Back when I started my podcast, if I wanted clear, uncompressed audio that didn’t have that random robot voice you’d get from an unstable connection, I’d need to do a few things:
Use Skype + eCamm Recorder1 to record my audio cleanly.
Send my guest clear instructions on how to record their audio with either Quicktime on the Mac, or Voice Recorder on Windows.
Walk through the process with my guest to make sure they’re getting clean audio (that is, audio with no echo).
Still record a backup, just in case.
Give my guests a place where they could upload the audio.
Painstakingly sync the audio when I combined them in GarageBand or Audacity.
Things are different now. Many podcasters use Zoom, which does a pretty good job of managing audio and internet connections — and even gives you the ability to record separate audio tracks.
But you’re still subject to compression and bad internet connections…which could mean choppy audio.
That’s why today’s advent tool recommendation is Riverside.
At the beginning of Podcast Advent, I recommended Descript as an all-in-one tool, allowing you to record with Squadcast, then move to editing and publishing in Descript.
A question I get from coaching clients and students when I mention this is, “what if I don’t want to do any editing?”
I think you only want to record great remote interviews/conversations, Riverside is the better bet.
They have a ton of features to make it easy for you to log on and just press record, with video, or audio only.
They also generate transcripts for you, and have a fantastic feature for video called “AI switching,” where they’ll help you make clips from your recording, and automatically switch to who’s speaking. This can be incredibly helpful if you’re testing a short form video strategy.
It’s been one of the main drivers of my podcast for years, and while you can’t eliminate problems completely with any product that requires two people to be connected on the internet, Riverside has been incredibly reliable.
I’ve used it as a host, a guest, and as a producer — which allows me to sit in on, and manage, the conversation without actually being recorded. Producer mode is fantastic!
If you’re looking to level-up your recordings this year, check out Riverside. They have a free plan if you want to give it a whirl.
A lot of podcasters cringe when they listen to themselves hear filler words like “um,” “like,” and “you know,” too much. The folks at Descript know this and have made it SUPER easy to remove those filler words…but the real question is: should you?
How to Remove Filler Words with Descript
This process is pretty straight forward, as you’ll see in the video:
Add a podcast episode to Descript and make sure it’s transcribed.
You’ll notice filler words, transition words, and repeated words are underlined in blue.
Right click on any of those words and choose “Remove Filler Words”
On the left, all of the filler words will be highlighted. In the search box above the list, you can select and deselect words as well. If you want to keep in the “you knows,” you can!
On the bottom, click “Apply” or “Apply to all” to remove all filler words in one fell swoop.
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Why You Shouldn’t Remove Filler Words
So there’s how to do it. But I’d advise against it. The main reason is this: you will end up with a less natural sounding conversation.
When there are no filler words, it’s usually because someone is reading, or has memorized a script. In normal conversation, we all use filler words. Removing them makes you sound a bit robotic.
Even if you want to remove some, doing this in Descript will take some time. You want to make sure you don’t get any unnatural edits.
Plus, no one is a harsher critic on us than us. So if you’re editing your own episodes, you will likely want to edit more than you should because you’re worried about how you sound. But the truth is, if the content is good, most people won’t care or notice you said “um” too many times.
Finally, the more you podcast, the better you’ll get, so you’ll start to say those filler words less. Relying on a tool is no replacement for getting better at your craft!
Still…Descript makes it really easy for the times you feel you need it.
A podcast with bad audio is pretty much dead on arrival. These days, with affordable mics and a higher expectation from listeners, you don’t need to sound like NPR, but you do need to sound decent. Now, thanks to Descript, you can sound WAY better with the click of a button. Here’s how.
In This Video You’ll:
Learn how to record a track directly into Descript
Apply Studio Sound to a built-in iMac Pro (2017) mic
Hear the difference between the raw recording and the enhanced recording
Adjust Studio Sound effects to make the recording sound as natural as possible while still improving the quality.
By and large, the most time consuming activity for podcasters is editing. Many edit their own show (something I generally recommend against), which can take 2-3x longer than the actual recording.
Since podcasting is a loss generator for most starting out, it’s understandable that one may not have the budget to hire an editor. So how do we, as podcasters, save some money while also getting a decent edit on the show? There are a few different ways to edit, depending on your process.
1. The Super Polished
I think this is the one a lot of people want to go for at first. The problem is if you’ve never edited before, it can take a long time to learn and the work may go…unappreciated. This is also a lot harder to do if you’re putting out a weekly podcast
For long time podcasters, like Myke and Grey from Cortex, who do a monthly show and pass the edit back and forth, listening to the episode multiple times, a polished edit might make sense.
The same goes for the Gimlets and Wonderys of the world, who have a staff of editors that can clean up already good recordings, add foley1, and edit in a way that tells a story.
This is probably overkill for most shows.
Podcast Booster Blueprint
Use my 10-year podcasting journey to put your podcast on the right track.
Get my free Podcast Booster Blueprint now. In this email course, I’ll walk you through 5 changes you can make in minutes to:
Attract and keep your ideal listeners
Skyrocket your downloads
Start making money (now)
No hacks. Only Real actionable tips I test for you.
2. The Quick Clean Up
Instead of going to great lengths to get everything sounding perfect, you can employ the quick clean up, which is what I do for most of my podcast episodes. My editor will combine the audio, clean it up so it sounds better, add the bumpers and sponsors, and remove an retakes2.
Note, that this does not remove ever um, like, ah, and pause from the recording. Most of the time, that will make the recording sound weirdly cut and unnatural.
This is what I’d recommend for most podcasters. And with apps like Descript, editing this way is a bit easier. You can run through a transcript to remove words that correspond with the audio edits.
And with Studio Sound being out of beta, you can even clean up rough audio…just make sure to have a listen first because you may lose some sounds, especially if you trail off while speaking.
Doing this edit allows you to spend some time editing the show, but not so much that you’re sinking 4 or even 8 hours into it.
3. Intro, Outro, and Ship
One of the fastest ways to put some polish on your show without doing too much editing is to add an intro and outro, maybe with a music bed, and ship it. You can create a template in GarageBand, Audacity, or Descript, and record the intro/outro after you record the full episode.
This allows you to make the show a little more dynamic, let the audience know what’s coming, then recap at the end. This also allows you to add a relevant call to action after the fact too.
I will do this when I’m in a pinch, but I really do prefer to do a little more…especially if there are things I want to edit out. A little TLC on your episodes shows your listeners you care.
4. Record and Release
Finally, there’s “Record and release.” Some will also call this “record to tape.” Basically you just record the episode and release it as is, no editing.
This likely works best if you script your show, in a controlled environment. I do this with WP Review, which is mostly scripted, and just me on the mic, recording into equipment I’ve dialed in to sound perfect over years. Not a whole lot of editing necessary for this fortnightly news show.
I would generally caution against this one though, especially if you have guests. The effort you put into the show is evident3. Doing some editing is likely required for every podcast, even the ones that also live stream.
How to Reduce Editing Time
While this topic can be a blog post of its own4, there are a few quick wins for making editing easier. The most important thing to remember here is that any editor will tell you prevention is a lot easier than fixing. It feels like the editor’s version of, “ask for forgiveness, not permission.” If you get a mic that doesn’t pick of every car that drives by, and you move your dog to a room away from where you record, you won’t have to edit those sounds out later.
On top of that:
Make sure you and your guest are recording in a quiet place, free of distractions.
Make sure everyone wears headphones. Seriously.
Have you and your guest record your audio locally and separately. This gives you the completely uncompressed, cleanest version of the audio. You can use a service like Zencastr, or have your guest record in Quicktime or Sound Recorder. Having separate tracks makes editing one person easier too.
Pre-record what you can. Bumpers, sponsor reads, anything that you can drop in later. Adding short gaps in your recordings help too.
When you do need to reset and rephrase something, do it at the beginning of the thought. This is a “clean take,” so you’re not trying to merge 2 takes together with milliseconds in between.
Set up templates in Descript or whatever editing app you use. Having the intro music already in place, for example, makes editing a bit faster.
Remember done is better than perfect. Clean up what you can, but don’t try to scrub every um, ah, or car that drives by.
Finally remember you can iterate, grow, and hopefully get to a point where you can hire an editor!
Podcasting is a time consuming effort, which is why many podcasts fall victim to the dreaded podfade1. It can sometimes feel like you need a herculean effort to get it all done. Come up with topics, find and book guests, coordinate schedules, do the tech checks, record, post production, then publishing and promoting. That’s why putting a process in place and moving things off of your plate is a must. Here are 4 tasks you can take off your plate thanks to automation.
Recording audio at home can be tough, especially if you don’t have the environment. On top of that, what app do you use to record, and how can you prevent that “robot voice” that happens if you’re recording online with other people. Let’s take a look at a few helpful techniques.
Having a killer looking camera for your videos is great, but there are usually a few hoops you need to go through. In this step-by-step, you’ll learn all the hardware, and software settings, you need to convert your Sony a6400 into a Webcam.
Recently I got a question regarding creating an “episode 0” (or podcast trailer) for your podcast – namely, “do I need an episode 0, and when should I do it?” The short answer is, you should do it as soon as you know you want to have a podcast. But let’s take a deeper look at your trailer and launching your podcast.
What is a Podcast Trailer?
Basically, it’s the very first episode in your podcast feed. Most people treat it as “Episode 0” because it’s not part of the show, but it’s crucial for submitting your podcast to directories.
They usually cover the following talking points:
Name of the show
The host
What listeners can expect from the show
A very general time frame for launch
A call to subscribe (don’t miss the first episode!)
Hook the Listener
You want a structured narrative that starts with a good hook. Give potential fans a reason to keep listening.
Much like a good talk, you should start with a story to hook the listener. It can be personal, or something from pop culture.
Once you hook them, tell them how it relates and the problem you’re trying to solve with the show. Then tell them who you are, and what they can expect.
Finally, tell them to subscribe wherever they listen to podcasts.
Grow with Podcast Swaps (FREE Template)
Using Podcast Swaps, I more than doubled my monthly downloads for my already popular podcast, How I Built It, from 34,000 downloads per month to 71,000 downloads per month.
This Podcast Swap Outreach Database was integral to the process, and you can have it completely for free, in Airtable or Google Sheets:
But WHY do You Need a Podcast Trailer?
The main reason you should put out a podcast trailer is because you need at least one published episode for podcast directories, like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, to accept your feed.
And while most directories approve within a couple of days, you don’t want to have to delay your launch because your show isn’t approved yet.
But it will also introduce your show to people in a preview/low commitment way to get them interested.
When Should You Publish Your Podcast Trailer?
I recommend you do things in this order, but it’s totally up to you:
Record a couple of episodes to see if you like podcasting
Write a script for the trailer that touches on everything I listed above
Record it and publish it as soon as it’s edited
You’ll want to make sure you actually like podcasting before you officially announce your show. You don’t want to announce and never launch, so you want to make sure you’re ready with a couple of episodes.
That said, you don’t want to announce too late and delay launch.
The real take away is this: think about your show, what you want to say in the trailer to hook people and get them to subscribe, and record it.
What do you think?
Are you working on your own podcast? Have questions about recording a podcast trailer? Let me know!
