How to Write a Transcript: A Definitive Guide to Interview Transcription

This blog is for novice transcribers who have just started their career in interview transcription.  Also, for businesses trying to convert audio/video files into text on their own and looking for guidance in doing so accurately and in quick time, this blog may suffice to provide tips and nuggets of information on the subject? This guide will help you through the interview transcription process and help you write a perfect interview transcript like a pro. So without further ado, let us begin.

How to create an interview transcript; is that what you want to know? We wish to tell you right away that it’s a time-consuming process and complex as well. It takes strong language skills and years of experience to produce accurate transcripts that professional transcribers are so used to delivering.

But herein lies the secret.

It takes patience and plenty of time (and businesses don’t have much time) to get the hang of the process. To achieve speed and accuracy, you will have to become a vetted professional who knows to polish a mediocrely written transcript into a perfect interview transcript. That’s what professional transcriptionists do. 

Do you wish to do the same but don’t know where to begin or how to start? Not to worry, here’s our step by step guide on how to write a transcript of an interview. To simplify the transcription process and help you deliver accurate transcripts on time, read along.

You may also want to read: How to Transcribe an Interview: A Complete Guide to Transcribing Interviews

Prepare beforehand as to what your goals are and what you try to accomplish from the interview transcription.

You have to be clear in your mind about what you try to accomplish before setting out to do something. It works wonders in transcription, as in any sphere of life. Setting clear and achievable goals helps discipline the process and yield great results. In that, the interview transcription is no different. 

So prepare in advance to achieve the kind of outcome you’ve set for yourself. The key to success, therefore, for transcript writing is preparation. That includes setting clear goals and outlining the process as to how you intend to go about transcription. 

These steps will help kickstart your written transcription process: 

Identify the purpose and factors that might affect your transcription process.

There is no set template as to what should be the purpose of writing a transcript. It varies from one interview transcript to another. Sometimes, the purpose may be to convert audio/video into bullet points. Other times, the client may want it accurately converted into text word for word.

Both ways, you have to adopt a different approach to written transcription. For businesses who want to transcribe interviews on their own, identifying the purpose is hard, so is drawing a roadmap. That’s where the relevance of agencies like Locate Translate lies. Not only have we mastered how to write a transcript, but we also help novices transcript interviews like professional transcriptionists.

How detailed should your transcription be, the purpose of your transcription determines it?

First things first, identify what purpose should the transcript serve. Later in the transcription process, it will help you determine how detailed your written transcript should be. Transcribers pay maximum attention to the purpose before beginning to write a transcript.

Depending on the level of detail, you may have:

Full-Verbatim Transcription –  In full-verbatim interview writing, the interview script includes every word from the recording, excludes nothing from the text transcript. Verbal tics, such as repetition, stuttering, coughing, filler words, as well as the pauses the speaker has taken while speaking, everything features in the interview transcript.

Intelligent Verbatim Transcription – This type of transcript is cleaner and refined done on a word-for-word basis. The elimination of unwanted noise and extras that have nothing to do with the conversation make the intelligent verbatim script more refined, making it, therefore, easier to read compared to full-verbatim.

Detailed Notes Transcription – This transcription involves the conversion of the whole interview into bits of detailed notes. All the information gleaned from the audio file is converted into text format, which is easier to sift through.

The transcript must account for speaker identification and timestamps beforehand.

Parsing information from the interview becomes easy if you can identify speakers and timestamps. It will help you gather relevant information about a particular speaker, which you cannot do if you are already in the middle of the process. Doing it in advance is imperative. 

Now that you have received the necessary information about the transcription process, it is time for you to start writing your first transcript. We will help you master the art of interview transcription in 4 easy steps.

Kickstarting interview transcription in 4 easy steps

This definitive guide to transcription will prepare you for professional interview transcript writing. Had you followed what we discussed above, you should face no difficulty whatsoever in writing an interview transcript. Let’s begin the process.

Step 1: Do not rush to transcribe on the go. Listen to the interview recording first, from start to finish.

If you are new to transcription, you are bound to make the oft-repeated mistake of rushing to transcribe right away without listening to the recording first. Listening to the interview recording to get a good grasp of its content in its entirety is crucial.

Get familiar with the whole recording of the interview. It will provide a contextual basis for your transcripts to be accurate and never lose sight of the complete picture. As said earlier, identifying obstacles early on in the process is pertinent to a smooth transcription process. You can’t figure any such error if you don’t listen to the recording before starting to transcribe it.

Eventually, it will slow you down when obstacles crop up, forcing transcribers to start over, which isn’t feasible at all. 

While listening to the audio, it’s better to take notes, identify speakers, jot down words that sound unfamiliar as you listen to the audio. That is how professional transcribers at Locate Translate approach transcription when delivering accurate and error-proof transcript documents. At the same time, the added benefit is that you get familiar with technical jargon, terminology, etc. And that is reason enough to include it in your transcription strategy. 

Step 2: Type out a rough first draft of the interview transcript.

Only professional transcribers can go full swing transcribing right away. For someone who is not a professional, there is no substitute to treading mildly. That would include writing the first draft, rough version of the transcript. You can always revisit the first draft to furnish it, polish it and work on it. Edit, keeping in mind whether you need a full-verbatim, verbatim or detailed notes transcript of the interview. 

No matter how simple we make it sound, it is not. You have to be great with typing and accurate with language. That is the reason we recommend using the professional transcription service offered by Locate Translate. Our transcribers will bring clarity to your transcript, making it as accurate as possible.

To achieve speed, add shortcuts, abbreviations for words, such as bc for because, in the first draft. Pause whenever and wherever you feel the need during the first draft. But don’t rewind the clip. 

Step 3: Revisit the first draft of the transcript and edit it and polish its content.

With the hard part done, now you have a readable first draft of the interview transcript. The thing to go for now is repeated edits, polishing the content as fits your needs. 

First thing first, make sure to get rid of typos. Do not leave everything to spell checkers but manually track and remove misspellings by going through the transcript word for word and line by line. 

In addition to that, listen to the audio again after you’ve finished transcribing it. Listening and reading through the transcript is your way to work with inconsistencies in the transcript text and the best chance to add any missed parts. There may be words you may have misheard.  That may have distorted the meaning of the whole sentence. At this stage, you can remove any such inconsistencies.

Step 4: Shape your transcript layout according to client needs, transcription template or format.

Do you know how to format your transcript? If not, you will need professional help. You are required to have a fair sense of transcription guidelines. To format transcripts in a particular template requires experience and knowledge. Irrespective of the type of transcript, or template, or format, accuracy is a prerequisite.

Any transcript done has to serve the purpose. In addition, adjusting font size is imperative.  So is titles, subheadings and paragraphs to make it easier to read through the document. 

Congrats, you can now transcribe like a professional! 

You have reached the level where you can transcribe like a pro. But remember transcribing is a sophisticated art and a skill that’s demanding. It needs constant practice to master the art of interview transcription.

To forge a lasting balance between accuracy and speed, quality and quantity, make sure you follow our guide, How to Write a Transcript: A Definitive Guide to Interview Transcription, verbatim.

Did you know: At Locate Translate, we can offer transcription in 30+ languages, including German Transcription, Japanese Transcription, Arabic to English Transcription, English to English Transcription, etc. Also, working in domains like Legal, Medical, Media, Marketing, Market Research, etc.

A word with businesses, market research agencies, healthcare professionals, law firms, and media houses

Given the complex and time-consuming nature of the transcription process, and no matter how lucidly we explain its workings and steps to follow, you may at some point want to outsource your transcription projects. For that, you may need the support of a reliable transcription agency to achieve its objectives in record time and with unmatched accuracy. In that case, we are proud to introduce ourselves as one of the UK’s most trusted full-service language solutions providers. At Locate Translate, we specialise in providing businesses, market research agencies, healthcare professionals, law firms, media houses top-quality transcription services and English to English transcription services.

Should you need any help with transcription or want us to explain how transcription works in a more detailed manner, feel free to contact at hello@locatetranslate.co.uk or call us at +44 208 609 4852. You can also fill our contact form. Let us know your requirements. Our transcribers will get back to you within 30 minutes to assist with interview transcripts.

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