Make a cleaner first cut.
- Open Remove silences and import your recording. Keep the original file.
- Choose a threshold and minimum silence duration that fit the recording. A quieter microphone needs a different threshold than a loud one.
- Detect pauses and preview the cuts with audio. Exclude pauses that carry meaning or emphasis.
- Use padding around speech so the edit does not cut off breaths or words.
- Export to a separate file and review the full result. Continue a broader edit in the project timeline when you need titles or other clips.
Tune the settings to your voice.
Too many cuts: lower the detection threshold or increase the minimum duration. Too few: make the threshold more sensitive and inspect the waveform. Abrupt cuts: add padding and listen at the boundaries.
There is no universal setting. Try a short representative segment first. Processing time depends on duration, resolution, effects and hardware; the change in running time depends on how much silence you remove.
You decide which pauses stay.
A pause can make a joke work or give an explanation room to breathe. Automatic detection is a starting point. Preview with sound and preserve the moments that belong in the story.