Edits / Instagram Reels / Podcast clips
One hour of conversation holds 6–10 Reels - and they're the best promotion a podcast has. This guide covers finding the clip-worthy moments in the transcript, cutting them clean, framing two speakers for a vertical screen, captioning with speaker labels, and posting them as a series. Video podcasts and audio-only shows both.
Nobody discovers a 58-minute episode in the Reels tab. They discover a 40-second clip where the guest says something sharp, and the clip is a door back to the episode. Six to ten doors per episode, each shown to people who've never heard of the show. Instagram only recommends Reels under 3 minutes to non-followers, so the full episode can't do this job - the clips can.
Clips also keep the feed alive between episodes, give guests something to share, and tell you which topics land before you record the next one.
Transcript → cut → frame → caption → brand → series. About an hour for a one-hour episode once the template exists.
Step 01
Don't scrub the video; read the transcript. Get it from your host platform or generate one with auto captions in Edits, then read at 2× speed and mark every moment that stands on its own: a claim, a story, a disagreement, a number, a one-line answer. Aim for 6–10 per hour. The eight moment types below are what to look for.
Step 02
Import the episode into Edits, split at each marker, and trim each piece to one complete thought. Start on the first word of the point - not the host's question, not the "so, um". End on the last word of the answer. Cut crosstalk and the "right, right" in the middle.
Step 03
Podcast video is 16:9 with two people in it; Reels are 9:16. Three ways to solve it. A · Follow: crop to the active speaker and keyframe the crop to jump at each change. B · Stack: two horizontal bands, host on top, guest below - both stay visible, no keyframes. C · Audiogram: for audio-only shows, cover art or a guest photo, an animated waveform and captions.
Step 04
Podcast clips are talking, and Reels are watched muted. Auto captions, then correct every name, brand and bit of jargon - podcasts are dense with them. Give each speaker a colour or a label so the viewer knows who's talking. Then put the clip's best line on the first two seconds as a text hook.
Step 05
A clip should be recognisable as your show without looking like an ad. A small corner band at the top with the show logo, the episode number and the guest's name, inside the safe zone. A "full episode → link in bio" line near the end. No end card - it kills the loop and the replay.
Step 06
Export each clip at 1080 × 1920, H.264, 30 fps, no watermark. Post one a day, the strongest clip first - not clip 1 chronologically. Caption each with the quote, the guest, the episode number and a part count; link the full episode in your bio or a pinned comment. Tag the guest so they share it.
Same steps, different step 3. Audio-only shows have one real disadvantage - no face - and captions plus a waveform close most of it.
You have a 16:9 recording with both speakers, or separate camera angles.
You have a WAV/MP3 and cover art. Build an audiogram.
Read the transcript for these. Every strong podcast clip is one of them, and each maps to a hook formula.
"Everyone does X. They're wrong."
hook: Contrast / Mistake
"We went from 200 to 40,000 in…"
hook: Result
How the guest got here, in 45 s
hook: Challenge
Host and guest actually argue
hook: Contrast
A big question, answered in a sentence
hook: Question
Insider knowledge, plainly said
hook: Secret
"Three things I'd tell my younger self"
hook: Number
A story that lands, cut on the laugh
hook: Entertain
Edits splits the episode, follows the speaker, captions every word and exports with no watermark - free.