3 Ways to Make A Better Podcast with Descript

By Mark Asquith

The Podcast Accelerator: How to Grow Your Podcast

22/02/21·11m 13s

Last week we integrated Captivate with Descript to make your life easier as a podcaster and although integrations sound really cool on Twitter, I wanted to spend a bit of time today giving you some actual real-life insights on how you can make a better podcast by using Descript.

In fact, here's Descript - this is the only link to it.

What is Descript?

Descript is a super-powerful and super-simple audio & video workstation that helps you to produce outstanding edits, video and promotional podcast content without the need to master complex tools like Audacity or Audition.Descript is good for beginner and pro podcasters and includes advanced AI tools like Overdub and Filler Word Removal which can revolutionize the way you edit - particularly how you run a first edit of your episodes.The interface works exactly like a Word document so there’s no tech barrier, you can carry out much of your podcast production workflow inside Descript without the need for extra tools, subscriptions and juggling different services.Descript publishes your finished file directly to Captivate and allows you to create pretty sweet audiograms, too.

There are loads of different ways to produce better podcasts in Descript, but here are my 3 cherry-picked recommendations for using Descript to produce a better podcast.

1. Use the transcription tool for more than just transcription

Transcriptions are good for accessibility in podcasting and when you import your podcast to Descript, their software does a decent job of transcribing the audio into a usable transcript.

You're going to have a little work to do, especially if you have a solid Northern English accent like me, but the power that you have here is not just in correcting your transcript using the Word-like editor, but in actually using the editor to tighten up your audio.

Lemme explain...

Descript is a non-destructive editor that allows you to edit the words on screen and that will, in real-time, edit the audio to suit what you've tweaked.

Any good podcaster (any good story-teller) knows that the magic happens in the edit and removing pieces of the podcast or even rearranging the flow slightly to tighten up the narrative will give you a much cleaner, focussed resulting episode.

Which leads me to...

2. Use Overdub and Filler Word Removal to tighten up your edit even further

Good editing isn't just about removing content to tighten up the tale - it's also about adding what may be missing from your first run.

It's why movies do reshoots (Snyder Cut anyone?!).

The trouble is that as a podcaster that can be a real pain in the pop filter - firing up the mic, the recorder, stitching up the audio and making sure the transition is smoother than Kieran at a speed-dating night can be time-consuming.

Until Overdub.

Overdub is Descript's "killer feature" that allows you to train the app to emulate and deliver a facsimile of your voice so that you can change and add to your audio just by typing.

It's crazy. And it works.

Using Overdub to tweak an errant phrase, tighten up a piece of your episode or sharpen a mispronunciation means that there's no need at all to re-record anything.

You can even add lengthy...