Getting the Most out of Your Transcriptions

Don’t you think it’s great what technology can do for us? Every man and his dog, or at least his mother, has an MP3 player, or a gadget in his bag on which he can record his thoughts, events, meetings and interviews.  Download that file on to his computer at a press of a button, another ‘click’ and away it goes for transcribing and in less time than it will probably take me to type this (transcriptionists are great!) that great, all important meeting is there for all to read.

However, in my experience, it’s sometimes not that simple or straightforward for those of us typing out what’s on the tape.  So, for all of you out there that love your MP3 player, but wonder why you get your file back with time stamps* all over it, here are my top tips for getting the most out of your transcriber:

1. Choose your venue wisely.  Background noise is picked up by your recorder better than you may think.  Coffee shops are a no-no (all that espresso machine noise in the background is enough to drive a girl to drink), as are train stations and children’s play areas (I kid you not…) 

2. Try and get a venue where you are not going to be interrupted.  If you’re taking a recording in your office, divert your phone and tell your secretary/co-workers that you are not to be disturbed.  Unless you remember to pause your recording each time you are disturbed, you will be billed for those recorded minutes, whether there is anything to transcribe or not! 

3. If you are interviewing someone, make sure that both of you come across loud and clear.  Test your recording before you go on, replay your voices to make sure that what you have said can be heard and, therefore, transcribed. 

4. On this theme, ask your interviewee to speak normally and clearly.  They may be in a stressful situation, like a job interview, or speaking about something quite personal, but if they can remember that they are being recorded, then the final document will be much more worthwhile. 

5. If you are taping a number of people at the same time, place microphones strategically around the table.  The guy sitting next to you will probably be recorded, but there’s no guarantee that the person 6 feet away will be heard. 

6. Advise on the tape or in an accompanying email any strange words, names or places.  This can be especially valuable if your transcriber is from out of town. 

7. Speak at a normal rate.  Okay, so you may be paying your transcriber per recorded minute (my preferred way), but speaking normally is much easier for the transcriber to type to instead of rewinding the tape every 20 seconds to try and figure out what you said.  You may want to get as much out of your transcriber as you can, but you may just end up with a document full of time stamps* where we’ve been unable to understand a blooming word you said.
*Time Stamps - those annoying little asterisks that will undoubtedly crop up from time to time in your transcribed document if you haven’t adhered to the above!