The truth about podcast editing: is it really worth your time?

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This one thing can make or break the success of your podcast.

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And I'm not overstating this, I really believe this.

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I may be biased because we are in podcast production here at Bambi Media, but

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just bear with me for a minute, okay?

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Because I'm going to explain why I believe that podcast editing needs

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to be part of your workflow, part of your strategy for the growth.

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longevity, and overall enjoyment of your show for yourself and also your listeners.

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So, number one, first impressions really matter.

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And it's just like how people judge a book by their cover.

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I'll open it up and I'll read the first couple of pages and then decide whether

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I feel like the story is good or the way it's written is sort of in my flavor.

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And I'm judging it very quickly.

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Same thing goes for podcasting.

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So, if you package it nicely with a good podcast cover artwork, and then

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Someone clicks on it and they're like, Sweet, this really looks like it's

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something that I'm going to enjoy.

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It's very professional looking.

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And then they listen to it and they're like, Oh, this is a bit crap.

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You know, like they haven't edited it or the, and the audio is a

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bit hard to hear or it doesn't like, it doesn't sound very good.

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It's not matching that first impression that I got from the podcast cover artwork.

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It's falling a bit flat.

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Professional editing ensures that you hit the ground running with your most

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engaging, like the crispness, the content that's hooking the listeners immediately.

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And that is very important with podcasting because it's such a crowded space.

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There is so many ways, so many places that people can go to get exactly the

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same information a lot of the time here with Bamby Media with Pump Up Your Pod.

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I'm sure this episode has been done before by someone else, you know, telling

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you why you should do podcast editing.

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So it needs to be packaged in a way.

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It needs to be edited in a way that makes me different to someone

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else delivering the same thing.

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So it's important to understand that your first impression matters.

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So if you've got audio quality that's good and it's edited well, it's got some

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good EQ, some compression, you got rid of the crappy stuff at the beginning and

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the awkward silences, that's going to be the first hurdle that that person, that

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listener has to get over to then decide to stick with you for the long haul.

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Number two is I really want you to think about respecting your listeners time.

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I hear a lot of stuff, and I have been a judge on a lot of podcasting award shows.

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There's a lot of stuff where, you know, they're not doing it on purpose.

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They're not disrespecting their listener on purpose, but they really

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just haven't thought about the fact that if I'm clicking on something

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and I'm deciding to sit down and listen to it, I don't have all day.

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I don't even have maybe 30 minutes to try and get what I want out of

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this episode, to be entertained, to learn something new, whatever it is.

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So if you don't edit your stuff, you're not really respecting

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the time of the listener.

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They have decided that you're worth their time.

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By putting you in their ears, and then you're kind of losing that trust if

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they're sitting down and they're getting a bad experience for them, potentially,

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if it feels like it's taking too long to get to the point and you're not removing

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the distractions or the, you know, the background noises that are annoying and

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the car horns and the conversations that don't go anywhere, the bad questions with

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terrible answers, you know, there's a lot of stuff that you can remove in editing.

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that will keep your listener engaged and make them feel better about their decision

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to actually listen to your podcast.

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Number three, this seems obvious to me, but I mean, it's really

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important is you actually then just sound more professional.

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So if you take the time to actually edit your show, you are already so far above.

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All the stuff that isn't edited.

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So there's like the, the person that doesn't edit really at all.

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They just put it out there.

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Maybe they put an intro and outro music in there.

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The conversation is as is, and then they put it up.

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Then there's the step above your kind of DIYing it yourself.

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Or maybe you've got a VA that's like checking it over for you.

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You're not really going like.

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full on into their editing, but you're doing little bits

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and pieces to tighten it up.

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Maybe you're cutting things off the front and the end, maybe a

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little bit of stuff in the middle.

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That's better than nothing, but then the step above that, which most

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people don't do, and I can tell you that from All the things that I've

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listened to over the last decade, the market for people that actually edit

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their podcasts professionally, get it edited properly, is so much smaller.

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And so you're already sounding so much more professional than another person

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that's delivering similar content than you by actually editing it.

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Whether that's you learning the ropes really well and learning how to edit

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it yourself, hiring someone in your business to help you do that, that knows

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what they're doing, or outsourcing to someone like us, like Bambi Media or

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Podcast Production Service, having someone professionally go through your edits will

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help you sound way more professional.

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Number four is actually just enhancing the story flow.

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So you know how when you listen, and I definitely get this, when you're

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listening to some podcasts and they're interviewing people, and it's like,

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when are you going to get to the point?

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When am I going to get whatever the hook is, whatever the title of this

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episode is, that you've promised me, when am I going to get there?

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When are you going to deliver on the promise?

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If you don't edit It's very hard to enhance your story flow, unless you are

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a very good speaker, or you've really planned out your episodes beforehand,

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you've got a decent sort of script, you've got dot points, you're used to speaking,

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or you're interviewing people, you're very good at that, you've done it for a long

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time, you don't need to potentially edit.

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If you're like that, it's fine to not edit if that's the case.

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But most people aren't at that level, and so they need someone to help them.

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or to do it themselves to enhance the story, to not get sidetracked,

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to keep it moving on so that the story can actually develop and it

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feels like it's more of a thing.

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Same way that, you know, if you shoot a film, the film doesn't

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come out with, with no cuts in it.

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It doesn't come out with all the other stuff just in there.

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You have to put it together.

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You have to create the story in the most engaging way.

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Podcasting is no different.

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Editing will help you achieve that.

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Number five is something that we come across almost every day when we're

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editing podcasts, and that is removing those unexpected notifications and

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things that people have come up on their Computers, their phones are going

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off, the dog's barking, the postman comes and rings the doorbell, like the

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stuff like that, especially if you're recording from home, where, you know, a

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little bit of that's kind of endearing, but when it's happening all the time,

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you're getting like Slack notifications in the middle of your podcast episode.

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If you don't edit, it just sounds so unprofessional to leave all those

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things in, and I feel like that really cheapens the experience for the listener.

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Number six is something I've kind of already said, which is

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having that competitive edge.

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If you are producing a podcast that's of that higher caliber, that's

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actually edited, that sounds schmick, that has good audio quality, that's

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got all the annoying things removed, you're a step above a lot of people.

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Keep that in mind when you're thinking about, uh, you

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know, it costs money to edit.

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Yeah, but you're going to get a step above.

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A lot of people.

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Number seven is then brand protection.

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If you're trying to build a personal brand or you're trying to put forward

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your business brand on your podcast, if you don't edit your show, that

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cheapens your brand immediately.

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Someone's listening in and then they're hearing a bunch of noises and a bunch

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of sounds and it sounds low quality.

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They're immediately going to even subconsciously go.

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Man, these guys mustn't have much money.

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These guys must be a bit desperate or under resourced or something.

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It cheapens the brand.

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So you want to make your brand more of an all encompassing feeling by having

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every part, every touch point of your brand that someone comes across deliver

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in the same quality that they're used to seeing on all the other platforms.

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In saying that, like if your brand is scrappy, if it's like authentic

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and vulnerable, you could probably get away with no editing because they

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can see that across all your other avenues in maybe your newsletter or

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wherever you are showing up online.

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If that's all unedited, I, I can see that being an avenue that you could have.

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Also, your show not edited.

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Just remember, your brand is important, so the way you package

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your podcast should be similar to the way you're packaging everything else.

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Number eight is something that's going to make your guests feel

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a lot better, and that's just improving the guest experience.

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So if you've got a guest on your show and they're stumbling on their words

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or they have to retake an answer, you know, you've asked a question that they

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weren't comfortable with and they're kind of nervous and you can feel

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that, they're saying um all the time.

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If you don't edit it, that shines a light on those imperfections,

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and that can be okay.

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Like, maybe the guests would be fine with that.

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Maybe your show is like that.

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But for most people, especially if you're, you know, more of a

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hobbyist, or it's maybe more lower budget, your guests aren't used

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to being on podcasts necessarily.

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And so, if you don't edit them They're going to feel potentially a little bit bad

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when they listen back because it's like, Oh, I didn't sound very professional.

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I feel like I took too long to get to the point.

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You want to shine the best possible light on the guest to make their

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experience feel really happy too.

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Number nine is monetization potential.

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If you were a brand and someone reached out to you that had a

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podcast and they're like, Hey, I'd love for you to sponsor my show.

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I think that we're really well aligned.

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I'd love to make a partnership happen.

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If you then go, Oh, cool.

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Okay.

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Maybe I am interested.

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Like they look pretty good.

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They've established themselves well here.

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I can see that their socials are pretty schmick.

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They've introduced themselves well.

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They've got a good pitch.

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Let me just go listen to their podcast.

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And it's not edited, and it sounds kind of amateurish.

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What do you think a sponsor's going to do with that, like a brand?

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They're less likely to want to be associated with a podcast that doesn't

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feel professional than they are with something that sounds schmick,

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that sounds like it's put together, that sounds like there's a bit of a

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team or some more to it behind it.

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Especially if you're trying to chase sponsors and brands and people to

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collaborate with, and even having people on your show, like getting other people

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on, if they tune in and they're like, oh, well, this doesn't sound very good.

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Why would they say yes?

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I might feel brutal to you, but I really feel like, why?

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Why would they say yes at that point?

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And number 10 is simply long term success.

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If you're consistently editing, every episode is of a high quality, then

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you're building trust with your audience.

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They know what to expect.

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It's going to be high quality.

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You're going to have engaging episodes.

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You're going to have good guests that feel like they really know

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what they're talking about as well.

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You're respecting the listener's time.

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You're delivering value.

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This consistency is going to grow that know, like, and trust that

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you're trying to establish through a podcast over a long period of time.

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That's where your superfans come from.

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That's where your referral engine comes from.

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That's where word of mouth spreads.

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It's from that consistent build over a long period of time,

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where your professionalism starts to pay off in other ways.

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So I want you to remember that your podcast is an investment in your

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brand, whether that's a personal brand, a business brand, a combination of

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the two, while raw unedited content, you know, certainly it's going to

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save you time initially, it could cost you an actual listenership.

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It might cost you an opportunities and credibility in the long run as well.

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Professional editing isn't just about removing mistakes.

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It's about crafting an experience that keeps your listeners

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engaged and coming back for more.

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So I hope that that was really helpful for you.

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Maybe I kicked you off the butt a little bit with this one, going,

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Uh, maybe I do need to do a bit more editing, or maybe I need to train my

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VA to do more than just the little bit of editing that they're doing now.

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Investing in these things, if you're really, truly trying to

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build through a podcast, editing needs to be part of the equation.

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Only caveat to that being, as I mentioned before, your whole brand

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is based on raw, authentic, unedited.

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Then, you don't need to edit, go and be free, you know, your listeners are already

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accepting that, they're already expecting that from you and you can see that with

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a lot of YouTubers too, where they just don't really edit anything and maybe

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they don't even have thumbnails anymore and they're just word vomiting for 30

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minutes and it's just not even touched.

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There's a space for that, but that's not a space for everybody to be.

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It depends on what you're trying to deliver, who you're trying to

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reach, and what you're trying to get out of the equation as well.

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That's it for me today.

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I hope you have a lovely day.