Podcast Editing 101 ✂️🎧: What Toronto Creators Should Know Before Hitting Publish
You record your podcast in a full-service Toronto podcast studio. You’ve recorded your episode. You’ve got clean audio from a good studio. Now comes editing—the part that takes your raw conversation and turns it into something people actually want to listen to.
Editing isn’t about perfection. It’s about clarity. You’re trimming the dead space, fixing the stumbles, and shaping your episode so it keeps people listening.
This guide is for Toronto creators who are either editing their own podcast for the first time or want to understand what editing actually involves—even if someone else is doing it for them.
🧠 What Editing Does (and Doesn’t) Do
Editing a podcast isn’t magic, but it can make a huge difference in how your show sounds.
✅ Editing can:
Remove awkward silences, filler words, and repeated takes
Improve pacing by tightening up slow sections
Level out audio so every voice is clear and even
Add intro music, outros, transitions, and sound design
Make a good episode feel polished and professional
❌ Editing won’t:
Fix bad mic placement or noisy raw recordings
Make a boring conversation interesting
Create structure where there wasn’t any
Add missing energy or tone
If your base recording is solid, editing can make it even better. If the raw file has major problems (like distorted mics or room noise), you’ll hit limits fast.
💻 Basic Tools Creators in Toronto Use
You don’t need expensive software to start editing. A lot of Toronto podcasters use one of these options, depending on their skill level and budget:
🖥️ Descript
Edit audio by editing text—cut words, and it edits the waveform
Easy for beginners
Great for podcast clips and transcripts
Web-based, but stores locally too
🧩 Audacity
Free, open-source audio editor
Runs on Windows, Mac, or Linux
Basic interface, but enough tools for clean-up and trimming
You’ll need to learn a few editing terms, but there are tons of tutorials
🎚️ Adobe Audition
More advanced
Better for multitrack editing or high-volume shows
Monthly fee
Used by studios and freelance editors
🎛️ Hindenburg
Designed for spoken audio (not music)
Simplified volume leveling and voice clarity tools
Popular with journalists and educators
One-time purchase
For most people starting out, Descript or Audacity will do the job. You can always upgrade later.
✏️ The Simple Editing Process (Start to Finish)
If you’re editing your own episodes, here’s a simple 5-step process that works for most podcasters:
1. Clean up the start and end
Trim off any mic tests, pauses before the intro, or “Are we recording?” moments. Do the same at the end—cut the outro where it naturally ends.
2. Cut major mistakes or repeats
If you flubbed a line and redid it, remove the first take. If you and your guest got sidetracked for 5 minutes, decide if it adds value—if not, cut it.
3. Remove long pauses or dead air
Use your waveform to spot gaps. If there’s silence longer than a second or two and no dramatic reason for it, tighten it.
4. Level the audio
Make sure your voice and your guest’s voice sound about the same volume. If one person is louder, it’s jarring for listeners. Most software has built-in “normalize” or compression options.
5. Add your music and export
Drop in your intro/outro music, any transitions, and then export the final episode as an MP3 at 128kbps or 192kbps.
💡 If you’re doing video too, make sure your audio edits match your video timeline—or edit audio first, then align your final cut in your video editor.
🔊 Light vs. Full Editing: What’s the Difference?
A lot of studios and freelancers offer editing, but not all editing is equal.
Light editing usually includes:
Removing background noise
Fixing volume levels
Cutting out dead air and obvious stumbles
Adding intro/outro music
Full editing goes deeper:
Reordering content
Cutting entire sections
Tightening transitions
Adding sound effects or music cues
Removing filler words (um, like, you know)
You don’t always need full editing. For many shows, light editing is enough—especially if you keep your recordings clean and focused.
🎧 How to Work With an Editor (If You’re Not Doing It Yourself)
If you’re hiring someone to edit your podcast, here’s how to make the process smoother:
✅ Label your files clearly (e.g. “Episode 04 - Raw Audio”)
✅ Include notes with timestamps for any specific edits
✅ Share your intro/outro music, episode title, and show description
✅ Give feedback on the first few edits to align your style
Editors aren’t mind readers. The more direction you give—especially early on—the better your final episodes will sound.
Some studios in Toronto offer editing as part of their package. Others will give you a raw file and let you handle the rest. If you’re not sure what’s included, always ask.
🧹 Quick Checklist Before You Hit Publish
Before uploading your episode to Spotify or Apple Podcasts, make sure it’s actually ready:
☑️ Audio is clean and clear
☑️ Start and end are tight
☑️ Voices are level
☑️ Music is in place and not overpowering
☑️ File is exported as MP3 (128–192kbps)
☑️ Episode title and description are set
☑️ You’ve saved a backup
Publishing something that sounds half-finished is one of the fastest ways to lose listeners. Your editing doesn’t need to be fancy—it just needs to be intentional.
📈 Improving With Each Episode
Every time you edit, you’ll notice something new:
A part that dragged
A habit you didn’t realize you had
A question that didn’t land well
A transition that felt clunky
That’s the real value of editing—it makes you a better host. You become more aware of your pacing, your tone, and your storytelling. You start to catch yourself mid-episode, instead of needing to fix it later.
And when you do hand off editing to someone else, you’ll know exactly what to ask for.
🎯 Final Thought: Editing Isn’t Optional—It’s a Creative Step
Editing isn’t a chore. It’s where you shape your podcast into something that holds attention and respects your listener’s time. Whether you’re doing it yourself or getting help, the goal is the same: clarity and flow.
If you’re recording in a Toronto studio, you’re already working with clean audio. That makes editing easier. The rest is about deciding what your listeners should hear—and cutting what they shouldn’t.
