Podcast Show Notes: A Template and Examples

The episode is edited. The audio is uploaded, the artwork is done, and the publish button is waiting. Then the hosting dashboard asks for a description, and Dana stares at an empty box at 11 p.m., trying to remember what her guest said in minute 34. (Dana is a composite, not a real person.)

Most hosts know that feeling. The interview was the fun part. The writing that tells people why they should press play is the part that gets rushed.

Podcast show notes fix that when they follow a pattern. This guide gives you a copy-ready template in two lengths, one filled-in example of each for the same interview episode, the chapter rules Apple and Spotify publish for timestamps, and a 10-point check to run before you hit publish. It's about show notes, the short written companion to an episode. For the full word-for-word text, see our guide to podcast transcription.

What podcast show notes are (and what they're not)

Podcast show notes are the written summary that sits with a single episode: a hook, a short summary, timestamps, the guest's details, links mentioned and a call to action. Listeners read them in the podcast app before they press play, and on your website when they arrive from search.

Three pieces of text get mixed up. Each has its own job.

The show notes are where most people decide whether to listen. The transcript is what they use after they've listened. You want both, but the notes come first, because they ship with the episode.

Want the summary of your next interview ready before you're out of the room? Try ParrotNotes free: it records on your phone and writes a summary of every recording when you stop.

What goes in podcast show notes

Every good set of show notes is built from the same seven parts. Short notes use four of them; a full episode page uses all seven.

1. Hook line. One sentence that says why this episode matters. Podcast apps cut the description short with a "more" link, so the first line is often the only one people see.
2. Summary. Two to four sentences on what the episode covers and who it's for. Name the guest and the main topic in plain words.
3. Timestamps (chapters). A list of times and short titles. Formatted the right way, Apple Podcasts and Spotify turn them into tappable chapters (rules below).
4. Guest details. Full name, role and one line of context, spelled exactly the way the guest spells it.
5. Key takeaways or a pull quote. Three points a listener will remember, or one line from the guest, checked against the audio.
6. Links and resources. Everything mentioned in the episode: books, studies, tools, the guest's site. If you said "I'll put it in the show notes", it goes here.
7. Call to action. One ask: follow the show, leave a review, join the newsletter. One, not five.

Two parts deserve extra care. The hook does the selling, so write it last, when you know the episode's best moment. The quote is the line that travels, so check every word against the recording. Our guide on how to quote an interview covers the check in detail. To share that line as a short clip on social media, the free audio visualizer turns the audio into a video with a moving waveform.

The podcast show notes template

Use the short version in the app description, where space is tight and links are what listeners tap. Use the long version on your website's episode page, where search engines and new listeners arrive.

Short version (app description)

[Hook: one sentence on why this episode matters]

[Summary: 2-3 sentences. Guest name, what they do, the main topic, who should listen.]

Chapters:
(00:00) [Intro]
(MM:SS) [Topic 1, under five words]
(MM:SS) [Topic 2, under five words]
(MM:SS) [Topic 3, under five words]
(MM:SS) [Wrap-up]

Guest: [Full name], [role, organization]
Links: [guest site], [resource 1], [resource 2]

[One call to action: follow, review or newsletter]

Long version (website episode page)

# [Episode number]: [Episode title]

[Hook paragraph: 1-2 sentences]

## About this episode
[Summary: 100-200 words. What happens, what the listener learns.]

## Chapters
(00:00) [Intro]
(MM:SS) [Topic 1]
...

## About the guest
[Full name], [role]. [2-3 sentences of context, approved by the guest.]
[Guest links]

## Key takeaways
- [Takeaway 1]
- [Takeaway 2]
- [Takeaway 3]

## Quote
"[One line from the guest, checked against the audio]" ([timestamp])

## Resources mentioned
- [Resource] ([timestamp])

## Transcript
[Link to or embed of the full transcript]

[Call to action]

If you plan episodes before you record, our free podcast script template lays out segments and timings with a show notes block, so half of this is written before the microphone goes on.

Podcast show notes examples

Here is the same episode written both ways. The show, Back Roads, and its guest are invented for this example, so the links are placeholders.

Example 1: short show notes

A river guide on why the safest trips start with the boring checklist.

Lena Ortiz has guided rafting trips for 15 years. She tells host Dana
Price what a near-miss on a spring river taught her about planning,
how she briefs nervous first-timers, and the one piece of gear she
never skips. For anyone who plans trips for other people.

Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:10) The spring near-miss
(14:45) Briefing first-timers
(27:30) The gear she never skips
(38:05) Listener questions

Guest: Lena Ortiz, owner, Ortiz River Trips
Links: [Lena's website], [the safety checklist she mentions]

Follow Back Roads so you don't miss next week's episode.

That's about 90 words. It fits the app, the first line works on its own, and the chapters follow the format both Apple and Spotify accept.

Example 2: long show notes for the episode page

# Episode 41: The Boring Checklist That Saves River Trips

Lena Ortiz has spent 15 years taking strangers down fast water. Her
safest trips, she says, are decided the night before.

## About this episode
Lena walks host Dana Price through a spring trip that nearly went
wrong, and the three changes she made to her planning afterward. She
explains how she briefs first-timers without scaring them, why she
reads the gauge twice, and what she tells guides on their first season.
Useful for anyone who leads groups outdoors, and for anyone who plans
work that other people have to trust.

## Chapters
(00:00) Intro
(02:10) The spring near-miss
(14:45) Briefing first-timers
(27:30) The gear she never skips
(38:05) Listener questions

## About the guest
Lena Ortiz owns Ortiz River Trips and trains new guides each spring.
[Lena's website]

## Key takeaways
- Plan the night before, check again at the put-in.
- Brief first-timers on what to do, not on what could go wrong.
- Write down every change to the plan, so the next guide knows.

## Quote
"Nobody remembers the checklist, which is exactly why it works." (09:12)

## Resources mentioned
- [The safety checklist Lena shares] (16:20)

## Transcript
[Read the full transcript]

Follow Back Roads wherever you listen.

The long version runs about 230 words. Every heading is a sentence a searcher might type, and the quote carries its timestamp, so anyone can check it.

Timestamps that become chapters: Apple and Spotify rules

Timestamps in the description are the most useful part of show notes, and the easiest to get wrong. Both big apps can turn them into chapters, but only when the format matches. Here is what each company says on its own help pages (checked October 17, 2026).

Sources: Apple's Using chapters on Apple Podcasts and Spotify's Enabling podcast chapters.

The pattern that satisfies both: start at (00:00), write three to six chapters an hour, keep each title to four words or fewer, one per line, in order. That's the format in both examples above.

Two more details from Apple. If an English show supplies no chapters, Apple may generate its own, labeled "Automatically created", and you can turn that off in Apple Podcasts Connect. And Apple's links page says a link with a timestamp next to it, such as "(01:39:46)" before a song link, appears at that moment in the episode for supported Apple services.

How to write show notes faster from the recording

Show notes take longest when you write them from memory. The fix is to capture the material while the interview happens, then shape it.

1. Record a clean source. If the interview is in person, record it on your phone, close to both speakers. Our guide on how to record an interview covers placement, consent and backup.
2. Get a summary and key points. Start from an AI summary of the recording instead of a blank box. It gives you the topics in order and the main points to turn into a summary and takeaways.
3. Mark chapter times from the edited episode. Cuts change the timing, so read the times off the final export, not the raw recording.
4. Pull one quote and check it. Find the line in the transcript, play the audio and copy it exactly.
5. Confirm the guest's details. Name spelling, title and the links the guest wants. Send them the bio line before publishing.
6. Write the hook last. By now you know the episode's best moment. Lead with it.

Malik, a reporter who hosts a weekly local-news interview show, records his studio-free interviews in a café corner on his phone. (Malik is a composite, not a real person.)

When he stops recording, he has a transcript and a summary with the topics in order. He turns the summary into three sentences, finds his quote with a search of the transcript, and texts the guest the bio line on his way out. The notes are drafted before he gets back to his desk.

For short audio you already have, such as a trailer or a bonus clip, our free audio summarizer returns a summary to start from.

ParrotNotes gives you a summary of every recording on the free plan, with 100 minutes of recording a month and 5 AI-powered recordings for insights, action items and questions about a recording. Pro ($19.99/month, or $14.99/month billed annually) adds 3,000 minutes a month, recordings up to 3 hours, speaker identification and 99+ languages with translation, so an interview in Spanish can become English show notes. Download ParrotNotes free and record your next interview with it.

Pre-publish check for podcast show notes

Run these ten checks before the episode goes live.

1. The first line works alone, without the rest of the description.
2. The guest's name and title match how the guest writes them.
3. The summary names the main topic in words a searcher would use.
4. Chapters start at (00:00).
5. There are at least three chapters, and no more than six per hour.
6. Chapter titles are under five words and in time order.
7. Chapter times come from the final edit, not the raw file.
8. The quote matches the audio word for word.
9. Every "I'll put it in the show notes" from the episode has its link.
10. There is one call to action, not five.

Hosts who skip number 2 learn it the hard way. Picture Sofia, who published a guest's surname with one letter wrong in the hook, the summary and the episode title. The guest shared the episode anyway, with a polite correction, and the misspelling sat in search results for weeks. (Sofia is a composite, not a real person.)

One text to the guest would have caught it.

If you want a model for formatting longer passages from the same interview, our interview transcription examples show the main transcript styles side by side.

Write the notes once, and write them well

Good podcast show notes are short, specific and checked. Use the seven parts, the short template for the app and the long one for your site, chapters in the format Apple and Spotify accept, and the 10-point check before you publish. The episode took hours to make. The notes are what decide whether anyone presses play.

Start with your next interview. Record it, start from the summary, and write the hook last. Download ParrotNotes free and have your next episode's summary waiting when the interview ends.