A few years ago, millions of tech journalists predicted the imminent death of the podcast, and while it’s yet to dominate the mainstream, those journalists could not be more wrong now.
Podcasting has proved a hugely useful outlet for music blogs and organizations, comedians and as radio companions. Podcasts are easy, entertaining and fun to make.
In a world where thousands of amateur podcasters are releasing their own podcasts on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis, how can you make sure you stand out and get people interested?
The devil is in the detail, as they say, and it’s often the case that small changes to your audio capture can make all the difference. In short, audio editing can transform a good podcast into a great one. Here’s why:
Trim the Fat
When you’re on a roll, it can be so hard to stop and while you always want to record more than you need, the temptation to throw it all together and be done with it is omnipresent.
The problem with being indiscriminate about your content, though, is that listener will always a limited attention span and patience, and even the most committed followers won’t want to hear you reiterate the same thing over and over again.
What about new listeners? You want to approach every podcast as though you’re accommodating new fans, and thus, should be aiming to hook people in. Audio editing allows you to trim bloated content and keep your listeners entertained all the time.
All Killer No Filler
Unless you’re witty and brilliant and funny all the time in real life, some of your content is going to be better than the rest and likewise, some of it is going to be worse than the rest.
Audio editing means that, if, like the rest of us, you’re only funny and brilliant some of the time, nobody need ever know. Keep the best bits, improve the mediocre bits and cut the worst bits.
Listeners will think you’re like that all the time.
Create an Identity
This is more relevant to marketing than the quality of the podcast itself, but if you want new people to get interested, then marketing is going to be important.
Once you get a sense of how to edit your podcast, consistency will emerge, and this kind of consistency can give your podcast its own identity and style. This style will become evident to listeners, allowing them to identify your podcast, and recommend it to friends who they believe may relate to this identity.
Enhance Your Podcast
Audio editing is a process of improvement, or making things as good as they can be – soon enough you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t work, and whether your podcast is made funnier, or more entertaining with that extra sound effect etc.
Edited podcasts have a professional edge that unedited podcasts do not, and just a few edits can improve your podcast beyond measure. So next time you record a podcast, record more than you need, and play around with what you have at the end – be ruthless and most importantly, have fun!
– Video Caddy
