Pick clips from an episode

Find moments a stranger can enjoy and understand. Give the editor clear cuts and the team a reason to post each one. Connect the clip to more of the show without withholding its own payoff.

Use this skill to pick moments and brief their edits and release. If the user asks for finished video files, use available editing tools and check the exported video. If those tools are absent, say that the output is an edit brief.

Get enough context

Read SHOW-PROFILE.md in the show’s working folder if it exists. It’s a short notes file about the show (audience, look, past titles, and lessons) that the Podcasting skills share. Use its audience, look, formats, and clip history. If absent, keep a short working note: audience, show promise, format, look, recent titles, and known results. Mark guesses. Continue without a full profile.

Find the target platforms and what success means. A clip may help new viewers find the show, earn a full-episode start, or serve current fans. Pick a main job for each clip. If the user gives no goal, use reaching likely full-episode viewers as the working goal.

Input	Action
Episode link only	Seek the transcript and view or hear candidate sections if tools allow. If access fails, ask for the transcript or recording. Give a selection plan, with no invented moments or times.
Timed transcript	Keep its source name and version. Find candidates, then mark sound and visual quality as unverified until checked against the recording.
Untimed transcript	Use exact first and last lines plus section labels. Give rough lengths as estimates. Do not make up timestamps.
Notes only	Give candidate topics and questions for the editor to find. Label them as leads, not selected clips.
Nothing yet	Ask for an episode source and where the team plans to post. If recording has not happened, give prompts that may draw out complete stories or clear examples.

Ask about the edit budget only if it changes the plan. Use supplied constraints. Avoid a long intake before reading the episode.

Read the episode before ranking lines

Map the main sections. Note ideas that need earlier context. Check for claims the guest later changes or takes back. Read around each possible cut, including the next exchange. Keep reading until the meaning is clear.

Look for moments such as:

• A belief the guest challenges, with a reason that supports the challenge.
• A choice with a real cost, or a disagreement that gets resolved.
• A story with a clear turn and an ending.
• A useful demonstration or example people can follow.
• A line viewers may quote, with enough context to keep its meaning.
• A question people are asking now that this guest can answer well.

Keep humor or chemistry when those are central to the show. Reject an inside joke a stranger cannot follow. Do not choose a weak moment just because the guest is famous.

Check what people care about now

For a full selection pass, load references/moment-research.md. Use it to check current debate, search interest, and comparable clips. If you can’t open it, continue with the steps here. For a narrow cut review, check only the facts or timely claims that could change the verdict.

If the Benchmark MCP is connected, use it to pull real public outlier episodes, titles, and thumbnails from comparable shows. Otherwise use public pages, search, and user evidence. Keep dates and links in the task’s research note. Never require the connector.

Tie each timely candidate to a real audience question and a source checked today. Give it a review-by date if its value may fade. Prefer a lasting idea when the timely frame adds little. If browsing is unavailable, mark current interest as unverified and choose from the episode’s strength.

Apply the cut gates

Reject or repair a candidate before scoring if:

• The cut changes the guest’s meaning or drops a needed caveat.
• A stranger cannot tell who or what it refers to.
• The question never gets an answer, or the story has no turn or end.
• It attracts people who have little reason to want this show.
• The recording cannot support a usable cut, unless a clear repair is possible.

Keep an important correction in the clip even if it makes the clip longer. For health, money, or other serious claims, check the claim before making it the hook. A guest’s title is not proof that every claim is true.

After those checks, rank each possible clip High, Medium, or Low on hook strength, payoff, audience fit, and signs of interest. Mark interest as unknown when needed. Explain the strongest and weakest point. Do not predict a viral score or a view count.

Use three verdicts: Cut, Repair, or Skip. State the exact repair. Do not fill a quota with weak moments. Return no picks when the source has none that pass.

Choose the format

Format	Use it when	Starting edit range
Vertical Short, Reel, or TikTok	One idea lands fast and survives a tight crop	Try 20 to 60 seconds; keep 60 to 180 seconds when the story needs it and the destination supports it
Horizontal standalone video	The viewer needs a full explanation, story, or exchange	Try 3 to 12 minutes; go longer only when the section earns the time
Episode trailer	The task is to preview the whole episode and sell its broader question	Use several clearly separated moments; label the piece as a trailer

These ranges are edit starting points. They are not platform limits or claims about an ideal length. Check current destination limits before export. YouTube Shorts can run up to three minutes under its current format rules.

Post vertical clips more often when each has its own strong moment. Set a high bar for horizontal clips on the main episode channel. Each needs its own reason to watch and a package that can stand alone. A separate clips channel can post at a different pace if viewers want it and the team has time.

Do not cut every candidate into every format. A complete four-minute answer may work as a horizontal video while its most surprising sentence fails alone.

Give the editor a precise brief

Load references/edit-briefs.md when making briefs or reviewing a cut. If you can’t open it, continue with the steps here. For each selected clip, provide:

1. Clip ID, main job, target viewer, platform, and format.
2. Source version, in and out points, exact first and last words, and any context that must stay.
3. Opening line, first shot, exact on-screen hook, and where the payoff lands.
4. Cut order, proposed removals, captions, crop, and any needed repairs.
5. A post title or caption. For a horizontal video, include a paired title and thumbnail brief.
6. The next thing to watch, the link route, and why a viewer would want it.

Use a cold open, meaning start with the moment itself before any show introduction. Aim to make the point of interest clear in the first one to three seconds. Keep a short host question if the answer needs it. Avoid opening on “it”, “that”, or an unknown name without context.

Use exact quotes for the guest. Mark proposed host words or text overlays as new copy. If moving a later line to the front, list both source ranges and check that the new order keeps the meaning.

Keep captions accurate and readable. Check names, numbers, and words such as “not”. Keep key text away from app buttons and faces. Use the show’s type style. Do not add movement or sound effects just to fill quiet moments.

Plan the release and next click

Load references/release-and-learning.md for a batch plan, posting schedule, or a question about views failing to become listeners. If you can’t open it, continue with the steps here. For one clip, return its next-click route and review date.

Use a working link path. For YouTube Shorts, use Related Video when the account has access. It links to a video on the same channel. Check access before promising it. For Reels or TikTok, use the profile or Story link route the account has. For a horizontal YouTube video, brief the full-episode link. Add an end screen, a clickable prompt at the end, where available.

Deliver the clip’s answer before asking for more time. Name a different question or deeper example the episode answers next. A vague “full episode out now” gives little reason to click.

Check whether clips draw the wrong viewers, repeat old posts, or waste edit time. Those are real costs to the show. Do not claim that Shorts hurt the reach of full episodes just by sharing a channel.

Return the plan

Lead with the best clip and why it earns the edit time. Include:

• A ranked candidate table with source ranges, verdict, format, and key reason. Include near misses when they teach the editor what to avoid.
• Complete briefs for the selected clips, ordered by priority.
• A short release plan tied to the team’s capacity and the episode link.
• Open checks, evidence of current interest, and what to measure next.

Use the invented Better Questions show and fictional sleep researcher Dr. Lena Park for examples. Keep example lines clearly labeled as invented. For the worked cut, see the editing reference.

If installed, use podcast-packaging for deeper testing of a horizontal clip’s title and thumbnail. Use podcast-growth-review to diagnose results across releases. The briefs and release plan above should still work when this is the only installed skill.