How I Edit My Podcast Audio with Descript | Studio Sound, Remove Filler Words & Shorten Pauses
Justin Vacula of the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast shares a behind-the-scenes look at how he edits podcast audio using Descript, an AI-powered audio and video editing tool.
He walks through his real editing workflow and explains how he uses Descript to make podcast episodes sound cleaner, tighter, and more professional. Using an episode recorded on May 11, 2026, Justin shows how he imports audio into Descript, generates a transcript, corrects transcription errors such as a guest’s misspelled name, and uses Descript’s built-in AI tools to improve the final result.
He demonstrates features such as Studio Sound to improve voice quality and reduce background noise, Remove Filler Words to delete “um,” “uh,” and similar speech habits, and Shorten Word Gaps to reduce long pauses and make conversations flow more smoothly.
Justin also explains why this transcript-based editing style can be much faster and easier than traditional manual editing in programs like Audacity. Along the way, he shows how he removes stumbles, restarts, awkward phrasing, audio distortions, and unnecessary words to create a cleaner final podcast episode. He also mentions how Descript can help generate YouTube descriptions and show notes, which he then refines further with ChatGPT.
This video is helpful for anyone looking to improve podcast audio, learn more about Descript, speed up their editing process, or create more polished audio content for YouTube, podcasts, and interviews.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Behind-the-scenes intro
00:18 Why I use Descript
00:55 Overview of the AI tools
01:42 Importing audio and generating a transcript
02:42 Removing filler words
03:23 Shortening awkward pauses
03:48 Using Studio Sound
04:38 Playback and fixing names
06:42 Cleaning up stumbles and rough spots
10:47 Final manual edits and wrap-up
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