Guide
Seven video editing mistakes on talking videos, each with the fix
Updated
Most video editing mistakes on a talking video come from doing too much: too many cuts, too many effects, music too loud. Here are seven, what viewers notice, and how to fix each one.
In short
- The most common video editing mistakes are cutting every breath, a slow opening, too many transitions, wrong b-roll, badly placed captions, loud music and no ending.
- Cutting every pause makes you sound rushed, so keep short breaths on calm or personal parts.
- Stock clips of strangers under a story about yourself feel fake, so show your own photos and screenshots instead.
- Music should sit well under your voice, low enough that every word is easy to hear.
- Every video needs an ending, like a call to action, instead of stopping on your last word.
What are the most common video editing mistakes?
On short talking videos, the same seven mistakes come up again and again. Each one is easy to fix once you can see it.
- Three mistakes are about pace: cutting every breath, a slow opening and too many transitions.
- Two mistakes are about what's on screen, the wrong b-roll and captions in the wrong place.
- The last two are about sound and the ending, music over your voice and a video that just stops.
Seven video editing mistakes and their fixes
| Mistake | What viewers notice | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Cutting every breath | You sound rushed and your head jumps | Keep short pauses on calm parts |
| A slow opening | Nothing happens in the first seconds | Start on your first real sentence |
| Too many transitions | The effects distract from you | Plain cuts, one or two effects at most |
| Strangers in the b-roll | Your story stops feeling like yours | Your own photos and screenshots |
| Captions in the wrong place | Words cover your mouth or the app's buttons | Captions in the clear middle area |
| Music over your voice | Words get lost | Music well under your voice |
| No ending | The video just stops | A clear call to action |
Mistake: Cutting every breath
- What viewers notice
- You sound rushed and your head jumps
- Fix
- Keep short pauses on calm parts
Mistake: A slow opening
- What viewers notice
- Nothing happens in the first seconds
- Fix
- Start on your first real sentence
Mistake: Too many transitions
- What viewers notice
- The effects distract from you
- Fix
- Plain cuts, one or two effects at most
Mistake: Strangers in the b-roll
- What viewers notice
- Your story stops feeling like yours
- Fix
- Your own photos and screenshots
Mistake: Captions in the wrong place
- What viewers notice
- Words cover your mouth or the app's buttons
- Fix
- Captions in the clear middle area
Mistake: Music over your voice
- What viewers notice
- Words get lost
- Fix
- Music well under your voice
Mistake: No ending
- What viewers notice
- The video just stops
- Fix
- A clear call to action
Mistakes in pace and cuts
Pace mistakes are the most common, because silence removers make it easy to cut too much. A video can be fast and still sound like a person talking.
- Cutting every breath makes you sound like you're reading a list, and it turns every sentence into a jump cut. Keep short pauses where the topic is calm or personal.
- A slow opening, like “Hi guys, so today I want to talk about”, loses people before you say anything. Cut straight to your first real sentence.
- Too many transitions, like a whip or a glitch on every cut, pull the eye away from what you say. Use plain cuts, with one effect before the ending at most.
How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this
Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.
The 4 styles, as example edits
Steps
Three steps, four angles
Skit
Hook, hard stop, demo card
Verdict
The tester's verdict
Poster
Typography does the talking
Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.
- Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
- Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
- Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
- Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
- Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export
Then you ask Jacob, for example
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
- “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
- “Change the music to something calmer”
Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.
Mistakes in what is on screen
What's on screen should show what you're talking about. If it shows something else, people stop trusting the video.
- Stock clips of strangers under a first-person story feel fake, like a woman you don't know putting on “your” serum. Show your own photos and screenshots instead.
- Use stock b-roll only for general things, like a city street or coffee being poured, never for a moment that's about you.
- Captions over your mouth, or low down where the app's buttons sit, are hard to read. Keep them in the clear middle of the frame.
- Too much text on screen competes with your face. Put the big words on the key words only.
Mistakes in sound and the ending
Bad sound loses more viewers than a bad picture does. Then a missing ending wastes the people who stayed to the end.
- Music as loud as your voice makes the words hard to follow. Turn it down until it's a quiet bed under you.
- Film somewhere quiet, because most editors can't fully remove a fan, traffic or an echo afterwards.
- A video that stops on your last word leaves people with nothing to do. End on one clear call to action, like where to buy or what to search.
- Sound effects on every word get tiring. Keep a few, or turn them off.
Seven mistakes fixed on one example clip
This example is a skincare shop owner's clip about her serum. Jacob's first edit cut the slow opening and showed her own product photo instead of a stranger.
Three chat requests fixed the rest. Each one came back as a new version she could go back from.
- Jacob makes the whole first edit from one press of "Make my video". It normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when your first cut is ready.
- Upload your own photos and screenshots. With no files, Jacob fills the screen with stock clips, and those can show strangers.
- Each style adds sound effects to the edit, and you can ask Jacob to make them quieter or turn them off.
- A chat message that changes the video costs 40 credits. Jacob doesn't remove background noise, so film somewhere quiet.
A skincare shop owner's serum clip, three mistakes fixed in the chat
Her first edit was rushed, the music was loud and it stopped on her last word. Each chat request fixed one of those.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 45-second phone video of a skincare shop owner holding her serum in her bathroom
“Hi guys, so, um, today I want to talk about this serum. … (pause) I use it every morning, I, I put two drops on and my skin stays calm all day.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Skit style
“This serum. I use it every morning, put two drops on and my skin stays calm all day.”
- On “serum”: her product photo serum.jpg on a card over her face
- On “morning”: her own photo of the serum on her shelf, not a stock clip of a stranger
- On “calm”: the word set big in her accent colour
- Under the whole video: music under her voice
window: serum.jpg
Then you ask Jacob
- “Keep my pauses, it feels too rushed”v2her short breaths come back between sentences, so she sounds calm
- “Turn the music down a bit”v3the same edit with the music lower, so every word is easy to hear
- “Change the call to action to Shop the serum”v4the video ends on “Shop the serum” instead of stopping on her last word
Questions people ask
- What is the most common video editing mistake?
- Cutting too much. Removing every pause makes a talking video sound rushed and breathless, and it adds a jump cut to every sentence.
- How do I make my videos look less amateur?
- Start on your first real sentence, keep music low under your voice, show your own photos instead of strangers, and end on a call to action. Those four fixes matter more than effects.
- How loud should background music be under talking?
- Quiet enough that you never have to strain to hear a word. If you notice the music while someone is talking, it's too loud.
- Should I use transitions between every cut?
- No. Plain cuts look best on a talking video. Save a flash or a whip for one moment, like right before the ending.
- Is stock footage bad for talking videos?
- Not always. Stock clips work for general things, like a street or a coffee, but not for a moment that's about you or your product.
- Can AI make these editing mistakes too?
- Yes. An AI editor can cut too tight or pick stock that doesn't fit. In Cutroom's Magic Editor, you fix that by asking Jacob in plain words, like “Keep my pauses, it feels too rushed”.
Film one clip, and ask Jacob to fix whatever still looks wrong in plain words. Your first video is free.