TL;DR — Asking an audience to submit a short video gives a podcast or channel real voices to work with instead of reading out text comments. One link in a show note or bio collects submissions over time; a clear prompt and a rough deadline turn that pile of clips into a usable segment.
- A video submission carries more personality than a text comment read aloud.
- One evergreen link in a bio or show notes collects submissions continuously.
- A specific ask per episode or theme gets better material than a standing open call.
- Review clips before using them; not everything submitted needs to air.
On this page
Why video submissions beat reading out comments
A host reading a listener's comment aloud is a reasonable fallback, but it flattens whatever made the original comment distinctive — tone, emphasis, the pause before a punchline. A short video submitted by the fan themselves keeps that intact, and it gives the audience a reason to feel like part of the show rather than an audience watching it happen.
Three formats creators actually use
- Shout-outs — a fan says why they listen, what episode stuck with them, or sends a message to the host directly. Works well as a recurring short segment.
- Audience Q&A episodes — fans submit questions on video instead of in a form, and the host answers them on the show, clip by clip, keeping the original question's tone intact.
- Milestone celebrations — for a show anniversary, episode count, or subscriber milestone, a compilation of short fan messages makes a stronger special episode than a solo recap.
Where to put the link so it actually gets used
A single evergreen link works best placed somewhere the audience already looks: the show notes, the link-in-bio, or read out at the end of an episode with a specific ask ("send us your question for next week's episode"). A standing, undirected call to "send us a video" tends to get fewer and weaker submissions than a specific prompt tied to an upcoming episode or theme.
Setting expectations with submitters
State upfront, in the same place as the link, how submissions will be used — on the show, on social clips, or both — and roughly when. This avoids an awkward conversation later if a fan expected their clip to appear and it didn't, and it sets a reasonable bar for length: fifteen to thirty seconds is usually enough for a shout-out or a question.
Reviewing before anything airs
Not every submission needs to go out as recorded. Review clips for audio quality, length, and whether the content actually fits the segment before committing to using one — a quick listen-through before publishing catches the handful of submissions that are off-topic, too long, or simply not usable without feeling like a rejection to the person who sent it.
How to do this in Whoosh
Set up a standing submission link with a prompt that updates per episode or theme, and drop it into your show notes or bio. Fans record straight from their phone browser, no app needed, and every submission lands in one place for you to review and pull from whenever you're building the next segment.
Start freeFrequently asked questions
Do fans need an account to submit a video?
No — the link opens a recording page directly, with nothing to sign up for or install.
How do we stop low-quality submissions clogging the pile?
A specific, narrow prompt filters this naturally; an open-ended "send us anything" call tends to collect more off-topic submissions than a focused one.
Should the link stay open permanently or run per episode?
Both work — an evergreen link suits ongoing shout-out segments, while a time-boxed call suits a specific milestone or Q&A episode.
What length should we ask for?
Fifteen to thirty seconds for a shout-out or question; longer only if the segment specifically calls for a fuller story.