38. The Truth About Podcast Editing and Authenticity

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Podcasting for Business Owners helps you share your story, lead your industry

Laura: Welcome to Podcasting for Business Owners. I’m Your host, Laura McRae, a podcast consultant, educator, and self confessed podcast nerd. If you’re thinking of launching a podcast or want to grow the one you have, you’re in the right place. Hold on to your headphones and let’s go. Hello and welcome back to Podcasting for Business Owners. The podcaster helps you share your story, lead your industry, and grow your network through podcasting.

There’s this idea that if you edit your podcast, you’re being fake

I’m your host, Laura McRae, and today we’re talking about something I think more podcasters need to hear. And that’s why editing your podcast doesn’t make you less authentic. There’s this idea floating around that if you edit your podcast, you’re somehow being fake. That to be real, you have to leave in all the ums, pauses, dog parks, and random tangents. And honestly, I don’t agree. So in this episode, I want to share why editing actually supports your message and how it makes your podcast better for your listeners and your guests. Let’s start with the intention behind not editing. I get it. People want to sound human, relatable, like they’re just chatting to a friend. But being human doesn’t mean leaving in every single, umm, every off topic tangent or the moment your dog wanders into a room. I was listening to a podcast recently and the host said, oh, my dog’s just walked in, so please excuse the noise if you hear anything. Then later on in the episode, she started to talk about how her dog was now under the table and started snoring. All of which I couldn’t even hear. They could have just edited that whole part out as it was completely irrelevant to the podcast episode. Now I get it. That’s real life. But honestly, as a listener, I didn’t need to know that. It didn’t add to the conversation, it just pulled me out of it. Editing helps remove the distractions that don’t serve your audience. It’s not about pretending those moments never happened. It’s about focusing on, what your listeners came for. And when I say edit your podcast, I don’t mean you need to make it perfect or robotic. Editing can be as simple as cutting out long pauses or filler words, removing repeated points, fixing tech issues or background noise, or tightening the pacing so it flows better. You can absolutely be authentic and edited. Your personality still shines through, but in a way that’s easier for your audience to follow.

Even if your content is gold, poor audio or messy edits can be distracting

Let’s talk about some other benefits of editing that people don’t always think about. Editing gives your guests a, better experience. This one’s personal for me. I’m honestly reluctant to be a guest on, podcasts that don’t edit. Not because I want to sound perfect, but because I know I sometimes stumble or get my words muddled. And I want to feel confident that the host has my back. Your guests will feel more relaxed and open if they know you’ll tidy up the rough bits later. Editing makes you sound more professional. Even if your content is gold, poor audio or messy edits can be distracting. And for business owners especially, your podcast might be the first impression someone has of you. Editing helps you sound polished, prepared and credible. Even if your recording setup is simple, editing makes repurposing easier. A clean, edited episode is much easier to turn into clips, reels, quotes or blog posts. You’re not having to cut around filler words or irrelevant tangents. You get more value from every episode. Editing keeps people listening. It helps you keep up the pace and energy. When episodes are full of rambling or repeated points, people drop off. Editing helps you keep listeners engaged and more likely to come back for the next one. Editing can save you time later. It sounds counterintuitive, but not. Editing can cost you more time in the long run. You might find yourself explaining mistakes in the show notes, editing social clips around messy audio, or answering confused messages from listeners. Editing upfront saves all that hassle. Taking the time to clean up your audio shows that you respect your listeners time and attention. It’s the podcasting equivalent of turning up on time or proofreading an email. It shows you’re intentional editing future proofs your content. Your old episodes might still be getting listens months or even years from now. And if you ever get media attention or a big opportunity, people might go back and binge from the

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beginning. So those early episodes matter. Editing them gives them more staying power. And look, when it comes to editing, you don’t have to go full Hollywood. There are different ways of editing and you can choose what works best for you. Basic editing is where you just remove the obvious stuff like tech issues, long silences and interruptions. Whereas full editing might involve tightening, pacing, improving flow, cleaning up filler words, adding music, and so on. If editing feels like the part that’s holding you back from starting or continuing your podcast, I’ve got options to help. Inside the podcast launch programme, I walk you through how to edit your show in a simple, manageable way. You don’t need fancy software or loads of tech. Know how and if you decide editing isn’t for you, I also offer editing services for business owners who want to focus on content and let someone else handle the editing. You can check out the podcast launch programme or book a call with me to see if we’re the right fit to work together one on one. I’ll put links to both in the show notes.

Editing your podcast helps your message come through more clearly

So let’s end this Editing your podcast doesn’t make you fake. It helps your message come through more clearly. It supports your guests, it respects your audience, it positions your business in the best possible light and you can still be real, relaxed and human with a little less background noise and a lot more impact. Thanks for listening today and if this episode made you rethink your approach to editing, I’d love to hear from you. Catch you next time. If you found value in this podcast, please leave. A five star rating and a review would be even better. Your support shows that this is a good show which will attract high profile guests and in turn deliver greater value to you. This podcast is produced and edited by me. Don’t waste your time on editing. Let me help you with your podcast. Check out the links in the show notes to get in touch.

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