Podcast editing is quite a straightforward job. There is no movement, no multiple cameras, and simple editing.
But as a podcast editor, you can provide more than just straightforward editing. By editing podcasts, you are also watching the episode, and you can provide additional value.
For example, you can give your client timestamps for parts of the podcast that could be suitable for shorts or reels.
The most important part of any YouTube video, including podcasts, is the first 30 seconds to the first minute. That's when viewers decide if they want to watch the episode or not, so extra effort should be added to the editing at the beginning of the video.
For podcasts, audio is as important as video—if not more so. If you can export both an audio file and a video file, that is an additional bonus for you, as audio-only files can be used on many podcast platforms.
As you can see from this timeline, most of the editing goes into the intro. Later on, it’s just basic editing and switching between different cameras in a multicamera sequence.
The video includes an advertisement in the middle, lower thirds every four minutes, and a shoutout to the studio where the episode was recorded. I wouldn’t recommend doing that in your podcast, but it was a specific request from the client.
You can see that I leave some notes on my timeline. These notes mark the good parts of the episode for reels. I used to leave notes by adding markers, but when I shifted something (which often happens when editing the intro), those notes became inaccurate. So, I switched to using adjustment layers for those parts of the video.
Intro editing in every episode is simple but also unique to each episode in the series. It’s a good idea to add paper transitions or show a website in a laptop or phone mockup. Stop-motion video B-roll always looks great in these kinds of intros.
The episode timeline looks similar to the last one. We have an intro with more elements than a regular episode, an advertisement in the middle, lower thirds, and a studio shoutout every four minutes, as well as an outro clip.
I also add notes for potential YouTube Shorts in every episode edit.
I also add notes for potential YouTube Shorts in every episode edit.
