TRANSCRIPTION STUDY GUIDE FOR NOVICES.

- Transcription is written or printed representation of audio/video into a

document or text file.
- A transcription service is a business service that converts speech (live or
recorded) provided for business, legal or medical purposes.
- A transcriptionist is a specialist in documentation.
- Transcription requires patience, excellent typing skills and keen hearing,
accuracy and commitment.
- In general transcription, you listen to college lectures, court hearings, business
meetings, etc, and recordings requiring a written reference such as:
- Phone conversations
- Teleconferences
- Speeches.
- Computer skills are essential and aside from downloading files the work entails
research.
- It requires:
* Fluency
* Ability to decipher different accents/ be culturally aware
* Grammar and spelling skills
* US/UK English knowledge
* Punctuations
* Writing editors e.g Grammarly
* Researching of unique terminology and jargon.
 TERMINOLOGIES
1. Verbatim- This requires the transcriptionist/transcriber to include all filler
words, stutters and repetition.
2. Non-verbatim- This is a clean script or lightly edited text for readability. It does
not include fillers, stutters or repetition unless it’s for emphasis.
3. Inaudible- Word, phrase, short murmur that can’t be understood.
4. Crosstalk/Interposing- Multiple people/sounds overlapping in an audio or
audiovisual file.
5. Non-word utterances- These include filler words e.g Uh-huh, Uum, Mmm, and
stutters for example: I-I- d-d-do-don’t …
6. Speaker labels- These are speaker identifications such as given names, numbers
or titles.
7. Jargon- Special words or expressions used by a profession or group that are
difficult for others to understand.

- Quality expectations always fall into 2 categories:

i) Accuracy- correctly hear and transcribe what words were said and who
said them.
ii) Formatting- correctly communicate those words and notations in a way
that is easily readable
and digestible.
- Spelling mistakes are a major error in transcription.
- Always change informal contractions to formal speech. For example:
Can’t – Cannot
Gonna – Going to
Wanna – Want to
 The Do’s and Don’ts of transcription
- Always transcribe what is said.
- The transcript must preserve the integrity of the original speech.
- Do not write what you think the speaker meant to say.
- Never omit words.
- Never add content, paraphrase or rearrange the order of speech.
- Don’t edit or censor expletives unless instructed to.
- Don’t edit or correct speaker’s grammar.
- Correct egregious phonetics and pronunciations.
- If you’re not transcribing a foreign language file, it’s not advisable for you to pick
one.
- Always use context clues to write down the correct word or phrase. For
example: botox vs. boat ox
- Take your time. A changed word could result in a drastic change in the meaning
of a sentence. For example: Killed vs. Kilt.
- Use spellings as instructed. Either US or UK English.
- Research proper capitalization of terms even when you are familiar with the
spelling.
- Always research words, phrases, and proper nouns you are unfamiliar with.
- Never leave words out of a transcript unless it’s a non-verbatim or verbatim light
file.
- Ensure you proofread your work.
- Numbers should follow the most common writing convention.
 SPEAKER LABEL TYPES
1. Speaker’s name – If the speaker’s name can be reasonably inferred.
2. Speaker + number – Default way of labelling speakers when the speaker name
cannot be inferred.
3. Role/title of the speaker.
4. Group label – When there are too many speakers to consistently track who says
what. E.g students,
Camera crew, congregation, audience.

- Customer-provided labels must be used whenever possible.

- Customers may sometimes use resource files. Use them.