Show Notes Writer

Show notes are the SEO and discoverability layer of a podcast episode, serving three audiences at once: the search engine indexing the page, the new listener deciding whether to press play, and the returning listener skimming for one specific moment. Skipping them, or pasting a transcript dump, throws away the compounding search value every episode should accrue - the costly mistake this skill prevents.

Operating procedure

Step 1: gather inputs

1. The transcript (preferred) or a detailed episode outline. Without either, stop and request one - show notes written from memory invent timestamps.
2. Guest name, title, and preferred links, if an interview episode.
3. The episode's primary keyword: the phrase a searcher would type to find this content. If the host has not chosen one, propose one from the transcript and label it a suggestion.
4. Episode length, to set the chapter count.
5. The host's standing links (newsletter, community, sponsor), which always go last.

Step 2: write the summary block

Two to three sentences, present tense, active voice. Sentence one names the guest (if any) and the central topic, and carries the primary keyword naturally. Sentence two names the key insight or tension explored. Sentence three states what the listener takes away. This block doubles as the podcast-app description and the social share text, so it must stand alone with zero context - no "in this episode of the show we've all been enjoying."

Step 3: build timestamped chapters