Why unedited podcasts clips make millions of views

Last week I’ve received this message:

“I can get an AI tool do what you do”.

Not my first time. Nor my last. And I’m not even counting the times when it’s my inner voice trying to convince me that these people were right.

By “what you do”, they mean raw-style short podcasts clips.

Those play a role in how I grow podcasts. Unfortunately for me, they look like a series of cuts that AI tools produce.

I broke down in this post why some podcasts creators stick to human-generated podcasts clips..

And today, we’ll dive into the 3 pillars of what I call the art of raw podcasts clips.

1) Why you don’t need fancy edits for podcast clips

When I ask to podcast hosts the reason why they started their show, I always get one of these answers:

• to build their personal brand;

• to attract potential clients to their business;

• to build their personal brand and attract potential clients to their business.

These reasons above hide an underlying but also fundamental factor: building authority. Because authority builds trust. Trust builds brands. Trust attracts potential clients.

This is why most hosts bring experts to their show. We all trust experts. Therefore we trust the host.

So when the time comes to edit short clips, showing the expertise and authority of the guest is the priority. If the viewer gets value, they may watch another clip later. Then another one and so on until they decide to watch a full episode.

These clips above are the best performing shorts of Bryan Elliott’s podcast “Behind the Brand”. You’ll find:

• Lori Greiner, 9-figure entrepreneur;

• Robert Green, best-selling author;

• Kevin O'Leary, 9-figure entrepreneur;

• Scott Galloway, public speaker and entrepreneur.

But none of these clips contain fancy edits. Because if you start watching those, you may stick around to the end because they tick an other fundamental rule:

Nailing the first frame.

2) Why your first frame is stupidly expensive

In most cases, you start watch a short video after scrolling down.

So most often, you decide to swipe away or keep watching based on the first seconds of a video. If we trust most graphs available online, we’re talking about the first 1-2 seconds.

This makes your first frame stupidly expensive.
A make or break for your entire clip.

I’m putting this image again so we can focus on these examples. On the first frame of each of these videos, we see:

• An expert talking;

• Captions in some cases.

That’s it.

Because we have only one second or two to grab people’s attention, we need to start with a frame easy to digest. The goal is to make viewers focus on the expert in a split second.

The goal? Making viewers focus on what’s being said to make them stay. So the first words are crucial and here’s how the five videos above start:

• “the biggest failure was I did…”

• “one of the laws is…”

• “a salary is the drug that…”

• “I do think there’s an algebra of wealth…”

• “you don’t want to repeal to people’s love…”

These quotes have one thing in common: a curiosity gap.

They open a question, a story. And because you are human, you need an answer, you need an end. Deliver that answer on the rest of the video and you have a good podcast clip.

But one major misconception ruins the performances of these clips: the role they are given.

3) Why your podcasts clips are not teasers

Before I start editing podcasts, I was convinced that they were meant to push viewers to full length episodes.

Then it hit me someday after watching a clip from a chat between Alex Hormozi and Chris Williamson. The video ended at the end of a sentence. No outro animation telling me to find the episode on youtube.

My feeling at that moment?
Grateful.

I had learned something in exchange for 30-ish seconds of my time. And I didn’t feel pushed to like, comment or watch a one-hour long episode.

If viewers watch to the end, to a point where the video starts over again, then you have a winner. It means that you delivered what you promised on your first frame.

But if you mention your full length episode in your short clip, it shows to your viewer that you’re not here to educate or entertain them: you’re here to sell a full length episode.

It’s like asking for a discovering call on your first message or email to a prospect. It’s not a great feeling to have when you are the prospect. It shows that you’re here to sell, not to help.

So consider each clip as it’s supposed to be:
A short video that educates, or entertains or both.

One clip won’t make a difference.
But the compound effect of many will.

That’s it for me today.
Loïc.