The short version
- Pick moments that make sense on their own: a strong opinion, story, tip or laugh.
- Keep clips around 30–60 seconds, starting on the most interesting line.
- Captions are not optional — most people watch without sound.
- For audio-only shows, use cover art, photos or B-roll as visuals.
- End with where to hear the full episode.
Finding the best moments
While listening back, note timestamps for moments that:
- Make a bold or surprising claim — something people might agree or argue with.
- Tell a complete short story with a punchline or lesson.
- Give one clear, useful tip.
- Show emotion — laughter, disagreement, a vulnerable moment.
- Answer a question people search for.
A good test: would it make sense to someone who has never heard of your show? If it needs context, either add a short text line to set it up or choose another moment.
Video podcasts
If you film your podcast, you already have visuals. For vertical clips, common layouts are:
- Speaker only: crop to whoever is talking, switching when the speaker changes.
- Stacked: one speaker in the top half and the other in the bottom half — built with a picture-in-picture overlay. See our picture-in-picture guide.
- Wide with captions: the original horizontal shot in the middle of a 9:16 frame, with a title above and captions below.
Audio-only podcasts
No video? Social platforms still need something to look at:
- Cover art with a slow keyframed zoom, plus large captions.
- Photos of the guest or topic, changing every few seconds.
- B-roll that illustrates what's being said.
Import the audio as the music track, then build visuals over it. Captions carry most of the message.
Captions are essential
Talk-based content lives or dies on captions. Use large, bold text in short chunks of a few words, centred in the safe area away from app buttons, and highlight key words. Check spelling of names and terms carefully. See our captions guide.
Hooks and endings
- Start mid-thought on the strongest line — cut any warm-up.
- Add a title at the top that frames the clip ("Why most startups fail in year two").
- End cleanly on a punchline or conclusion, not mid-sentence.
- Point to the full episode in the caption or a final text card.
Step by step: make a podcast clip in VDOAPP
- Choose a 9:16 canvas in the free online editor.
- Add the episode video (or cover art for audio-only, with the audio in the Audio tab).
- Trim to your moment using the trim tool.
- Frame the speaker with Fill and position, or stack a second camera in the PiP tab.
- Add a title and captions in the Text tab.
- Export and post with a link or pointer to the full episode.
Guests and permissions
Let guests know you'll share clips of their appearance, and respect requests not to clip certain moments. If your episode includes music, other people's audio or clips from other shows, make sure you have the rights to use them in short-form posts too.