Podcast Summary: "Keep It or Cut It: The Podcast Editing Dilemma"

Podcast: Your Podcast Consultant
Host: Dave Jackson
Episode Date: July 31, 2025
Episode Length: ~9 minutes

Episode Overview

In this concise, value-packed episode, Hall of Fame podcaster Dave Jackson addresses the perennial question every podcaster faces: How do you decide what to keep and what to cut when editing your show? Drawing on his extensive experience, Dave lays out practical editing strategies designed to put audience value first, shares his personal approach to refining interviews, and offers technical advice for improving audio quality. He closes by emphasizing direct engagement with listeners to shape better content decisions.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Foundation: Knowing Your Audience

[00:34]

• Editing decisions always start by centering on your audience—even if you’re still figuring them out. If you don’t know them well yet, make an informed guess and revise as you learn more through feedback.
• Dave explains, "It starts with knowing your audience. Now, there are times when you don't know your audience, so you come up with an idea of who your audience is." [00:48]

2. Content Relevance: Answering the Question

[01:02]

• When guests provide irrelevant answers ("pepperoni" in response to “tell me about a time when you were afraid”), those are prime candidates for removal.
• Authors or interviewees often default to stock responses that don’t deliver on the host’s question. Ask yourself: is their answer valuable—even if off-topic? If so, it might stay.

3. Avoiding Redundancy: Stop Repeating Answers

[02:00]

• Hosts often repeat the guest’s answer for “active listening”—but in podcasting, this usually just bloats the episode.
• “A show that should be 20 minutes is 40 minutes because every time they answer a question, you repeat it back to them. And I get it if you're having a discussion with your partner. Yeah, that's called active listening and that's great. This is not active listening. It's an interview. And you might even do that. Just cut it out, we don't need it.” – Dave Jackson [02:15]

4. Cutting Your Own Fluff: Tight Questions

[03:05]

• Dave shares that he often delivers a lot of background information before asking a question, but in editing, he trims the excess: “I will cut the background out. My audience doesn't need to hear me come up with the question… Anytime you can make yourself or a guest sound better, why wouldn't you?” [03:20]
• “Keeping it real” shouldn’t mean keeping it boring. Streamline for clarity and engagement.

5. Audio Quality Matters: Tools and Tolerance

[03:50]

• Poor audio undermines value. Dave discusses his $300 investment in the Apex DX Revive plugin to fix “fishbowl” laptop audio:
  “It has saved me insane amounts of hours where people hand me really bad audio and I run it through this thing… It's a great plugin.” [04:20]
• He stresses that “listenable” quality is a minimum standard, except perhaps for A-list guests.

6. Environmental Noise: The Car Test

[05:00]

• Background noise can kill comprehensibility—especially once listeners leave quiet rooms: “I never thought that was a big deal until I started listening to podcasts in the car…you have to really crank up your audio… so that's why I always try to remove…excessive room noise that can really hinder the listening experience.” [05:15]

7. Consistent Volume

[05:35]

• Volume level mismatches drive listeners away. Dave warns: “If you are having your audience grab the volume knob, I'm here to tell you…everyone I know says the minute I gotta grab the volume knob, I'm done. They reach the volume knob and then they go, wait, swipe left, delete.” [05:50]

8. Direct Audience Engagement: Using Conversations to Improve Editing Choices

[06:30]

• Dave highlights a podcast marketing study: rapidly growing shows have hosts who connect one-on-one with listeners.
• He recounts scheduling dozens of “15-minute talks” with his audience (accidentally emailing his entire list):
  “That was a mistake, was also the best mistake I ever made because it really helped me understand who my audience is, which helps me then figure out what to keep and what to lose when I'm editing my podcast.” [07:20]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Audience-first editing:
  “By knowing who your audience is, you can determine does this deliver value.” [06:10]

• On audio imperfection:
  “Those people [with bad audio], I would tell them to go get a mic, I wouldn't let them on my show. But that's me. Unless it's like an A-list celebrity.” [04:45]

• On technical fixes:
  “It has saved me insane amounts of hours where people hand me really bad audio…I run it through this thing and…it’s much faster than just trying to use all these other plugins.” [04:20]

• On redundancy:
  “We didn’t need you to repeat the answer. We got it the first time. And if we didn’t, we can hit rewind.” [02:04]

• On engaging listeners for feedback:
  "If you'd like to hop on a quick zoom call, use the link in the show notes...Now that was a mistake, was also the best mistake I ever made because it really helped me understand who my audience is." [07:00]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | Key Takeaway | |---------------|---------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:34 | Starting with Audience | Audience is the cornerstone of editing | | 02:00 | Repetition in Interviews | Cut repeated information/answers for time and clarity | | 03:05 | Editing the Host (You) | Trim unnecessary question background | | 04:20 | Audio Quality Solutions | High-quality audio is essential; recommended plugin: DX Revive | | 05:15 | Car Test/Noise Issues | Environmental noise impacts listener comprehension | | 05:35 | Volume Level Consistency | Volume swings cause listener drop-off | | 06:30 | Engaging Listeners for Feedback | One-on-one chats shape better editorial decisions | | 07:20 | “Best Mistake” Story | Direct audience interaction leads to revelations about content value |

Conclusion

Dave Jackson delivers a rapid-fire yet incisive lesson on editing your podcast for value, not ego—centered on audience needs, sharp content, and high-quality audio. He encourages hosts to streamline, trim, and test for real-world listening, and most importantly, to actively solicit feedback from their audience to continually refine what stays and what goes. As always, Dave closes with an offer for further help and resources at the School of Podcasting.

For more tips and Dave’s expertise, visit schoolofpodcasting.com and consider a free month with coupon code LISTNR.