Creating a Compelling Podcast - Part 2: Scripting, Recording and Editing

This is Part 2 of a three-part series. Please be sure to check out Part 1 here.

Scripting your Episode

From creating your Show Bible in Part 1, you will have already thought through the format and listening experience, and you will have a general sketch of the episode percolating in your mind. However, writing is writing, so it’s not like you are on easy street yet! Like all best writing, you will need to draft and then edit, edit, edit.

The fun (and sometimes difficult) part about script writing is that things are experienced quite differently when they are heard vs. read. Complex sentences and tricky turns of phrases will be challenging when you are recording. You will need to read what you have written out loud and then modify it until it sounds natural.

But I’m doing an interview…I don’t need a script!

FALSE. You should have a sense of what you are going to ask your guests and you should have a sense of what they are going to say.

Perhaps if you have a deep expertise in the narrative structure, or you enjoy spending hours and hours manipulating audio in order to create something that’s even mildly coherent and compelling, you may skip the script part – but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Recording and Editing

FYI, most of these tips are specific to having the open-source software Audacity.

Recording Yourself

Make sure you are in a quiet room, the smaller the better. A closet filled with clothes or tent with blankets and pillows around you are great options because they dampen echo and external noise.

If you can, record straight on to Audacity, that would be ideal to get the best quality audio. The main thing to be conscious of is ensuring your levels stay at around -12db.

Recording Guests

If you have guests on your podcast, I consider it best practice to not be able to see them. If you are in the same room, or even seeing each other over video chat, both of you may be subconsciously relying on non-verbal cues to communicate instead of focusing on your words and tone.

I have found Zencastr to be a great tool for recording guests since it records each of your tracks separately. Then, if you are a persistent interrupter like me, you are not accidentally ruining their pearls of wisdom.

To prepare your guest, check to see if the volume of their audio feed is at level through small talk (industry standard is to ask them what they had for breakfast). It is also helpful to explain to them that this recording is not live and that you can edit out anything they regret saying. An added bonus is that, if you are listening with an editor’s mind, you can also ask them to repeat certain things and direct them to match your vision.

When you are exporting your audio files, be sure to export them in .wav format. This preserves more audio fidelity than other formats.

Editing

Noise Reduction

One of the most useful tools in Audacity is Noise Reduction. I have linked to the manual so you can access the detailed explanation, but essentially, you highlight a bit of the audio feed where no one is talking to capture the noise profile of the room tone. Then, you highlight the audio you will actually use and apply the noise reduction. Sometimes I do it more than once to get the background noise to silence.

Volume

If the audio is too soft (far below -12 db), Amplify is your friend. I usually set the amplification level to 1 and then repeat it incrementally (using ctrl+r on windows) and listen to how seamless it sounds with everything else. You want to be careful with amplify since the sound quality can quickly be deteriorate.

If the audio is too loud, then the Envelope Tool is the way to go. You will add control points around the targeted audio and pull it down. It’s also great when you have added a music track and you want it to play softly in the background or fade out.

Popping Buhs, Puhs & Tuhs

There are certain syllables in language that cause a popping sound into the mic. Ideally you would avoid recording them, but it still happens. Here is what it looks and sounds like:

Popping Ps! You’ll notice that some come through okay but others are too much.

Now if you zoom in on it, you see exactly where the pops happens.

Here are some of the Ps that need closer examination.

All you need to do, is highlight, re-listen and delete. You may need to zoom in more to check.

Editing the P sounds that pop.

Magic!

General Editing

The rest of the editing process will likely be a delete or cut and paste experience using the Selection Tool. Of course, you will take out the ums, ahs, long awkward pauses, the weird breaths we take while talking and all the other crazy things we do not notice in real life conversation that suddenly become glaringly obvious when listening to pre-recorded audio.

You may need to add things in or move things around so a couple more tools and tactics that I use frequently include:

Adding tracks (and naming them) for different audio sources (my voice, the guest’s voice, music, sound effects) so things do not get mixed up.
Enabling Sync-Lock Tracks when I have to add something in earlier in the episode in order to preserve all of the timings.
Labeling regions of audio so I remember what they are and why they are important.

As you play around with these features, and many others that are available, you will start figuring out what works best for you and getting into your groove. In our final part of this series, we will talk about the ongoing maintenance of the podcast.

In the meantime, if you have any questions for me, comment below or send me a note!