•12 min read

Getting Your First Podcast Episode Edited: Step-by-Step Guide

Complete walkthrough for new podcasters to edit and publish their first episode, from file export through final upload, with realistic timelines and encouragement.

Rendezvous Team
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Getting Your First Podcast Episode Edited: Step-by-Step Guide

Getting Your First Podcast Episode Edited: Step-by-Step Guide

New podcasters face 8-15 hours editing their first episode, often feeling overwhelmed by unfamiliar software and uncertain about quality standards. Following a structured minimum-viable-edit approach reduces this to 2-4 hours while achieving 75-85% quality - sufficient for first publication and iteration based on listener feedback.

Getting your first podcast edited is the process of transforming raw recorded audio into a publishable episode through essential tasks only: removing obvious dead air (20-40 minutes), balancing audio levels (15-30 minutes), adding brief intro/outro (15-25 minutes), and exporting properly (10-20 minutes). The goal is publishing your first episode quickly to begin learning from real-world feedback rather than pursuing perfection that delays launch indefinitely.

Before You Start

Essential preparation:

What You Need

Files:

Software (choose one):

Time:

Mindset:

Set Realistic Expectations

Your first episode will be:

You will:

You won't:

Step-by-Step Editing Process

Complete walkthrough:

Step 1: Import Your Recording (10-15 minutes)

If using Audacity:

  1. Open Audacity
  2. File > Open > Select your recording file
  3. Wait for import (1-5 minutes depending on file size)
  4. File > Save Project As > Name it "Episode-001-Raw"
  5. Save

If using GarageBand:

  1. Open GarageBand
  2. Choose "Empty Project"
  3. Add audio track
  4. Drag your recording file into timeline
  5. Save project

If using automation tool:

  1. Navigate to website
  2. Create account (2-3 minutes)
  3. Click Upload
  4. Select your file
  5. Wait for upload (3-10 minutes)

Success check: You can see your audio waveform

Step 2: First Listen-Through (30-60 minutes)

Purpose: Understand what you're working with

Process:

  1. Press play and listen to entire recording
  2. Listen at 1.5x speed to save time
  3. Use your phone to note timestamps:
    • "0:45 - remove intro chatter"
    • "12:30 - long pause, remove"
    • "34:20 - coughing fit, cut out"
  4. Don't edit yet, just listen and note

What to note:

Time saved: Noting issues during listening is faster than finding them while editing

Step 3: Remove Obvious Dead Air (20-40 minutes)

Priority 1: Remove beginning and end:

Beginning:

  1. Find where episode actually starts
  2. Select everything before that point
  3. Press Delete
  4. This removes "testing, testing" and setup chatter

How to identify: Episode starts when you say your intro (e.g., "Welcome to...")

End:

  1. Find where episode actually ends
  2. Select everything after that point
  3. Press Delete
  4. This removes goodbyes and "recording stopped" chatter

Priority 2: Remove major gaps:

For each long silence you noted:

  1. Navigate to timestamp
  2. Find the flat section in waveform (no peaks)
  3. Click and drag to select the flat section
  4. Press Delete (or ripple delete if available)

Beginner tip: Only remove silences longer than 5 seconds. Don't worry about smaller pauses yet.

Success check: No more extended flat sections visible in waveform

Step 4: Remove Obvious Mistakes (15-30 minutes)

What to remove:

How to remove:

  1. Find the section
  2. Play it to confirm it should be cut
  3. Select just before mistake to just after
  4. Delete
  5. Play across the cut to ensure it sounds okay

Don't overthink: If you clearly want it gone, remove it. Don't agonize over every decision.

Time saving tip: Only remove glaring issues. Minor imperfections are fine for first episode.

Step 5: Balance Audio Levels (15-30 minutes)

Purpose: Ensure consistent volume throughout

Simple method (Audacity):

  1. Select all audio (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A)
  2. Effect > Normalize
  3. Leave default settings (-1dB)
  4. Click OK
  5. Listen to first 2 minutes to verify

Simple method (GarageBand):

  1. Select audio track
  2. Track > Show Smart Controls
  3. Adjust gain slider until volume looks consistent
  4. Click Mix > Normalize

With automation tool:

Success check: Play through first, middle, and end. Volume should be similar throughout.

Step 6: Add Intro and Outro (15-25 minutes)

Creating simple intro:

Option A: Just music (easiest):

  1. Find 10-30 seconds of royalty-free music
  2. Import to new track at beginning
  3. Fade in at start, fade out at end
  4. Lower music volume when you start speaking

Option B: Music + spoken intro:

  1. Record yourself saying "Welcome to [Show Name], I'm [Your Name]"
  2. Place at beginning over intro music
  3. Adjust so your voice is clear over music

Creating simple outro:

  1. Similar to intro
  2. Record "Thanks for listening, subscribe at [where]"
  3. Add outro music
  4. Fade out

Beginner shortcut: Your first episode can have NO intro/outro. Just start and end. Add them for episode 2 once you have template.

Time saver: Create intro/outro once, reuse for all episodes

Step 7: Export Your Episode (10-20 minutes)

Export settings that work:

Audacity:

  1. File > Export > Export as MP3
  2. Settings:
    • Bit Rate: 128 kbps (good for speech)
    • Channel Mode: Mono or Stereo
  3. Add metadata:
    • Title: Your episode name
    • Artist: Your podcast name
    • Album: Your podcast name
  4. Click OK
  5. Choose save location
  6. Export (5-15 minutes depending on length)

GarageBand:

  1. Share > Export Song to Disk
  2. Format: MP3
  3. Quality: High (128-192 kbps)
  4. Export

Success check: You now have an MP3 file ready to upload

Step 8: Quality Check (10-15 minutes)

Before publishing:

  1. Listen to first 3 minutes

    • Does intro sound okay?
    • Is audio clear?
    • Is volume appropriate?

  2. Listen to middle section

    • Skip to 20-30 minutes in
    • Play 2-3 minutes
    • Check for issues

  3. Listen to ending

    • Last 2 minutes
    • Verify outro present
    • Confirm episode ends cleanly

If major issues found:

If minor issues found:

Perfection not required: If it's 75% good, publish it. Learn from feedback.

Step 9: Upload and Publish (15-30 minutes)

Process:

  1. Log into podcast hosting platform (Buzzsprout, Anchor, etc.)
  2. Upload your MP3 file (5-15 minutes)
  3. Add episode details:
    • Title: Clear, descriptive
    • Description: What episode covers
    • Episode number: 1
  4. Add episode artwork (if available)
  5. Click Publish

Success: Your first episode is live!

Simplified Workflow with Automation

Faster approach for first episode:

Using Automation (Rendezvous)

Total time: 60-90 minutes

  1. Upload raw recording (5 minutes)

    • Go to Rendezvous
    • Click Upload
    • Select file

  2. Choose preset (1 minute)

    • Select "Moderate" for balanced approach
    • Click Process

  3. Wait for processing (10-15 minutes)

    • Software handles silence removal automatically
    • Balances audio levels
    • Optimizes pacing

  4. Download edited file (3 minutes)

    • Download processed file

  5. Quick review (15 minutes)

    • Listen to first 3 minutes
    • Skip through checking for issues
    • Verify quality acceptable

  6. Add intro/outro (15-20 minutes)

    • Import to Audacity or GarageBand
    • Add simple intro/outro
    • Export

  7. Publish (15-30 minutes)

    • Upload to podcast host
    • Add details
    • Publish

Advantages:

Common First-Episode Problems

Issues you might encounter:

Problem: Audio Too Quiet

Symptoms: Have to turn volume way up to hear

Solution:

Prevention: Speak close to mic, record at -12 to -6dB levels

Problem: Background Noise

Symptoms: Hissing or humming throughout

Solution:

Prevention: Record in quiet room, away from AC vents

Problem: Cuts Sound Jarring

Symptoms: Abrupt transitions between sections

Solution:

Problem: Took Way Too Long

Symptoms: Spent 10+ hours, still not done

Solution:

Reality check: Perfect is enemy of done

Minimum Viable First Episode

What you must do vs what's optional:

Must Do (Critical)

Time: 60-90 minutes

Quality achieved: 70-75%

Should Do (Important)

Time: 120-180 minutes

Quality achieved: 80-85%

Nice to Do (Perfectionist)

Time: 300-600 minutes

Quality achieved: 90-95%

Diminishing returns: Extra 4-9 hours for 10% improvement

After Publishing

What happens next:

Episode 1 Success Criteria

You succeeded if:

You don't need:

Learning from Episode 1

Questions to ask yourself:

Planning Episode 2

Based on lessons learned:

If editing took 6+ hours: → Consider automation for episode 2 → Create intro/outro template → Accept lower quality standards

If audio quality was poor: → Research better recording setup → Record test clips before full episode → Consider noise reduction tools

If you enjoyed editing: → Continue manual approach → Learn keyboard shortcuts → Develop your workflow

If you hated editing: → Use automation immediately → Focus time on content creation → Accept that editing isn't your strength

Encouragement for New Podcasters

Important reminders:

Everyone's First Episode Is Rough

Reality:

Publishing Is Learning

You learn by doing:

Can't learn without publishing

Progress Over Perfection

Better to publish:

More episodes = more practice = faster improvement

Your Audience Is Forgiving

Listeners understand:

They're there for your message, not your editing skills

Summary

Editing your first podcast episode requires 3-5 hours focusing on essential tasks: removing obvious dead air from beginning and end (20-40 minutes), balancing audio levels (15-30 minutes), removing major mistakes (15-30 minutes), adding simple intro/outro (15-25 minutes), and exporting properly (10-20 minutes). This achieves 75-85% quality sufficient for first publication.

Key principles for first episode:

Recommended approach for first-time podcasters: Use automation tool like Rendezvous ($20-40/month) to handle technical cleanup (10-20 minutes processing) while you focus on adding intro/outro and basic review (45-70 minutes), achieving professional results in under 90 minutes. Alternative free approach: Use Audacity or GarageBand for manual editing (2-4 hours), accepting rough quality for first episode, then adding automation after episode 5-10 when time savings justifies investment. Most important: Publish your first episode within one week of recording to build momentum and start learning cycle.

Content reviewed on January 2026.