I was so obsessed with quotes as a pre-teen that I once asked for books of quotes as a birthday present. Imagine a young girl, searching the appendix of an encyclopedia-sized collection of quotes and looking for the perfect saying to use in an email to a friend — or, dare I age myself here — post as her AOL Instant Messenger away message.

That’s why it shouldn’t surprise anyone to know that I became obsessed with the many ways I could use quotations from my podcast episodes. To me, they’re the unsung heroes of podcasts and YouTube shows. They’re the tiny pieces of hard-working content that were created without even consciously thinking about thought leadership or marketing — though they work perfectly for both. 

In this article, you’ll learn why quotes are so beneficial to podcast hosts and YouTube creators, and how you can use them in your various visibility efforts.

First, let’s define what episode quotes are

Think of a quote as simply a snippet or excerpt from your podcast episode or YouTube video that was spoken by you, a co-host, or a guest of the show. These small bits of dialogue (or monologue) are often so good that they stand alone and encapsulate the message you want to get across.

But let’s also talk about what episode quotes are not: They are not complete transcripts of the episode or the captions that you read on the screen while watching videos. Transcripts and captions are complete collections of what was said in an entire episode; whereas a quote may be only seconds or even minutes long, but definitely not the majority of what is said in the show.

Think of quotes as short and sweet morsels to savor — kind of like how my kids save the marshmallows out of their Lucky Charms cereal for their final few bites. They’re the best part, and they’re what you’ll be thinking about long after the episode (or cereal) is over.

Why are video and podcast quotes helpful?

There are so many reasons why quotes work wonders for audio and video creators. At the most basic level, using quotes will give your general audience a choice sample of the episode that will entice them to want to click over to listen to or watch the entire thing.

But there are other lesser-known perks of using quotes in your episodes, and those include a bump in SEO; pre-written content that can be used on social media, in emails, and elsewhere; and an improved guest and listener experience. 

Plus, by sharing episode quotes with your co-host and guests, you'll impress them with their own intelligence, which then makes them more likely to share the quotes with their own developed audience, widening your potential reach and increasing your credibility.

How to find the best podcast and video quotes

First of all, don’t stress about listening to the entire recording to pick out the perfect quotations. Instead, transcribe the interview and then scan the transcript for smart nuggets and pull out the best podcast quotes. This approach also works really well to notate any clips you’d like your podcast or video editor to edit out or use to create videograms.

But there are ways to make this process even faster.

For example, one common way to get quotes — this is what I try to do — is by taking precise notes as you’re recording an episode with a guest. If I hear my guest (or myself!) say something particularly astute or interesting, I’ll write down a few of the words in my notebook so I can search for them after the recording has been transcribed.

But this doesn’t work too well when I’m doing solo shows, as I don’t use a podcast script and stopping to take notes would be a distracting break in my creative process. Though sometimes interviews are so interesting and engrossing that I completely forget to take notes while recording, too!

Read more: How transcription makes podcasts accessible, searchable, and easier to edit

How to use podcast quotes

Once you know what episode quotes you’ll use, use them wisely.

1. In your show notes for SEO

Let’s start with the content you create from your audio and video recordings — the show notes. These blog-like website posts are ripe for SEO and both video and podcast quotes only improve on the opportunity you’ll rank and get found by the right people. 

First, you and anyone who joins you on the show will naturally use relevant keywords when you’re speaking about the topic you’d like to rank for. There’s no need for keyword stuffing or forcing long-tail keywords into show notes when you’re already using them as part of your natural conversation or even a scripted solo show.

And quotes also help you establish branded keywords, in this case your own name and potentially even the name of your show. Additionally, they also give the search engines a clue that you’re associated with the good name of your guests, which is great if they rank well online themselves. 

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Remember, when you’re quoting someone, you’ll have to quote them directly and then either lead the quote or follow it with their name and potentially an additional reference. In the image above, instead of just listing the speakers as Erin Ollila and Danbee Shin, I could have added references after our quote, such as,

“Insert interesting quote here,” says Erin Ollila, host of the Talk Copy to Me podcast.

or

“Insert very astute observation.” - Danbee Shin, global inclusion specialist

Think of their (and your) names as secondary keywords you’re hoping to rank for. Including multiple quotes in your video or podcast show notes gives you the opportunity to use these “secondary keywords” over and over again, alongside the natural phrases related to your main keyword. 

In the example above, the two main keywords I used for the show notes about this episode on inclusive website copy and design were “inclusive websites” and “globally inclusive website.” If you’ll notice, in the quotes that appear in the screenshot above, Danbee and I naturally used the phrases “global inclusion” and “globally inclusive,” both of which support my search engine optimization goals.

And don’t just stop at the show notes either. Another idea is to use the quotes in your podcast or YouTube description to entice people to listen or view the video right from the start. Remember that YouTube and podcast players are search engines unto themselves. People may be searching your guest’s name or keywords similar to the topic of your show or episode. Quotes help by providing both of those things.

Read more: How to optimize your podcast show notes for SEO (from an SEO expert)

2. On social media

Video and podcast quotes work so well on social media — and in varied formats, too. One option is to share the quote directly on a text-based platform like Threads. There’s no need to do any video or audio editing or graphic design; all you have to do is copy and paste. If you’re feeling especially expressive, you could take some time to expand on the overall message of the quote if you want to write more.

If you’re up for some graphic design work or some light audio/video editing (Descript would be the perfect tool for this, if I may add!), podcast or YouTube quotes are also perfect for videograms, audiograms, or still graphics that include the text of the quote with or without additional graphic elements. And, if you’re stressed about this part taking a lot of time, consider batching your work so you can save your creative energy.

3. To encourage your guests to promote the show

Your guests want to help you succeed, but they often need encouragement to promote the shows they were on. You can help them by providing copy and visuals so they don’t have to do much work to share the podcast episodes or YouTube interviews with their audience.

Quotes are ideal nuggets of wisdom to share with your guests. Why? The words they’ve already used make them sound intelligent, so sharing your episode makes them look good.

I can’t even tell you how many times my guests have responded to emails in which I shared promotional content with them to say things like, “Did I really say that? It sounds so smart!” or “I’ve been trying so hard to come up with thought leadership content for my business. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!”

No matter how confident your guests are, people often need reminders that they’re pretty great, actually. Seeing their own words reflected back at them — and feeling proud of those statements — is a great way for your guest to feel appreciated for the time they’ve shared with you.

4. As blog post or newsletter material

Earlier I mentioned that quotes are great for content like show notes, but there are ways to use the quote as a jumping off point for more. Once you’ve collected all the quotes from your transcript, take a look at what you’ve come up with and see what you can create around them. 

Can you write a complimentary blog post about some (or dare I suggest all) of those quotes? If a blog post feels too overwhelming, why not aim for four short emails instead? Taking this approach would mean you have enough content for a weekly newsletter to share with your email list…and you can link back to your podcast or YouTube channel in each email to help with promotion.

Episode quotes are the sound bites that just keep giving

You’ve already done all the work by recording an interview;  the quotes you take from that transcript are like gifts to yourself. It doesn’t matter if you only use one or a dozen like I sometimes do — don’t sleep on the power of quotes to promote your show.