Guide for coaches
How to make clips from coaching calls without breaking trust
Some of the best things you say all week are said to one person on a call. They are exactly what would show a stranger how you work. They are also said inside a conversation your client trusted you to keep private. You can have the clips and keep the trust, but only if the client is out of them by default.
The short answer
Clip yourself, not your client. Put recording and clipping in your agreement, confirm it when the recording starts, and ask separately, in writing, before anything the client says goes public. Crop each clip to your own tile, trim it so the client’s voice is not in it, and check for names and details. When the best moment is theirs, retell it later in your own words or leave it in the session.
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Try it free →What is yours to post, and what is theirs
A coaching session has two kinds of material in it. There is your craft: the questions you ask, the reframes, the frameworks, the way you explain a hard idea simply. And there is the client’s life: their job, their family, their money, the thing they have never said out loud before. The first is yours to share. The second is not, and the coaching profession is clear about it. Here is how the International Coaching Federation defines confidentiality in its code of ethics:
“The protection of any information obtained in or around the coaching relationship unless there is a legal reason or requirement, a threat of harm, or written consent to release is given by the client.”
| In the session | Post it? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Your explanation of an idea | Yes | Crop to you and trim to your words. |
| A question you ask every client | Yes | Say it to camera, or clip the moment you ask it. |
| A reframe you offered | Usually | Only the reframe, not the problem it answered. |
| The client’s story or breakthrough | Rarely | Written consent with the clip in front of them, or retell it anonymously. |
| Anything about health, money or family | No | Leave it in the session. |
Ask before you record, and again before you post
Recording a session for your own notes is common. Posting from it is a different request and needs its own yes. Coaches who record tend to agree on the first step:
“Before any meeting that will be recorded you need to get permission.”
The same coach shared the line they use when the recording starts:
“Before we start I want to verify that you are okay with us recording this session for”
Two things to add if you might clip. In your coaching agreement, say that you may make short clips of your own explanations, that the client will not appear in them, and that anything with the client in it needs their separate written agreement. Then, when you do want to use a moment of theirs, send them the clip itself and wait for a written yes. Something like this works as a starting point:
A consent line you can adapt
“I sometimes make short clips of my own explanations from our sessions to share online. You won’t appear in them, by face, voice or name. If I ever want to share a moment that includes you, I’ll send it to you first and only use it with your written okay.”
None of this is legal advice. Check what your country’s privacy rules and your professional body expect.
Three ways to clip a call and keep the client private
- Crop to yourself. A call recording is a row of tiles. Fill the frame on your own tile and the client is gone from the picture. Then check the sound: trim the clip so it starts after their question and ends before their reply.
- Re-record the question. The client asked something good. After the call, record yourself saying “a client asked me this week how to…” and answer it again. You keep the moment, they stay anonymous, and the clip is often better for being said to camera.
- Clip group sessions, not one-to-ones. A group class is closer to a webinar: you are teaching, and people expect it. Tell everyone at the start, clip only your own parts, and our webinar to clips guide covers the rest.
What to cut before you post
Even in a clip of only you, details leak in. Watch each one through once with this list:
- Names, including first names and nicknames, and “your boss”, “your sister” if they point to someone.
- Employers, job titles, towns, schools, and anything on screen behind the client.
- Numbers that belong to them: salaries, debts, weights, dates.
- Anything you only know because they told you: your answer can reveal the question.
- Shared screens, chat messages and names in the call’s tile labels.
If cutting all of that leaves the clip making no sense, that is your answer: record the idea fresh on your own. It takes two minutes and nobody’s privacy depends on your editing.
Where to post, and what to say with it
Most coaches find clients on LinkedIn and one of Instagram, YouTube Shorts or TikTok. Write the post text like you are talking to the person who needs the idea: what it helps with, in one line, and where to book a call. Leave out “from a session with a client today”; it makes people wonder what you share about them. Our guide to first lines helps with the title on screen.
Coaching call to clips in Slice, step by step
- Agree it in writing before the session
Put recording and clipping in your coaching agreement, and confirm it out loud when the recording starts.
- Upload the recording to Slice
MP4, MOV or WebM up to 3 hours. The file stays private to your account.
- Ask for clips about your own teaching
Type a topic into “Find clips about this”, such as “the reframe about saying no” or “the three questions I ask”, so it looks for your explanations rather than the client’s story.
- Crop to yourself and trim the client out
Use Fill the frame on your own tile, and move each clip’s start and end so the client’s voice and details are not in it.
- Check every clip for anything that identifies them
Names, employers, places, numbers, health details. If in doubt, re-record the point on your own instead.
The recording uploads to your own account. Slice does not post anything for you, and the clips only leave when you export them.
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Questions
Can I post clips from a coaching session?
Your own words, yes, if your agreement allows recording. Anything the client says or shows, only with their clear written consent for that specific use. The safest clips have only you in them. This is good practice, not legal advice.
How do I ask a client for permission to record?
In your coaching agreement first, then again when the recording starts: say why you record and whether anything will ever be shared. Ask separately for public clips; consent to record for your notes is not consent to post.
What if the best moment is the client’s breakthrough?
Leave it in the session. Tell the story later in your own words without anything that identifies them, or ask them, in writing and with the clip in front of them, whether they are happy for it to be shared.
Can I blur a client instead of cutting them?
Their voice and what they say still identify them. Cut or crop them out entirely, or re-record the moment yourself.
What makes a good clip from a coaching call?
One idea that helps a stranger: a question you ask every client, a reframe, a common mistake and its fix. Thirty to ninety seconds of you explaining it.
More guides
- How to turn a webinar or online class into clips
- How to pick the best moments from a long recording
- How to write the first line of a clip
- Free seminar transcription
Example footage on this page: LinuxGameCast Weekly 430, CC BY-SA 4.0.