Guide
Turn a newsletter into video: one idea, rewritten to be said aloud
Updated
Do not read your newsletter to a camera. Pick one idea from the issue, rewrite it as a short spoken script, and record it in one go of 30 to 60 seconds.
In short
- To turn a newsletter into video, pick one idea from the issue and rewrite it as a short script you say out loud.
- Write the newsletter first and record the video after it, not the other way round.
- A newsletter video should run 30 to 60 seconds, and 30 seconds of talking is about 75 words.
- Links, tables, long quotes and points with many caveats should stay in the newsletter.
- Judge the videos by new subscribers rather than views, and point every video back to the newsletter.
- From each issue goes into the video
- 1 idea
- 30 seconds of talking. An 800-word item takes about five minutes to say.
- ~75 words
- The right length for one idea
- 30 to 60 sec
How to turn a newsletter into a video
Do not read the issue to a camera. Take one idea from it and say it the way you would tell a friend.
- The newsletter stays the main thing. People can find an issue years later, while a feed video is hard to find a week later.
- Point people to the newsletter in three places: say its name out loud at the end, keep the link in your profile, and pin a comment with the link.
- Do not rely on the caption text alone. Most people never open it, so say the name out loud in the video as well.
- Count new subscribers rather than views. You keep the email list, and you do not keep the people a platform showed the video to once.
- Give it three months of weekly videos before you judge it.
From newsletter issue to video
The thinking is already done in the newsletter, so the rewrite is most of the work.
Pick one idea
Usually a short point, not the lead item
Rewrite it to be spoken
About 75 words for 30 seconds
Record it in one go
30 to 60 seconds, looking at the camera
Post it with captions
Say the newsletter's name at the end and pin a comment with the link
Which part of the issue should become the video?
One idea from the issue, and usually not the lead item.
- A typical issue has a lead item, two shorter pieces, a link roundup and a personal note. Only one of them becomes the video.
- The lead item is usually thorough and pays off at the end, and viewers leave before the end.
- A better pick is a short point people could argue with, one number with a reason, or a tip that changes what readers do.
- The paragraph you could tell a friend from memory is usually the right one.
- If no paragraph works out loud, the issue was a roundup, and roundups stay in writing.
- Start the video with the idea, not with the name of your newsletter, because strangers care about the idea.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How to rewrite a newsletter item for video
This is a rewrite, not a trim. Keep the idea and write every sentence new.
From page to spoken script
| What works on a page | What to do in the video | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Long sentences with two clauses | One idea per sentence | A listener cannot go back and reread |
| The conclusion at the end | The conclusion first | Viewers leave during the build-up |
| Third person and passive voice | Say "you" and talk to one person | Both sound stiff out loud |
| Numbers in a table | One rounded number, said out loud | Two numbers and a trend need a chart |
| Linking phrases like "that said" | Delete them | Spoken, they make it sound like a memo |
| Four caveats | One caveat, said plainly | Say the rest are in the newsletter |
What works on a page: Long sentences with two clauses
- What to do in the video
- One idea per sentence
- Why
- A listener cannot go back and reread
What works on a page: The conclusion at the end
- What to do in the video
- The conclusion first
- Why
- Viewers leave during the build-up
What works on a page: Third person and passive voice
- What to do in the video
- Say "you" and talk to one person
- Why
- Both sound stiff out loud
What works on a page: Numbers in a table
- What to do in the video
- One rounded number, said out loud
- Why
- Two numbers and a trend need a chart
What works on a page: Linking phrases like "that said"
- What to do in the video
- Delete them
- Why
- Spoken, they make it sound like a memo
What works on a page: Four caveats
- What to do in the video
- One caveat, said plainly
- Why
- Say the rest are in the newsletter
Should you write first or record first?
Write first. Writing shows you whether the argument holds before the camera is on.
- Newsletter writers start ahead, because the argument is finished, the caveat is known and the number is checked.
- Talking first works for a point you know by heart. For a new idea it usually gives a rambling video.
- Read the script aloud once. Any sentence you stumble over twice needs rewriting.
Write first, or talk first
A newsletter writer has already done the harder half.
The main point
- Write first, then record
- In the first sentence, where you put it
- Record first, then transcribe
- Usually late, after you talk your way into it
Gaps in the argument
- Write first, then record
- Found on the page, before you record
- Record first, then transcribe
- Found out loud, halfway through recording
Works for
- Write first, then record
- Any new idea
- Record first, then transcribe
- A point you have made in public many times
| Write first, then record | Record first, then transcribe | |
|---|---|---|
| The main point | In the first sentence, where you put it | Usually late, after you talk your way into it |
| Gaps in the argument | Found on the page, before you record | Found out loud, halfway through recording |
| Works for | Any new idea | A point you have made in public many times |
What should stay in the newsletter?
Some of the best parts of a newsletter do not work in a short video.
- Links stay in the newsletter, because a vertical video has no clickable words and few people read the description.
- Tables and charts with more than one comparison stay too, because a phone at arm's length shows only about six readable words.
- Points that need four caveats sound careful in writing and vague in a video.
- Long quotes lose viewers when you read three sentences of someone else's words aloud.
- Leave out anything you would not defend in the comments, because spoken lines get clipped and quoted as they are.
The same item, in two formats
Both carry the same idea. Only the newsletter can hold the roundup.
Structure
- What the newsletter does well
- Builds to a conclusion
- What the video does well
- Opens on the conclusion
Caveats
- What the newsletter does well
- Four, each one useful
- What the video does well
- One, said plainly
Evidence
- What the newsletter does well
- Links, tables, quotes
- What the video does well
- One number with a reason
Afterwards
- What the newsletter does well
- Found by search years later
- What the video does well
- Hard to find a week later
| What the newsletter does well | What the video does well | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Builds to a conclusion | Opens on the conclusion |
| Caveats | Four, each one useful | One, said plainly |
| Evidence | Links, tables, quotes | One number with a reason |
| Afterwards | Found by search years later | Hard to find a week later |
Where Cutroom fits
Editing a video by hand, with captions timed and the frame set to vertical, takes 30 to 40 minutes. Cutroom does it in about a minute.
- You upload one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes long.
- You get a finished 9:16 MP4 with captions in one of 40 caption styles, a hook at the start and footage on the words that need it.
- You make changes by editing the transcript, which suits a writer better than a timeline.
- Cutroom cannot edit a long recording, and it only exports vertical MP4 files.
- Each video costs 100 credits to edit plus 20 per minute to export, so about 110 credits for 30 seconds and 120 for a minute. Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, about 11 videos of 30 seconds, with no Cutroom mark.
Three ways to edit a weekly video
| Option | Time or cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Edit by hand | 30 to 40 minutes a video | Writers who enjoy editing |
| Post the video as recorded | Free, with the caption tools in the posting apps | The first weeks, while the habit forms |
| Cutroom | About a minute a video, about 110 credits for 30 seconds | A weekly video you plan to keep |
Option: Edit by hand
- Time or cost
- 30 to 40 minutes a video
- Best for
- Writers who enjoy editing
Option: Post the video as recorded
- Time or cost
- Free, with the caption tools in the posting apps
- Best for
- The first weeks, while the habit forms
Option: Cutroom
- Time or cost
- About a minute a video, about 110 credits for 30 seconds
- Best for
- A weekly video you plan to keep
Questions people ask
- Can I just read my newsletter out loud on camera?
- You can, but it usually fails. Written sentences are too long to follow by ear, and the conclusion sits at the end, where viewers never arrive. Keep the idea, drop the sentences, and write a new script of about 75 words for 30 seconds.
- How long should a newsletter video be?
- 30 to 60 seconds for one idea, or 90 if there is a real turn in the middle that needs setting up. A point that needs three minutes is probably two points, and two points make two videos.
- Should I make a video for every newsletter issue?
- One a week is plenty, and it does not have to match the issue. A weekly newsletter with four items usually holds one video idea, sometimes none. Skipping a week is better than posting an item that does not work out loud.
- What if my newsletter is mostly a link roundup?
- Make the video about the one link you have the strongest opinion on. Say what it claims and why you think it is right or wrong. Keep the roundup itself in the newsletter, because its value is the range of links.
- Do videos bring newsletter subscribers?
- Some do and many do not, and anyone promising a rate is guessing. Say the newsletter's name at the end, keep the link in your profile and pin a comment with it. Count subscribers rather than views, and give it three months.
Write the issue, pick one idea, and rewrite it to be said out loud. Your first video is free.
Try for freeYour first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99/month removes it