So Like… Here’s How to Edit Filler Words from Your Podcast While Still Being Authentic

Have you ever listened to a podcast and immediately thought, “This should be illegal”?

Allow me to set the scene.

I’m basking in passenger princess glory, one leg crossed under the other, reading a delicious thriller book, and every so often glancing up to see the beautiful Puerto Rican landscape of vibrant green mountains and red flamboyan trees.

Indie music is playing, my husband is driving, and I’m reading without getting dizzy, which I realize some people consider a superpower that I’m very grateful to possess.

Nothing could ruin this moment, I think.

“WRONG,” the universe responds, as my husband switches off the music and starts blaring one of his favorite podcasts.

I won’t name the podcast here, but I’ll give you a list of descriptors:

• A local podcast
• The hosts are two middle-aged men
• They discuss local politics and intellectual happenings
• AND THEY DON’T EDIT THEIR GODFORSAKEN PODCASTS!!!

Whenever my husband plays that podcast, I’m suddenly transported to Phlegm Central.

I try to keep reading, but every sentence is punctuated by a congested sniff, a gulp of water, an ominous wheeze, or a thunderous lip smack.

Yes, these are two pretty smart dudes with interesting things to say, and yet I can’t stand listening to them.

I don’t know how my husband does it!

So in honor of his resilience and strength, let’s talk about how to edit filler words (and other things!) from your podcast.

But first… let’s address something I’ve been seeing on Threads that’s driving me up a wall.

The “unedited = authentic” debate, and why it’s bullshit

There’s an idea floating around that unedited podcasts are somehow more authentic, and I strongly disagree.

We don’t think that about literally any other medium: books, articles, music, film…

Like imagine, you went to your local bookstore, used your hard earned money to buy a brand-new $27 romance hardcover you’ve been itching to get your hands on (probably, by Emily Henry if you’re anything like me), and when you go home, brew some tea, settle down with your cozy blanket, and crack open the cover, you find the book is riddled with obvious spelling errors and sentences that lead you nowhere.

Would your first reaction be: “OMG, this author is so authentic”?

Of course not! It’s literally unfathomable.

And while podcasting is a much more casual medium, unedited audio is simply not enjoyable.

There might be annoying issues with volume where the host speaks loudly and clearly, but the guest is too far from the mic, and you can barely hear them.

You might live near a busy street and have cars zipping by and honking their horns in the background of your recording.

Or your guest might have a cold and punctuate their sentences with a wet n’ wild cough.

Whatever the case may be, the point of editing is to create a pleasant experience for your listeners.

Removing sniffs and pointless tangents doesn’t make you any less authentic. It just makes you a considerate podcast host who cares about their audience.

5 Things You Should Totally Edit Out of Your Podcast

Having said that, here are the things I always edit out of my clients’ podcasts (and I think you should edit out of your pod too!):

1. Background Noise

When you record a podcast, you find out how noisy life really is. Everything from an air conditioner to a computer to cars driving by can show up in your podcast as distracting background noise.

So before you edit literally anything else, get rid of it!

And it’s important to do this before you apply any other effects to your audio. Applying other effects like compression or EQ before noise reduction can boost the overall volume of your recording, including the background noise, thus making it harder to remove later.

Tools like Adobe Enhance or Riverside (affiliate link alert!) make removing background noise extremely easy!

2. Mouth Noises

Unless you’re purposefully doing an ASMR podcast (if you are, please do not inquire on my website about my podcast editing services), it’s a good idea to delete any overly noticeable mouth noise that is not speech.

Super loud ragged breaths, lip smacks, coughing, sneezing, all of it.

3. Long Pauses

Use your judgment here. If the person is talking about something very sad and pauses to gather their emotions, a pause is appropriate and might even make that moment more emotionally resonant for listeners.

But that’s not the case for most long pauses, and they can easily be removed with automatic effects like “Truncate Silence” in Audacity or “Remove Pauses” in Riverside.

When to KEEP pauses:

• Emotional moments (gathering composure)
• Letting information sink in
• Dramatic effect
• Transition between topics

When to REMOVE pauses:

• Dead air (someone left to sneeze, technical issue)
• Awkward silence from not knowing what to say
• Transitions that drag

4. Excessive Filler Words

Nearly everyone has a favorite filler word or two. It’s normal! But if yours makes an appearance every three sentences, maybe delete some of them.

You don’t have to strike each and every single one down. You’re not a robot after all. But if you said “ummm” 327 times in a 30-minute podcast episode, then maybe delete 3/4 of them!

What to remove:

• Standalone filler words (um… uh… between thoughts)
• Repetitive patterns
• When they obscure meaning
• When they’re distracting from content

What to KEEP:

• Filler words that add emphasis (“Like, REALLY?”)
• Discourse markers that organize thought (“So, here’s the thing…”)
• Natural speech rhythm (occasional ums that feel right)

If removing a filler word makes the sentence sound choppy or weird, keep it.

5. Boring Tangents

Some tangents are spicy, fascinating, provoking, hilarious…

If a tangent provides value or entertainment, leave it in. If it’s boring, unnecessary, or you just have a really meh feeling about it, then consider deleting it.

KEEP tangents that are:

• Spicy, fascinating, provoking, hilarious
• Provide value or entertainment
• Reveal personality
• Pattern interrupts
• Build connection with listeners

REMOVE tangents that are:

• Boring
• Unnecessary to the story
• Inside jokes only 2 people understand
• Take up 10 minutes with no payoff
• You have a “meh” feeling about

Removing all these from your episode will NOT make your podcast less authentic, but it will make it more enjoyable for your audience.

And that’s always worth it!

Careful! There is Such a Thing as Over-Editing Your Podcast

Yes, it is possible to edit the life out of your podcast. If you suspect you’re guilty of that, look out for these two warning signs:

1. Your speech sounds rushed because you removed ALL pauses.

AI podcast editing tools are notorious for this! If you’re using one, set it at the lightest or lowest setting, so it doesn’t remove all of them.

2. Words are clipped too close together.

Usually done by AI tools as well because they delete each and every filler word (or humans who are trying too hard to make everyone sound perfect!).

I’m familiar with each of my clients’ favorite filler word, and if they said it 10 times in one episode, I aim to remove about 7 of them. They still sound like them, but the filler word doesn’t become a distraction.

If it’s too attached to a breath or another word, I leave it in. But if it’s by itself and easy to cut, I cut it.

This is the human touch that AI has trouble replicating. If you use an automatic filler word removal, you’ll be left with a bunch of half-breaths and blips!

The Special Case of ‘Like’ & Why You Don’t Need to Edit Every Filler Word

I read a whole book chapter for this one, so buckle up because we’re about to get NERDY!

The chapter “women didn’t ruin the english language — they, like, invented it” from Amanda Montell’s “wordslut” discusses how women’s speech is often policed by society.

For example, a lot of people don’t like the way women use the word “like,” and if someone has ever called you out for using it too much, you’re gonna want to print out copies of this next part and hand them out to your haters:

There are six versions of the word “like,” and each one has a unique purpose.

The OG “likes,” the oldest forms of the word, are used as verb or adjective.

VERB = I like ice cream.

ADJECTIVE = That cloud looks like a dinosaur.

Nobody has a problem with these because they’ve been around for a long time and are used by everybody and their grandpa.

The other four types of “like” are newer, and of these four, two are used more frequently by women. Can you guess which ones?

QUOTATIVE LIKE = He was like, “I need the report by Monday,” and I was like, “You seriously expect me to work over the weekend?” (It allows you to tell a story without exact words. Useful!)

ADVERB = “I bought this purse like 5 years ago.” (Instead of saying “around 5 years ago”)

DISCOURSE MARKER (aka filler word) = Like, why would you say that? (A type of phrase that helps the speaker connect, organize, or express a certain attitude. We love attitude in this corner of the Internet!)

DISCOURSE PARTICLE = I think this is like the best cake I’ve ever tasted. (Also kind of filler word-ish)

The two used more often by women are #1 and #3.

#2 and #4 are used pretty equally by women and men.

But interestingly, women are judged more harshly for saying all four of them! And there’s no good reason for that because women are using these words in a way that is useful and effective.

All six types have a clear meaning and purpose.

Furthermore, studies show that speech lacking in words like “likes” and “you knows” can sound too careful, unfriendly, or robotic.

So why is it that women are judged for using them?

1. Young women are innovators of language who create speech patterns, and people often feel uncomfortable with newness when it’s out of their control.

2. Linguists say that the way we perceive speech qualities has less to do with the thing being said and a lot more to do with who’s saying it. If we are biased to see women as insecure, weak, or silly, their speech patterns will seem that way to us, even if men use the same speech patterns.

Montell ends the chapter by stating,

“One of our culture’s least helpful pieces of advice is that women need to change the way they speak to sound less “like women” (or that queer people need to sound straighter, or that people of color need to sound whiter). The way any of these folks talk isn’t inherently more or less worthy of respect. It only sounds that way because it reflects an underlying assumption about who holds more power in our culture.

As Deborah Cameron once said, ‘Teaching young women to accommodate to the linguistic preferences, aka prejudices, of the men who run law firms and engineering companies is doing the patriarchy’s work for it.” It accepts the idea that “feminine” speech is the problem, rather than the sexist attitudes toward it.'”

DAMN!

So next time someone says that you use the word “like” too much in your podcast (or IRL), take Montell’s advice and reply, “Really, what kind?”

And when you’re editing your podcast don’t feel pressured to remove every single “like” or filler word.

Sure, you can remove some of them if they are too repetitive or distracting, but don’t feel ashamed for using them, like ever!

Editing is about making your MESSAGE clearer, not making YOU sound perfect.

So, when editing focus on this:

1. Remove things that DISTRACT (background noise, mouth sounds, excessive filler words).

2. Remove things that BORE (dead air, rambling tangents).

And if you’re taking wayyyy too much time editing your podcast, ask yourself:

Does this serve my listener or serve my perfectionism?

I edit for 9 different podcasts every month. And you know what? Every single one still has filler words in it… because they’re HUMAN!

But the distracting and boring shit is gone, so their listeners can actually enjoy the episodes my clients have spent so much effort producing.

If you found this post helpful, my newsletter is definitely for you! I send a free podcasting tip like this every Wednesday straight to your inbox, and you can subscribe to get it here!

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