is that I'm human. I use filler words when I'm not reading from a script, like during an interview. I breathe. My saliva makes noise. It's all completely normal. I try to find the line where these things cross from normal and tune out able into distracting. Anything that's not distracting, I try and leave it alone.
If my use of filler words is so excessive that it makes it hard to follow the conversation and understand my point, then I added some of them out. Sometimes the line is hard to find because we're always our own harshest critics, and sometimes I think something is distracting, but it's not distracting to anyone else. So it's a work in progress. But it's something that I get a little better at each time I flex that imperfection muscle. I hope that these podcasting strategies for editing were helpful to you and that you have a newfound use for that dog clicker lying in your junk drawer. And with that, I will talk to you next week.