Episode 111
Ep 111: Should You Leave Your Pauses in Your Episodes?
There's a lot of talk about cutting pauses out of podcast episodes, and a lot of tools, such as Riverside and Descript use the ability to remove pauses as a selling feature.
But sometimes, pauses are needed. I've recently been listening to Paul C. Brunson's We Need to Talk (I'll link it below if you're not familiar with the show). This is about raw and honest conversations and there are times in the show when there are whole pauses, sometimes a few seconds long. And this is ok; it shows raw emotion and the moment and conjecture of what is being said by the guest would be lost or diminished if those pauses weren't left in. They're poignant and allow you as a listener to reflect.
Sure, leaving pauses in won't work for all podcasts and all show or presenter styles, but depending on the content you're delivering, the interviews you're conducting, and the tone of the message that you're delivering, pauses may need to be left in.
So, in a world of podcasting advice where you're constantly being told to trim the pauses and cut out 'dead space' in terms of there being no audio; I'm giving you the permission you need to consider if pauses are needed in your show, and also, permission to leave those pauses in if they work for you and your content.
Links referenced in this episode:
- We Need To Talk with Paul C. Brunson >> https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/we-need-to-talk-with-paul-c-brunson/id1765126946
Transcript
Hello there, and welcome back to another episode of the Lazy Girls Guide to Podcasting with Me.
Speaker A:Verity, I need to ask at this point, why is it that the minute you sit down to record a podcast episode, or maybe this doesn't happen to you, maybe it just happens to me.
Speaker A:Everybody seems to want you.
Speaker A:And what I mean by that is, I'm in the house by myself at the moment, so the kids are out at school, whatever, but I have just got my podcasting microphone out, and that is when the cat has decided to walk all over me and ask for food and the dog has decided to lay at my feet and bark and what have you.
Speaker A:And I've got them sorted out now.
Speaker A:But if you do hear some pattering in the background, that's because I couldn't edit out some pattering of paws.
Speaker A:And we've got hardwood floors as well.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Anyway, what we are talking about in today's episode is whether or not you should cut pauses out of your podcast episodes.
Speaker A:Because I think that so often we are really drilled into us as, oh, we don't want pauses in YouTube videos or in podcast episodes because it is annoying for people.
Speaker A:And we want to get rid of the.
Speaker A:Of the pauses because we just want the information.
Speaker A:We just want the talking and the content.
Speaker A:But that's not real life.
Speaker A:You think when you're having a conversation with somebody, you don't just.
Speaker A:Or not many people anyway, just talk on high speed, constantly.
Speaker A:You have pauses, even if it's just because you need to breathe.
Speaker A:But it's normal in conversation to have pauses.
Speaker A:So I wanted to explore in today's episode whether or not we should be cutting out pauses when it comes to our podcast episodes.
Speaker A:And the reason I wanted to bring this up is because I'm noticing more and more in podcasting technology the ability to get rid of pauses automatically.
Speaker A:And this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Speaker A:So please don't think that I'm saying that, you know, getting rid of pauses is a bad thing.
Speaker A:But I alternate between using Riverside and Descript for my recording.
Speaker A:And what I've noticed on both of those is, is the ability, mainly an AI function, to be able to get rid of pauses, or these functions to help you get rid of pauses longer than two seconds, longer than five seconds, et cetera.
Speaker A:And it just got me thinking as to whether or not we should always be getting rid of pauses.
Speaker A:Now, first of all, I want to say I completely get the points of these features.
Speaker A:I, like anybody, have had pauses in my podcast episodes where I'm like, no, I need to get rid of that either, because maybe I was making a point and I lost my train of thought.
Speaker A:So I took a pause.
Speaker A:Or maybe I was looking through some notes that I'd written.
Speaker A:Maybe something just like, you know, flew by the window and completely distracted me.
Speaker A:Maybe I took a long breath like I did just then.
Speaker A:But the point is, is that sometimes we just don't want pauses in our episodes.
Speaker A:It detracts from what we're saying, it's annoying for an audience, and we just want to get rid of them.
Speaker A:Fine, totally get it.
Speaker A:But do we need to get rid of every single pause in our podcast episodes?
Speaker A:I think not.
Speaker A:And sometimes we actually need pauses within the conversation.
Speaker A:And I've been listening to a podcast recently.
Speaker A:You may or may not have heard it.
Speaker A:It's a very big podcast over in the uk, And I say it's big because you go on Apple podcasts and it's always, you know, there on, like, the front page or whatever.
Speaker A:It's Paul C. Brunson's we need to Talk.
Speaker A:If you've not listened to it before, I'll link it in the show notes.
Speaker A:It's great.
Speaker A:He gets a variety of celebrities on and talks sometimes for a couple of hours.
Speaker A:I mean, he's an amazing interviewer.
Speaker A:You can tell he's got a background in therapy.
Speaker A:He's a fantastic interviewer, and he will talk with celebrities about a whole range of topics.
Speaker A:And I think what I love about the podcast is that it really humanizes celebrities.
Speaker A:So he's had celebrities on who are very much known for, you know, a Persona maybe that they put on.
Speaker A:And what he really does is he peels back the layers of that, interviews them.
Speaker A:I think it's a great podcast, but I'm not here to big up the podcast or sell the podcast.
Speaker A:The point is, he has incredibly raw and honest conversations.
Speaker A:And there's times within the show when those pauses are really, really needed.
Speaker A:And because without those pauses, what you're not getting is the depth of the conversation, is the emotion from the conversation as well.
Speaker A:And I think sometimes in conversations, if you just jump from point to point without pausing pauses, you're not allowing your audience to digest the information either, and to really pick out information that's relevant to them and allow your audience to reflect on what's on, really on what's being said.
Speaker A:So on one side of it, sure, leaving pauses in won't work for all podcasts and all shows, all presenter styles, but depending on the content that you're delivering, particularly with interviews.
Speaker A:Depending on the kind of interviews you're conducting and the tone of the message that you're delivering, pauses may need to be left in purely for clarity, to allow for reflection and to add that real depth to what you are saying and really to convey that importance.
Speaker A:So in the world of podcasting, where advice seems to be pointing towards the idea that cutting out pauses is the best thing to do and you need to be trimming out pauses, cut out the dead space, et cetera, what I'm saying is remember that these functionalities are there for a group of podcasts and for a group of podcasting types.
Speaker A:I'm giving you permission here that if you want to include pauses, if you want to have pauses within your interviews, you are absolutely allowed to do so.
Speaker A:Don't feel like you need to cut a pause, cut a 5 second gap in conversation just because you feel like you have to, because an AI feature is telling you you really need to consider, does it work for your content?
Speaker A:And how is cutting that pause going to resonate with your audience?
Speaker A:Is that actually not going to allow them the time to focus on what is being said?
Speaker A:So I'd love to know your feedback on this episode and of this opinion.
Speaker A:As ever, are you somebody who is a die hard fan of cutting out pauses?
Speaker A:You don't want any dead space within the podcast content, or do you like pauses?
Speaker A:Do you think that they actually allow for you as a listener to really reflect and digest the content, especially in an interview, of what is being said and what is being shared with you?
Speaker A:Or are you somewhere in the middle and think that pauses work sometimes and not for others?
Speaker A:I would love to hear from you.
Speaker A:Otherwise, thank you as ever, for spending time with me for this episode and I will see you next time.
