Show notes: what to include, with a podcast template
By The unfill.io team · · 6 min read
Short answer
Show notes are the text that goes with a podcast episode: a two or three sentence summary, who the guest is, chapter timestamps, and links to everything mentioned. Put them in the episode description and on an episode page if you have one. For chapters on YouTube and Spotify, start at 00:00 and list at least three timestamps. The shortcut is to build those chapters from the episode's real timestamps, where the topic actually changes, not from memory.
Jump to the template
Show notes, or shownotes as some podcasters write it, are the written companion to a podcast episode: a short summary, the guest, chapter timestamps, and links to everything mentioned. Listeners read them in the episode description in their podcast app, and on your episode page if you publish one. Below: what to include, a template you can copy, a filled-in example, and the timestamp rules YouTube and Spotify use for chapters.
What are show notes?
Show notes are the text that ships with an episode. In a podcast app they sit in the episode description. On your website they can be a full episode page with the player, the notes, and the links.
They do two jobs. Listeners use them to decide whether to press play, to jump to the part they care about, and to find the book the guest mentioned at minute 38. You use them to promote the episode, because text can be searched, quoted and shared in ways audio can't.
Show notes aren't a transcript. A transcript is every word; show notes are the parts worth reading. Some shows publish both and link the transcript from the notes.
What to include in podcast show notes
| Part | What to write | Why it's there |
|---|---|---|
| Title line | Episode number, title, guest name | Scannable in a feed |
| Summary | Two or three sentences on what the listener gets | Most people decide here |
| Guest | One line on who they are, plus their links | Credit, and a reason for the guest to share |
| Takeaways | Three to five ideas, one line each | For people who skim |
| Quote | One line from the guest, word for word | The most shareable part |
| Chapters | Timestamps and topics | Lets people jump; YouTube and Spotify can turn them into chapters |
| Mentioned | Books, tools, companies, links | What people come back for |
| Call to action | One ask: follow, review, or reply | One, not five |
Leave out a play-by-play of the whole conversation, the ad reads, and links to things nobody mentioned.
Podcast show notes template
Copy this into your host's episode description and fill in the brackets.
[Episode number]: [Episode title], with [Guest name]
[Two or three sentences: what this episode is about and what the listener will get from it.]
About [Guest name]: [One line on who they are.] [Website] · [Social profile]
Takeaways
- [Takeaway 1]
- [Takeaway 2]
- [Takeaway 3]
In their words: "[The guest's best line, word for word.]" ([Guest name])
Chapters
- (00:00) [Intro]
- ([MM:SS]) [Topic]
- ([MM:SS]) [Topic]
Mentioned in this episode
- [Book, tool or company]: [link]
[One call to action.]
Apple Podcasts doesn't show bold text in episode notes, so the bold headings become plain text there. They still work on your own site.
A show notes example
A made-up episode, to show the template filled in:
Episode 42: Raising your prices without losing customers, with Dana Reyes
Dana Reyes doubled the price of her design course and lost fewer customers than she expected. She explains how she tested the new price, what she told existing customers, and the one email she'd rewrite.
About Dana Reyes: Founder of a small online design school. [Website] · [Social profile]
Takeaways
- Test a new price on new customers before you change it for everyone.
- Tell existing customers early, and give them a date.
- Most complaints came from people who were never going to buy.
In their words: "Nobody asked why it was cheaper. Plenty asked why it was more expensive, and that conversation sold the course." (Dana Reyes)
Chapters
- (00:00) Intro
- (03:15) Why the old price was too low
- (14:40) Testing the new price
- (27:05) The email she'd rewrite
- (38:30) Listener questions
Mentioned in this episode
- [Book on pricing]: [link]
- [Payment tool]: [link]
Got a pricing question? Reply to the newsletter and we'll answer it next episode.
The quote and takeaways in there can go further than the description: quote slides, a carousel, a newsletter. See how to repurpose podcast content for the full list from one episode.
How to write podcast show notes, step by step
- Work from the recording, not memory. Listen back at a higher speed, or skim a transcript.
- Mark a timestamp whenever the topic changes. These become your chapters, and they're only useful if they're real: a chapter that starts two minutes early sends the listener into the middle of the previous topic. Write each topic in a few words a listener would recognise.
- Pull one quote, word for word. A podcast episode's best marketing is already inside it: the guest's best line, verbatim. We learned this on a recorded sales-training call, not a podcast, but it holds: the line that mattered was the buyer explaining it wasn't about the product working, it was about time. Notes would have summarised it away. As a quote, it was the most forwardable thing in the recap.
- List everything mentioned as you hear it, with links. This is the part that's painful to reconstruct later.
- Write the summary last. By now you know what the episode was actually about, which is often not what the title says. Our podcast summary guide has templates for a three-sentence version, a bullet version and a takeaways slide.
- Paste, then preview. Check the notes in at least one podcast app before you publish, because formatting changes between apps.
Show notes timestamps: the rules for YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Timestamps in show notes help listeners whatever the platform. On YouTube and Spotify they can also become clickable chapters, if they follow the rules:
| Platform | What the rules say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | First timestamp 00:00; at least three timestamps, in ascending order; each chapter at least 10 seconds long | YouTube Help |
| Spotify | First chapter at 00:00 or 00:00:00; at least three chapters, each on its own line, in order; at least 30 seconds between chapter starts; written as "(00:00) Intro" or similar | Spotify for Creators |
| Apple Podcasts | Episode notes up to 4,000 characters; paragraphs, bullet lists and links work, bold and italic don't | Podnews |
The template above already starts at 00:00 and uses Spotify's "(00:00) Intro" format, so the same chapter list works in both places. If you'd rather not scrub through the audio to find them, our podcast show notes generator builds the chapter table from the episode's real topic timestamps.
Why are show notes never late? They always start at 00:00.
How long should show notes be?
Advice ranges from under 200 words to around 500. We'd put it differently: a summary someone can read in 30 seconds, then the parts people scan, which are the chapters, the quote and the links. Length comes from how many chapters and links the episode has, not from a word target.
For podcast shownotes on Apple Podcasts, the hard limit is 4,000 characters, which is plenty for a summary, five chapters and a handful of links. If you publish a full transcript, put it on your episode page and link to it rather than pasting it into the description.
Can you make show notes from the recording?
Picture this: you've just recorded a 60-minute interview and the show notes are due Friday. The slow part isn't writing; it's finding the timestamps, the quote, and every book the guest mentioned.
That's the part unfill.io does from the episode file. Upload the recording, or paste the direct MP3 link from your podcast host. It's transcribed and split into timestamped topics; you uncheck the ads and small talk and pick the Podcast episode deck. The deck is designed to include the episode and guest, three to five takeaways, two or three verbatim quotes with the speaker's name, any numbers or frameworks, a chapter table built from real timestamps, and the books, tools and links mentioned. Name the speakers once and the quotes use those names. See the podcast show notes generator, or audio to PowerPoint for other recordings. You can try 2 decks free, no card required (pricing).
When unfill.io isn't the right tool: if you want show notes as a text file. The output is an editable PowerPoint, so you copy the chapter table, quotes and links from the deck into your episode description, and check the chapter times against the rules above first. YouTube and Spotify page links don't work; download the episode or use the MP3 link from your host. And if you only want a transcript, this isn't it.
Questions
What is the difference between show notes and a transcript?
A transcript is every word said in the episode. Show notes are a short summary, chapter timestamps, the guest, and links to what was mentioned. Some shows publish both and link the transcript from the notes.
Is it show notes or shownotes?
Both spellings are used for the same thing. "Show notes" as two words is more common.
How long should podcast show notes be?
Long enough for a 30-second summary plus the chapters, a quote and the links. Apple Podcasts allows up to 4,000 characters of episode notes.
Should show notes include timestamps?
Yes. They help listeners jump to the part they want, and on YouTube and Spotify, timestamps that start at 00:00 with at least three entries can become chapters.
Where do podcast show notes go?
In the episode description field in your podcast host, which sends them to the podcast apps, and on an episode page on your website if you have one.
Who writes podcast show notes?
Usually the host or producer. Some shows hire a freelancer for them, and some generate a draft from the recording and edit it.
Can AI write podcast show notes?
It can draft them from the recording. Check every quote against the audio and every timestamp against the episode before you publish, because a wrong quote attributed to a guest is worse than no quote.
Turn a recording into an editable deck
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