We tend to think a good clip is a brilliant moment. It is first of all a self-contained moment. A very apt sentence, said in the middle of an explanation, is worth nothing if the viewer does not know what is being talked about. An ordinary but complete answer makes a better short.
So the whole job of selecting comes down to one question: does this passage make sense without the rest?
The four-question test
Before you keep a passage, ask yourself these four questions. A single “no” is enough to drop it, or to move where it starts and ends.
- Is it clear what it is about from the first sentence? If the subject only arrives after ten seconds, the viewer has gone.
- Does it carry a single idea? Two ideas make two clips, or one muddled clip.
- Does it end on a conclusion? A sentence that lands, not an “and so, um, yeah”.
- Does it hold up without a name or a reference to something else? “As I was saying earlier” or “in your case” give away a passage that depends on the rest.
These four questions apply to any source: a podcast, a talk, a webinar. They apply even more to a call, where nobody is talking in order to be cut into clips.
The six kinds of passage to look for
1. The question and its answer
This is the easiest passage to spot and the most dependable. Someone asks, you answer. The question is the hook, the answer is the short.
It works because the viewer often has the same question. And if they did not, they at least understand straight away what you are answering.
“How do I win a client over in a single call?” Everything that follows is already a short.
2. The common mistake
“The mistake I see with almost all my clients is…” The sentence announces its subject, promises something useful and casts the speaker as someone with experience. It works all the better when the mistake is precise: “sending the deck before the call” beats “not preparing properly”.
3. The story of a case
A situation, a decision, a result. Three sentences are sometimes enough. It is the passage nobody else can post, since it is your experience.
Tell it without a name and without any detail that would make the client recognisable: it is the case that matters, not who it was.
4. The rule
“My rule: never a quote before the second call.” A rule is short, easy to remember and open to argument: three assets for a post. A good clip gives the rule, then the reason in one or two sentences. No more: the rule is enough by itself.
5. The number said out loud
A price, a lead time, a proportion, said plainly. “I charge €4,000 for this engagement, and here is why.” Numbers catch the eye because almost nobody gives them. Just make sure they are yours: your client’s figures are not for posting.
6. The contrarian take
“Everyone tells you to post every day. I think that is a mistake.” You take a piece of widespread advice and say the opposite, with a reason. It is the passage that gets a reaction, to be used when you really mean it: a forced contrarian take shows.
Where to start and where to end
The same passage can be good or bad depending on where you cut it.
Start on the subject. Not on “yes, well, that’s a good question”, but on the first sentence that says what it is about. If the question was asked by your guest and you do not want them to be heard, a line of text above the video can stand in for it.
End on the closing line. The last useful sentence, not the last sentence spoken. What comes after, the nuance, the caveat, the return to the conversation, belongs to the call, not to the short.
Cut whatever serves no purpose. The silences, the hesitations, the false starts, the asides. A 70-second passage often comes down to 50 once it is cleaned up, and is the better for it.
As for length, we have given a whole article to how long a short should be: the right length is the length of the idea.
What not to keep
- Passages that need context. If you have to add an explanation for people to understand, it is not a clip.
- What belongs to your guest. Their situation, their figures, what they confided. Nothing that shows them, lets them be heard or quotes them is posted without their agreement. See how to tell your guests before you record.
- Long lists. “The seven steps to…” does not fit in a minute. Keep one, the best.
- Moments that are funny to the people who were there. A fit of giggles on a call is rarely funny to a stranger.
- Cautious answers. “It depends” is often true and never makes a short. Keep the passage where you say what it depends on.
Helping good passages to happen
A good clip is not made in the edit: it was said or it was not. What you can do is talk in a way that leaves more of them behind, without putting on an act.
- Restate the question before you answer. The passage then carries its own context.
- Answer first, qualify afterwards. The short answer first, the caveats after.
- Conclude out loud. “So, in a word: …” makes a ready-made closing line.
These habits also make your calls clearer for your clients. It is the method we describe in One client call, five shorts.
When a tool chooses for you
Listening back to an hour of call to find three useful minutes in it takes more than an hour. That is the work clipping tools automate, each in its own way.
Dailies applies the test described here. It reads the whole call it recorded and keeps up to eight passages that stand on their own, 12 to 90 seconds each. It takes out the silences, the hesitations and the false starts, and places above each short the question it answers. It handles calls in French and in English, and its extension’s interface is in French. Eight is a maximum: a call that holds only two good passages gives two shorts.
The last word is still yours. A tool can tell whether a passage stands on its own; only you know whether it says what you want to see posted under your name.
Key takeaways
- A good clip is first of all a self-contained passage: a subject stated, one idea, a closing line.
- Six kinds keep coming back: the question and its answer, the common mistake, the story of a case, the rule, the number, the contrarian take.
- Where you cut matters as much as the passage: start on the subject, end on the closing line.
- What belongs to your guest is not posted without their agreement.