Glossary
What is a pull quote?
By the KeyMo team · Updated
A pull quote is a short, striking line taken from a longer text and set apart in larger type, often in a box, to catch a reader's eye. The same line also appears in the body of the piece. Its job is to make someone stop scrolling or flipping and start reading.
Pull quote definition, in print and online
In a magazine or newspaper, a pull quote sits in the margin or across a column, in bigger type than the body. It repeats a sentence that already appears in the article. In the layout, it breaks up a grey page and gives a skimming reader one reason to stop. A web article does the same with a styled block between paragraphs.
Take an interview with a chef. The article says in paragraph six: "I burned the first hundred loaves, and I would not trade those loaves for anything." The page designer pulls that sentence out, sets it large beside paragraph two and puts a box around it. That is a pull quote. The line works because it is short, has a point of view and makes sense without the context.
Pull quote versus other quotes
| Term | What it is | Where the words appear |
|---|---|---|
| Pull quote | A short line lifted out for display | Twice: in the text and as a highlighted display |
| Block quote | A longer passage quoted from a source, set off from the text | Once, in the quoted spot |
| Soundbite | A short, quotable line from speech | In audio or video |
| Quote card | A still image made from a line and a name | On a social post |
A pull quote does not have to be a quote from another person. Writers also pull a line from their own text. When the line is someone else's words, the usual care applies: get it right, and attribute it.
The video version: a caption on the clip
A spoken clip has its own pull quote. Pick the best sentence in it and make it the visual: a large text overlay, a caption that lingers, or a still made for a post. It does the print job in a moving format, holding the viewer on the line that matters.
- From a transcript: scan for sentences that are short, complete and make a claim.
- From a clip: the line that earns the replay or the reaction is the candidate.
- From an episode: use it as the headline for the show notes and the thumbnail text.
Mistakes with pull quotes
- Choosing a line that only makes sense inside the article.
- Picking the longest sentence. If it needs two breaths, it is not a pull quote.
- Changing the words so the line is punchier. A pull quote repeats the original; if it is a different sentence, it is a headline.
- Using it with no attribution when it is another person's line.
A pull quote is sometimes confused with the hook. A hook opens a piece; a pull quote can come from anywhere in it.
Where KeyMo touches it
KeyMo works with speech, not layout. It finds moments in a long video and cuts them as vertical clips with word-by-word captions, so a strong spoken line shows up as on-screen text. Each clip comes back with a score out of 10 and a one-line reason, which is a handy place to start looking for the line worth pulling. It does not make quote graphics.