Listen to this post: How to Use AI to Summarise Long Videos or Podcasts into Blog Posts
You’ve got a 90-minute podcast open, a strong coffee going cold, and a blank page that feels a bit smug. The episode is good, full of useful points, but turning it into a blog post takes time you don’t have.
Here’s the good news: AI summarisation can do the heavy lifting, as long as you give it the right inputs and a clear target. The goal isn’t to spit out a robotic “summary” that reads like meeting notes. It’s to turn spoken ideas into an article people can scan, trust, and actually enjoy reading, while keeping the speaker’s voice intact.
This guide gives you a simple, repeatable workflow: pick the right episode, get a clean transcript, use AI to shape it into a post, then edit like a human.
Pick the right source and set a clear goal for your blog post
AI can’t rescue the wrong starting material. If an episode rambles, circles back, and never lands a point, your blog post will inherit that mess. Start with a recording that already has a spine.
The easiest wins usually come from:
- Teaching episodes (clear steps, frameworks, “here’s how”)
- Explainers (a topic broken into parts)
- Interviews with strong takeaways (opinions, stories with a point, lessons learned)
- Panels where one theme keeps reappearing (even if the speakers disagree)
Before you touch a transcript, set a goal. Not a vague one like “write a post about the episode”, a real one you can measure. Use this quick checklist:
Who is the reader?
Be specific. “Busy founders” reads differently from “students” or “marketing managers”.
What problem does the post solve?
Examples: “I don’t have time to watch long videos”, “I need the main steps”, “I want the argument without the fluff”.
What’s the single takeaway?
One sentence. If you can’t write it, the episode may be too broad for one post.
What should the reader do next?
Save it, share it, try a method, sign up, watch the full episode, or read related coverage.
That last point matters more than it sounds. Blog posts aren’t just records of what someone said. They’re vehicles for action. Your reader shouldn’t reach the end thinking, “So what?”
Choose a format that fits the content (how-to, list post, lessons, or Q&A)
Long audio becomes readable faster when you pick a shape first. These formats work well for turning videos and podcasts into articles:
How-to guide
Best for tutorials, “here’s my process” episodes, and walkthroughs. The transcript already contains a sequence, you’re just cleaning it and naming the steps.
Lessons learned
Best for founder stories, career journeys, and reflective interviews. Pull out 5 to 9 lessons, then support each with one short anecdote or quote.
Key takeaways list
Best for dense explainers and panel chats. Readers want the highlights, not every tangent. This format is also great when you plan to publish quickly.
Q&A post
Best for interviews. Keep the best questions, rewrite them for clarity, and trim answers so they stand alone. Add context in one line so a new reader doesn’t feel lost.
Decide what to keep, what to cut, and what to verify
A good blog post is not a transcript in disguise. Spoken content has repeats, side stories, and “thinking out loud” moments that work in audio but drag on the page.
Use three simple rules:
Keep: explanations, examples, definitions, frameworks, and moments where the speaker is clearly teaching or making a claim.
Cut: long scene-setting stories that don’t support the main point, repeated phrases, and detours that only make sense if you heard the full conversation.
Verify: names, dates, stats, and any claim that sounds like it came from memory.
AI can miss context and sometimes smooths over uncertainty as if it’s fact. That means the accuracy still belongs to you. If the recording says “around 2020”, don’t let AI turn it into “in 2020” unless you check.
Turn the recording into clean text first (transcription that reads well)
AI summarisation is only as good as the text you feed it. A messy transcript is like a blurry photo: you can enhance it, but you can’t invent detail without distortion.
Your first aim is a transcript that:
- Captures words accurately (especially names and brands)
- Labels speakers where relevant
- Uses readable punctuation
- Can be exported into a doc you can edit
Fast ways to get a transcript from YouTube videos and podcast audio
Path 1: YouTube transcript (fast and free)
If the video is on YouTube, use the “Show transcript” feature. Copy it into a document, then remove timestamps and obvious errors. It’s quick, and often “good enough” for drafting.
Path 2: Dedicated transcription tools (best for accuracy)
For podcasts or downloaded audio, upload the file or paste a link into a transcription tool. Options people use in 2026 include Sonix, Fireflies.ai, Notta, AssemblyAI, Sembly AI, Descript, and Whisper-based tools.
If the episode is very long, split it into chunks (for example 20 to 30 minutes). You’ll reduce timeouts, lower cost in some tools, and make the next AI steps more stable.
A quick scan of current tool roundups can help you compare what’s out there, including podcast-focused features like show notes and repurposing workflows. The list on AI tools for podcasters is a useful starting point if you want options beyond transcription alone.
Clean-up rules that make AI summaries better
Before you summarise, do a light tidy. You’re not editing for style yet, you’re making the input clearer.
Remove timestamps and filler
Cut “00:13” markers and repeated “um”, “like”, “you know” where they interrupt meaning.
Fix names and proper nouns
One wrong surname can break trust. If you’re unsure, mark it for later checking.
Add punctuation and paragraph breaks
AI reads structure. A block of text makes it miss topic shifts.
Keep key quotes intact
If a sentence feels sharp, keep it word-for-word. Quotes are anchors, they stop the post feeling generic.
Think of it like sharpening a kitchen knife before cooking. The meal still needs skill, but the prep work makes every step easier.
Here’s a quick way to choose tools based on your goal:
| Tool type | Best for | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube transcript | Fast drafts from YouTube | Basic text to clean |
| Transcription apps | Higher accuracy and speaker labels | Exportable transcript |
| “Content repurposing” tools | Turning one episode into many assets | Summaries, posts, quotes |
If you want a broader scan of video summarisation tools and how they differ, this roundup of AI video summarisation tools can help you shortlist without getting lost.
Use AI to summarise, structure, and draft the blog post (without sounding fake)
Once you have clean text, AI becomes a strong writing partner. Not a ghostwriter, a partner. The trick is to guide it in layers, so it doesn’t jump straight from transcript to a bland “article”.
Many people use ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini for this stage, and long-form helpers like NotebookLM or Descript’s AI features can also speed up searching and pulling key moments. Tools built for repurposing, such as Castmagic, can generate blog-style outputs, titles, and quotes, which can save time when you’re producing at scale. If you want a quick view of current “video summary” tool options, AI YouTube video summariser tools in 2026 offers a snapshot of what’s popular right now.
The safest workflow is a ladder:
- Ask for a summary
- Extract key points and quotes
- Generate an outline
- Draft in your style
- Edit and fact-check
This prevents the common failure mode where AI makes a confident sounding post that isn’t faithful to the recording.
The prompt ladder: summary, key points, outline, then first draft
You can copy these templates and swap the bracketed parts.
10-bullet summary (get the shape of the episode)
“Summarise the transcript below into 10 bullet points. Keep it accurate, no added facts. Audience: [who]. Main keyword: [keyword]. Transcript: [paste].”Pull quotes and examples (get the human bits)
“Extract 8 to 12 pull quotes and 5 concrete examples from the transcript. For each, include a short label describing what it supports.”SEO-friendly outline (turn speech into headings)
“Create an SEO-friendly blog outline with H2 and H3 headings. Focus on [reader problem]. Keep headings clear and specific. Include where to place quotes and examples.”First draft (readable, short paragraphs)
“Write the first draft from the outline. Use short paragraphs (1 to 3 sentences). Aim for an 8th-grade reading level. Keep the speaker’s tone: [describe tone]. Don’t include filler, don’t invent details.”
Two small tips that improve results fast:
- Put the single takeaway inside every prompt, so the model doesn’t wander.
- Tell it what to avoid: “No hype, no clichés, no buzzwords.”
Make it a real blog post, not a transcript dump
A transcript is a pile of bricks. A blog post is a house. Same materials, different shape.
To get that “blog post” feel, add things the recording usually doesn’t provide cleanly:
A stronger hook
The episode may start with chit-chat. Your post should start with the reader’s problem and a promise.
Headings that do work
Replace vague sections like “Talking about tools” with “Transcription methods that save time” or “Clean-up rules that prevent bad summaries”.
Quick definitions
If the speaker uses jargon, define it in one line. Don’t assume the reader knows.
Tighter examples
A five-minute story becomes three sentences on the page: setup, tension, lesson. Keep the point, lose the wandering path.
Mini takeaways
After a longer section, add one sentence that lands the idea. It helps skimmers and makes the post feel intentional.
Also, don’t be afraid to rearrange. Spoken content is chronological. Good writing is logical.
If you publish often, it’s worth building a consistent style guide so the AI drafts don’t feel like they came from different writers each week. A general overview like this list of AI tools for content creation can help you spot where AI fits in your wider content workflow, beyond summarising.
Quality checks before you publish (facts, tone, and originality)
AI can write cleanly and still be wrong. A fast checklist keeps you safe:
Verify names, dates, studies, prices, and any “this always works” claim.
Remove repeats that came from the speaker looping back.
Check tone so it matches your site, helpful, clear, not salesy.
Add sources when you reference external facts, not just opinions.
Watch for invented details like fake stats, misquoted people, or overly neat timelines.
Make your point of view clear: what do you agree with, what would you do differently, what should the reader remember?
Run an originality check if you’re publishing on a large site, but don’t confuse “unique” with “odd”. The simplest way to be original is to be precise, and to add your own framing.
Conclusion
A long episode doesn’t have to sit in your backlog like an unread book. The repeatable workflow is simple: pick the right recording, get a transcript, clean it, use a prompt ladder to summarise and shape it, then edit like a human who cares about accuracy.
Try it this week with one 30 to 60-minute episode. Treat the first run as practice, not perfection. Once you’ve got a rhythm, you’ll build a system that turns hours of audio into useful blog posts that respect the speaker’s voice and the reader’s time.
What would happen if your best episodes became your best written posts too?
