Creating YouTube Shorts with Descript.com

I recently created and published a series of shorts for YouTube (videos less than 60 seconds long, all formatted with a portrait (9 x 16) rather than landscape aspect ratio from the 8 minute video of my speech at the No Kings rally, in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 14, 2025. In this post, I want to share some of the software programs and techniques I used and hope to continue using in the future to create video shorts. The primary tool I used was the subscription-based platform Descript.com, which I learned about via AI / ChatGPT as I finished the “Audio Interviews” chapter of my forthcoming book, “Pocket Share Jesus: Be a Digital Witness for Christ.”

TL;DNR list of Digital Tools

Here’s a TL;DNR list of the websites and software programs I used to create my YouTube shorts today

1. Descript — The primary editing platform used for trimming, reframing, and producing final rally clips. Descript handled transcript-based editing, AI-generated “Overlord” shorts, portrait layout adjustments, caption generation and styling, and final exports to vertical 9:16 format.
2. VLC Media Player — Used to preview downloaded and exported video files, confirm codecs, and verify that no black-screen or playback issues existed before further editing. (Can open virtually any video file / CODEC, can open formats QuickTime Player for MacOS cannot.)
3. yt-dlp — Command-line video downloader used to obtain an HD copy of the rally footage after browser-based tools failed. It supports advanced format selection and metadata retention for archival use.
4. Canva — Used to create a branded 4 second animated outro, with logo, tagline, and sound. The exported MP4 was appended in Descript for consistency across shorts.
5. Mixkit — Provided a free “whoosh” stinger or transition sound effect that was incorporated into the Descript outro for added polish.
6. Homebrew — macOS package manager used to install and manage command-line utilities like FFmpeg and Python.
7. FFmpeg — Command-line tool used for transcoding, trimming, and re-encoding video and audio files before import into Descript. Also used to verify export quality and check compatibility.
8. YouTube Mobile App for iOS — Used to upload and manage final shorts, customize video thumbnails, and publish to the correct channels.

These are software tools I tried or considered in this process, but either did not work or I didn’t use:

1. Tubly Download Extension — Browser extension I tried to use (unsuccessfully) to download a high-definition copy of the original rally footage for editing and archival purposes.
2. Shotcut — Initially used to experiment with a shorter rough cut before switching fully to Descript for the final workflow. (My export with Shotcut failed, it was black and didn’t have any video for some reason.)
3. LosslessCut — Can use to make the initial trims and exports from videos without re-encoding, preserving full video quality.
4. Pixabay Music & Sound Effects — Considered as a potential source for royalty-free background music and stingers but replaced by Mixkit.
5. Epidemic Sound — Evaluated as a premium licensed music source but not used for this project.

Creating YouTube Shorts from My “No Kings” Speech

This turned out to be a surprisingly technical and multi-step process — more command-line and Terminal use than I typically do for media production, but it worked beautifully in the end.

After downloading the original rally video in HD with yt-dlp, I used FFmpeg to trim out the specific section of my speech I wanted to use. I used VLC Media Player to preview the downloaded video, which initially wouldn’t open in QuickTime Player because I hadn’t yet installed FFmpeg prior to using yt-dlp.

Inside Descript, I imported the trimmed clip, and generated an automatic transcript. I used Descript’s AI “Overlord” short generation tools to create “drafts” of several vertical, captioned versions formatted for YouTube Shorts. Descript’s AI makes ‘best guesses’ about which clips might be most engaging — even potentially viral — for YouTube shorts or reels on social media.” I ended up modifying most of these selections, but it was a GREAT help to identify parts of the longer, complete speech in this process!

Once I had the clips framed and styled the way I wanted, I added a short animated outro (created in Canva, using a “whoosh” sound effect from Mixkit) to maintain consistent visual branding across all my video shorts.

After exporting each finished short from Descript, I uploaded them to YouTube from my laptop. After entering / customized the meta information for each video and publishing to YouTube, I customized each video’s thumbnail and title using the YouTube mobile app for iOS.

Finally, to streamline publishing, I used the Notes app on macOS to record the title, description, and link for each short. Here’s the format I used:

“A clip from Wes Fryer’s speech at the No Kings Rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 14, 2025.
Full video on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHRPOMNR_hE

Join me (Wes Fryer) in advocacy for human rights, representative democracy, and religious tolerance:
https://wesfryer.com/advocacy/”

All in all, this workflow blended powerful open-source tools with creative cloud apps — a mix that made it possible to edit, caption, brand, and share high-quality civic storytelling videos quickly and effectively. It’s a workflow I plan to keep refining — balancing the creative freedom of AI-powered editing tools with the control and transparency of open-source software.

I’m perhaps most amazed at how many views some of these video shorts have already racked up. My short “Civic Duty and Love of Country” has almost 1000 views just a few hours after posting.

I will note that after publishing that short, I figured out how to change the LAYOUT and ZOOM of the video so I could better center myself in the 9 x 16 portrait frame. Overall, this experience of creating these video shorts REALLY helped me learn to use more of the features of Descript, which I continue to LOVE. It’s one of numerous websites and web services I pay for on a monthly or annual basis.

I’ll close by noting that YouTube is a HUGELY important platform and cultural force today, in October 2025. I have started reading the Fast Company five-part series, “How YouTube Ate TV,” and so far it reinforces my contention that as teachers and parents, we need to be paying MUCH more attention to video as a communication platform, to social media influencers, etc.

I’m glad to learn some more advanced techniques for creating YouTube shorts / video reels, with the tools I’ve highlighted in this post.

What tools or techniques are you using to create video shorts and reels?