The Video Editing Software That Makes My Course Content Look Professional
- Sonja Ecklund, NBC-HWC
How Descript changed the way I create video — and why it's worth learning
Note: Some links in these posts are affiliate links. I only recommend tools I personally use and genuinely love. If you purchase through my link, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you — which helps me keep creating free content for coaches like you.
If you're recording courses, guest lectures, YouTube videos, or Instagram Reels for your coaching business, you eventually have to answer a question that most coaches dread: how the heck do I edit this thing?
Traditional video editing software has a steep learning curve. Professional editors spend months learning their tools. And most coaches — who are trying to run an entire business, coach their clients, and still have a life — don't have the time or interest to become video editors.
Descript is the tool that changed the equation for me.
What is Descript?
Descript is a video and audio editing platform built around a simple, genuinely clever idea: instead of editing your video on a timeline (the way traditional editors work), you edit it like a document.
Descript transcribes your video automatically and produces a text transcript alongside the footage. If you want to cut something out of your video, you just highlight the corresponding text in the transcript and delete it. The video cut happens automatically.
It sounds simple because it is. And it's changed the way I create content entirely.
What I use it for
Course videos. All of the recorded video content in my asynchronous courses — The Behavior Edit, The Business Edit, The Study Edit, and my mini-courses — goes through Descript before it's published. I record myself teaching inside of Descript, Descript transcribes every word clearly and accurately, I use Descript's AI tools (read more about these below), I clean up the text, and the video is edited.
YouTube videos. Any longer-form content I publish on YouTube is edited in Descript.
Instagram Reels. Shorter clips get edited in Descript too — it's easy to trim, add captions, and export in the right format.
Guest lectures. When I record a guest lecture for a coach training program or a webinar for a client, I use Descript to clean up the recording before I deliver it.
Why I love it
The transcript-based editing is the core feature, but Descript has a suite of AI-powered tools that genuinely save me significant time:
Filler word removal. Descript can automatically identify and remove "um," "uh," "like," "you know," and other filler words — either all at once or selectively. I've been a learning and development professional for 7 years and am realllllly good at skipping filler words when I present, but this feature alone makes the price of Descript worth it.
Silence cutting. Long pauses between sentences get trimmed automatically, tightening up the pacing of my videos without manual frame-by-frame editing.
Retake elimination. If I stumble over a line and re-record it, Descript can identify the duplicate and help me pick the better take.
Automatic captions. Descript generates captions automatically from the transcript, which I can customize and burn into the video for accessibility.
The result is that I can produce a genuinely polished video — one that looks and sounds professional, not like a screen recording I threw together — in a fraction of the time it used to take me with traditional editing software.
What it costs
Descript paid plans start at $25/month Descript Free: $0 (with limited features and export options)
There are several plan tiers depending on your needs. Use my link to get 50% off your first two months.
How to get started
Download Descript and sign up for a free or paid account
Import a short video you've already recorded — don't start with something important; experiment first
Watch Descript's getting started tutorial — it's clear and short
Try the filler word removal on your test video and see how it works
Edit your first real video — start simple and build from there
What you need to know before you start
Descript is easy, but it's not instant. You still need to understand the basics of what makes a video good — pacing, lighting, audio quality, structure. Descript can clean up a reasonably well-recorded video, but it can't save a video that was poorly set up to begin with.
Before you invest in video editing software, invest in your recording setup: a decent microphone (the single biggest upgrade you can make), good lighting (natural light works, a ring light is better), and a clean, professional background. Those three things will do more for your video quality than any editing software.
Once the foundation is there, Descript is the tool that makes the polish possible — quickly and without a film school education.
Want to build a successful coaching business of your own?
The Business Edit is my 1:1 coaching program for health and wellness coaches who are ready to build a strategic, systematized, structured business. The Business Edit Course is where I teach you everything I know about how to run a coaching business so you can DIY it.
The Behavior Edit Newsletter
The penpal-like email newsletter that teaches you how to ditch chronic overthinking, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and procrastination so you can get out of your own way and do the things that matter in life.
Welcome to the safe space for women who know they're way too powerful to be held back by overthinking, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and procrastination (but need a little help getting out of their own way).
Want to know a secret? These four limited thinking patterns used to be my e-n-t-i-r-e personality. There's a reason I can spot these behaviors from a mile away and help you kick them to the curb.
→ Still replaying that conversation you had at happy hour 2 months ago and wondering if everyone thinks you're weird? Been there.
→ Not finishing the thing you know you want to do because if it's not perfect, then what's the point? Yup.
→ Feeling like it's a matter of time before someone figures out that this is all a carefully crafted facade and that you're actually a fake? Uh-huh.
→ Putting off the things you know you want to do before you die because you're too [insert your adjective of choice] to make it happen now? You betcha.
Sound like I'm reading your mind? That's cause these were the thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that ran my life for wayyy too long.
There's nothing I love more than helping badass women kick this shit to the curb so they can get out of their own way and do the things that matter in life - Here's how I can help you make it happen
The Behavior Edit
(for people who want to make a change)
Most of my clients show up here when they get tired of carrying the weight of an unfinished project and the grief of an unrealized dream.
I'm here to help you finish the one meaningful thing you don't want to leave undone in life — and prove to yourself that you're not too late, you're not broken, and you're more capable than you think.
The Business Edit
(for coaches in private practice)
Here's the thing they don't tell you in your coach training program:
Being a great coach and running a successful coaching practice are two completely different skills.
If you're ready to trade uncertainty for strategy and stress for execution, The Business Edit is for you.
The Study Edit
(for future NBC-HWCs)
Take the guesswork out of studying for the NBHWC Board Exam. My course, The Study Edit, has helped 253 students learn how to think like an exam writer and earn their NBC-HWC credential.
Here, you get everything you need to pass this test, all in one place, backed by my money-back guarantee.