How to Turn a Podcast into TikTok, Reels and Shorts

Podcast clip specs for TikTok, Reels and Shorts

All three apps play full screen vertical video, and all three now accept clips longer than a minute. The file you export can be identical. The limits and the text around the video are where they part ways.

Current specs for podcast clips on each app

The longer limits are a ceiling, not a target. A two minute podcast clip can work when it tells one complete story, but most clips that people watch to the end are well under a minute.

How long a podcast clip should be on each platform

People speak at roughly 150 words a minute on a relaxed podcast, which gives you a quick way to plan a clip before you cut it.

If you only make one version, aim for 30 to 45 seconds. That length sits inside every app's sweet spot and leaves room for one idea with a beginning and an end.

Planning a clip by spoken words

A one hour episode usually holds 5 to 10 moments that stand on their own. Picking those moments is its own skill, and it matters more than any per app tweak.

Safe zones that let one podcast clip work on all three apps

Each app lays its own buttons and text over your video. Keep everything important inside the area all three leave free, and one export works everywhere.

• Keep the bottom fifth clear. On a 1920 pixel tall frame that is roughly the lowest 380 pixels, where all three apps put the caption, sound or title and account name.
• Keep the right edge clear. The like, comment and share buttons take up roughly the right 120 to 150 pixels.
• Put captions in the middle third. High enough to clear the bottom, low enough to stay off the speaker's face.
• Put the hook near the top. Around the upper quarter, where it reads first and never collides with buttons.
• Keep the podcast name small, top left or top center, so it survives every app and every repost.

Packaging the same podcast clip for each app

Once the file is done, the per platform work is text. Budget two or three minutes per clip per app.

• YouTube Shorts: write a real title. Shorts titles show in search, so name the topic in plain words, keyword first, under about 60 characters. Use the related video link to point to the full episode.
• TikTok: make the first line count. Only the start of the caption shows before it is cut off. Put the topic in that first line, and add the show name and a question further down.
• Instagram Reels: shorter and friendlier. If a clip runs past 45 seconds, consider a trimmed version for Reels. Keep the caption casual and tag the guest if they are on Instagram.

Prompt to turn a podcast into TikTok, Reels and Shorts

Adapted from real requests Videotto users sent to Otto. Paste it with your episode link and change the numbers to fit your show.

[your YouTube link or uploaded episode]
Create short clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
Make 6 clips, 30 to 45 seconds each, each on a different topic.
Start with the strongest line, no slow intros, and end on a complete thought.
Vertical 9:16, keep whoever is talking in frame.
A short hook headline near the top in the first 3 seconds.
Big captions in the middle third, clear of the app buttons at the bottom and right.
Put the podcast name small at the top of every clip.
For each clip, suggest a YouTube Shorts title and a caption for TikTok and Reels.

Shorter podcast clip requests people send

• "Make me 8 clips of the best moments for TikTok, Instagram and YouTube."
• "Edit this into a high retention clip for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, longer than 15 seconds."
• "Create TikTok clips from this podcast. Each clip covers a different topic, with no overlapping clips."
• "Find the best clips in my podcast and add a call to watch the full episode at the end."

Example: one podcast episode packaged for three platforms

Example (illustrative, not a real customer). A 58 minute interview about starting a bakery, two people on camera, filmed in 16:9. The host pastes the YouTube link with the prompt above.

1. The clips. Six vertical clips between 32 and 47 seconds. Clip 3 runs 41 seconds, roughly 100 spoken words, and opens on the guest saying "We lost money every Tuesday for a year."
2. YouTube Shorts. Title: "Why this bakery stopped selling bread on weekdays" (49 characters). The related video is set to the full episode.
3. TikTok. First line: "We lost money every Tuesday for a year." Then the show name and a question: "Would you have kept going?"
4. Instagram Reels. The same file. Caption: "The Tuesday problem. Full episode in bio." The guest is tagged.

Doing this by hand in Premiere Pro or CapCut (finding six moments, reframing, captioning and exporting) typically takes 2 to 3 hours for an hour long episode. With Otto doing the cutting, the host's time goes into reviewing six clips and writing three captions for each, roughly 30 to 40 minutes in total.

Podcast clip checklist before you post

• One edit, not three. A separate edit per app triples the work for almost no gain. Make one that fits all three safe zones.
• Captions off the bottom. Captions at the very bottom end up under the app text on every platform.
• A different caption per app. Shorts titles are searched. TikTok and Reels captions are read by people who are already watching.
• Rights to the show. Clip your own podcast, or shows and campaigns that give you permission.

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