How to Write Podcast Show Notes From a Transcript

By the Speakmi team · Updated October 2, 2026 · 2 min read

Show notes help listeners decide whether to press play, help search engines understand the episode, and give you content to share. A transcript makes writing them much faster, because you can see everything that was said.

What good show notes include

• A one or two sentence summary of the episode.
• A list of topics with timestamps.
• Names and links of guests, books, tools, and websites mentioned.
• One or two memorable quotes.
• A short call to action, such as subscribing or leaving a review.

Step by step

1. Transcribe the episode with timestamps turned on. For long episodes, transcribe in parts of up to 20 minutes.
2. Skim the transcript and mark each place where the topic changes.
3. Write a heading for each topic and copy its timestamp from the transcript.
4. Write the summary last, in your own words, using the topics you found.
5. Collect every link and name that was mentioned and verify the spelling.

Choosing quotes

Pick short statements that make sense on their own. Check the exact words against the audio, because a quote that is slightly wrong can misrepresent your guest. Light clean-up of fillers is fine, but never change the meaning.

Publishing tips

• Write a clear episode title that says what the episode is about.
• Use headings for topics so readers can scan.
• Publish the full transcript below the notes, or link to it, so the content is accessible.
• Do not paste the raw transcript as the show notes. A summary is more useful than a wall of text.

This workflow also works for webinars, lectures, and video interviews. For more on why transcripts help podcasts, read our podcast transcription guide.

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