FAQ's

Why Do You Need a Transcript for Your Podcasts?

 

Question How long does one hour of recorded audio take to transcribe?
Answer: The professional industry standard allows one hour to transcribe 15 minutes of clearly recorded speech. It therefore takes a minimum of 4 hours to transcribe a one hour tape and can take as much as 6 or 8 hours depending on the quality of the recording. These times refer to typing time – NOT the length of the tape.

Question What are the factors that affect how long it takes for transcription?
Answer: There are a number of factors.
• Quality of audio, clarity of voices
• Number of speakers
• Talking speed
• Incoherent sentences
• A lot of background noise
• Several people talking at one time
• Heavy accents
• Talking too softly

Question How can I make a better recording and cut down on transcribing costs?
Answer:

1. Ensure that the speaker speaks loudly enough.
2. Use an external microphone.
3. Place the microphone near the speaker or speakers.
4. Avoid using micro-cassettes. Use only standard cassette tapes.
5. Turn off voice activation. If you use recorders with a voice activation feature, prior to beginning a recording, it is in your best interest to switch off this feature, otherwise some words may be lost.
6. Send only original tapes. Original tapes will always be of better quality than copies, regardless of the quality of the copying equipment.

Question What is the benefit of digital recordings?
Answer: Your digital audio files can be emailed to us as an attachment and downloaded directly to the computer, bypassing snail mail. This eliminates the expense of sending your most valuable CD’s via Fed-X.

Question What if I am unable to email audio files?
Answer: Then we recommend that you send your CD’s via overnight delivery, the same as you would if you were mailing cassette tapes.

Question Why is transcription more complicated than just typing what you hear?
Answer: As a transcriptionist types, it is not just a matter of putting down the words verbatim. It is about typing the right words and conveying the sense of the passage or text as a whole.

Question: What is high quality transcription?
Answer: The art of good transcription is comprehension – not just putting words on paper, but putting the right words on paper.

 

Question: What's the best way to keep costs down for group recordings?
 Answer: Six Tips for clearer, less expensive group recordings:

1. Use Quality Equipment:

With low quality equipment or not enough microphones, the voices furthest away from a microphone may not record.

 

2. Brief the Participants Ahead of Time

Be sure each participant understands the meeting is being recorded and why these guidelines are important.

 

3. Have Everyone Individually Introduce Themselves

Have the participants all introduce themselves at the beginning and re-introduce themselves each time they speak. Provide a list of participants, their order of speaking and assign an identifier code to each.

 

 4. Ask Everyone to Speak Individually and Clearly

In group recordings, people tend to speak quickly, or even over one another.

 

5. Eliminate Background Noise as much as possible, coughing, scraping of chairs, shuffling papers and voices murmuring.

 

6. Use an external microphone on your recorder. Internal mikes are only suitable for dictation (one voice). Ideally if you have more than four people, use a series of microphones.

 

Sylvia Mallonee, Professional Transcriptionist

Sylvia@TheTranscriptionPlace.com

410-933-9215