How to turn a podcast or webinar into short vertical clips

What you need before you start

A video you have the right to use. Your own podcast, webinar, talk or interview is ideal. If guests appear, get their agreement to clips first. Our guide to UK rules for posting clips covers this.
Clear audio. Captions and viewer attention both depend on it. YouTube notes that automatic captions can fail when audio is poor or speakers overlap.
A transcript. Finding the best moments is much faster in text than by scrubbing through video.

Step 1: Transcribe the whole recording

Run the full video through a transcription tool so you have every word with timestamps. You’ll use the transcript to find moments, and later to build the captions.

Step 2: Pick moments that stand on their own

Read the transcript and mark short passages that make sense to someone who has never heard of you. Good candidates are:

a clear answer to a common question;
a strong opinion, a surprising number or a short story with a point;
a practical tip someone could use today.

Avoid passages that start with “as I said earlier” or depend on a slide nobody can see. Start each clip on the point, not on the warm-up before it.

Step 3: Choose the length

Shorter isn’t a rule, but a clip should only be as long as the idea. Here are the current upper limits from each platform’s own help pages:

Platform	Length	Shape
YouTube Shorts	Up to 3 minutes (YouTube Help)	Square or vertical
Instagram Reels	Up to 20 minutes, but Reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to people who don’t follow you (Instagram Help)	1.91:1 to 9:16, at least 720 pixels and 30 frames per second (Instagram Help)
LinkedIn	3 seconds (desktop) to 15 minutes, up to 5 GB (LinkedIn Help)	1:2.4 to 2.4:1, so 9:16 fits
TikTok	We couldn’t confirm a current limit on an official page, so check in the app before you plan longer clips	TikTok’s ad specifications recommend vertical 9:16

In practice, a clip of well under a minute fits every platform above, so one file can go everywhere.

Step 4: Reframe to vertical 9:16

Export at 1080×1920 pixels (9:16). That fits all four platforms. There are two common ways to get there from a landscape recording:

Crop to the speaker. Best for one person talking to camera.
Fit the whole frame on a blurred copy of itself. Better for screen shares, slides or two people side by side, where a crop would cut someone out.

Keep faces and key text away from the edges. Meta’s safe zone guidance for 9:16 Reels and Stories ads says to keep the top, bottom and sides free of key text and logos, because the app’s buttons and captions sit there and taller screens may crop the picture. LinkedIn gives similar advice.

Step 5: Add captions

Lots of viewers rely on captions: the BBC says up to 35% of viewers use subtitles for some online content. Burned-in captions (part of the picture) show on every platform and can’t be switched off. Keep them large, high-contrast and in the lower-middle of the frame, clear of the platform buttons. Our guide to captions for short-form video covers sizes, placement and accessibility in detail.

Step 6: Add a hook title, cover and post text

Hook title. A short line of text at the top for the first few seconds, saying what the clip is about.
Cover image. Instagram recommends 420×654 pixels for a Reel cover.
Post text. One or two plain sentences and a pointer to the full episode.

Step 7: Check sound and music

Level the volume so speech is clear on a phone speaker. If your recording has background music you don’t have rights to use, remove it. YouTube says copyrighted material in a Short may lead to a Content ID claim, a takedown or a copyright strike.

Free option: YouTube’s own clip tool

If your long video is already on YouTube, its Clips and Shorts tool in YouTube Studio (Content › Videos › Clips and Shorts › Create clip or Short) lets you pick a section by selecting transcript text or timestamps. AI suggestions are available in the UK for English and some other languages. It adds automatic captions where available, which you can restyle or turn off. The original video is linked as a related video unless it’s private, unlisted or made for kids. YouTube says you won’t be penalised for reusing your own content in a clip or Short.

Step 8: Post on a schedule and keep notes

Post regularly rather than all at once, and keep a simple sheet of which clip went where and when. Over a few weeks you’ll see which topics and openings hold attention for your audience. No workflow guarantees views, but a steady supply of clean, captioned clips gives you more chances to find out what works.

Quick checklist

You own the recording, and guests have agreed to clips
Full transcript with timestamps
Each clip makes sense on its own and starts on the point
Length within each platform’s limit (under a minute fits all)
Exported at 1080×1920 (9:16)
Faces and text kept away from the edges
Captions burned in, checked word by word
Hook title, cover image and post text ready
No music you don’t have rights to use

FAQ

How long can a YouTube Short be?

Up to 3 minutes, in a square or vertical shape, according to YouTube Help.

What size should vertical clips be?

1080×1920 pixels (9:16) works for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, LinkedIn and TikTok. Instagram needs at least 720 pixels and 30 frames per second.

Will Instagram show long Reels to new people?

Instagram lets you make Reels of up to 20 minutes, but says Reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to people who don’t follow you.

Is there a free way to make Shorts from a YouTube video?

Yes. YouTube Studio’s Clips and Shorts tool lets you create a Short from your own long video by selecting transcript text or timestamps, with automatic captions where available.

How many clips can I get from one episode?

It depends on the content. Count the self-contained moments in the transcript: answers, tips, opinions and short stories that make sense without context.

Official sources

Platform features and limits change often. Check the sources above before you publish.