Audio is a vital component of all recorded media (unless you’re making an old-style silent movie and your name is Charlie Chaplin, of course). However, you cannot afford to let that audio go forth into the world without some serious editing. Whether you’re recording a podcast or interviewing an expert, you have to do a few things to ensure that your audio is up to par. Audio editing does a lot of things, including ensuring your audience gets the message loud and clear, but it also enhances your professional image.
Um, Ah, Uh – Cut It Out
When human beings speak, we rarely spit out a stream of coherent words back to back. When asked a question, we start off with hmm, or ah, or um, or uh, and those are peppered throughout our speech. Your interviewee might be rolling right along with an explanation of a particular topic when they lose their train of thought and have to um and ah their way through a few seconds until they get it back. Your audience doesn’t need to hear all those ums and ahs. Edit those elements out and your audio will have more impact, and be more concise.
The Sidetracked Conversation
How often have you been in a conversation that started out on one topic and then quickly veered off into something completely unrelated? Most of us do it all the time. It’s natural. However, it’s not often a good thing for your audio recording. Whether you’re interviewing an expert, highlighting a guest or doing something else, you need to edit out the parts of the conversation that don’t pertain to the topic of discussion, unless those points are somehow relevant. The audience doesn’t need to hear about your guest’s uncle’s cat’s bout with hairballs unless it somehow pertains to the topic being discussed. Edit it out and your professionalism will shoot up.
The Hash Start and Stop
When we speak to one another, it’s a staccato thing – it’s all bursts of sound and then lulls of silence. While that might be natural to human communication, it’s not a good thing for your audio. You should learn several editing techniques to ensure that you are able to provide smooth, easy transitions for your listeners. Perhaps the most common of these is the cross-fade on the intro and outro. However, there are other techniques that you can use so that your audio is more professional.
Cutting Outside Interruptions
How often have you been in the middle of an interview and an unexpected noise intruded? Maybe your mobile phone rang, or your guest’s did. Maybe someone had to interrupt your interview for something. Maybe there were car horns in the background. You can edit all of these out and provide your audience with a professional audio recording that doesn’t include needless starts, stops and outside interruptions.
Audio editing ensures that you come across as a professional, whether you’re interviewing someone, or using the audio for marketing purposes.
– Video Caddy
