How to Transcribe an Interview – A Complete Guide

Learning how to transcribe an Interview involves documenting conversations, in real-time or from audio/video recordings. Despite its apparent simplicity, beginners often find the process tedious. However, with some preparation, this task becomes more manageable. However, with the right preparation, this task can become significantly more manageable. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore various methods and provide a detailed step-by-step approach to streamline interview transcription.

4 Ways to Transcribe Interviews

First, it’s good to know that you don’t have to transcribe manually. An interview can be transcribed in several different ways:

1. Using Audio-to-Text Converters
2. Outsourcing to a Transcription Agency
3. Hiring a Freelance Transcriptionist
4. Transcribing manually

Which method you use would depend on factors like the number of speakers on the recording, audio clarity, subject matter, time and budget, and your typing speed.

So which method should you choose? Let’s take a look at each:

Using Audio-to-Text Converters

If a recording has just one speaker doing most of the talking at a steady rate of speech and at a decent volume, then audio to text converters are a good choice.

A transcript created via automation would not be perfect, i.e. you would still have to proofread it, but that is easier than transcribing the full recording manually.

The thing to watch out for though is that not all audio-to-text converters can transcribe from a recorded file i.e. some are meant for live dictations only. 

Read More: Best Audio to Text Converters in 2023

Outsourcing to a Transcription Service

If the recording is in a language you don’t understand, or if you don’t have the time to transcribe an interview yourself, then outsourcing to a transcription service is a good option.

All you have to do is send them your recording with detailed instructions and they will return a neatly formatted and time-coded transcript to you in a fairly short period of time.

Read More: How to Choose a Transcription Service

Hiring a Freelance Transcriptionist

If you can’t afford a transcription service (or can’t find one that you like), then it’s best to use the services of a freelance transcriptionist. Sites like Guru.com, Freelancer.com, and Fiverr.com have a good pool of service providers who can help.

The good part about hiring a freelancer is that they can do the work at a relatively lower cost with almost the same turnaround time as a transcription company. The downside is that you have to experiment a little to find the right transcriber.

Transcribing Manually

When a recording has two or more speakers (such as interviews), and outsourcing is not an option, then manual transcription is the best choice. This is because audio-to-text converters usually cannot transcribe multi-speaker recordings accurately. This is also true for interviews with technical content, strong accents, or high-rates-of-speech.

Now let’s walk through the steps of this process.

How to Transcribe an Interview Manually

Here are the 8 steps involved in the process of transcribing an interview. They sound like a lot, but if done properly they can save you a LOT of time:

1. Listen to the full recording before transcribing.
2. Calculate how long it will take.
3. Pick the right tools.
4. Transcribe a draft.
5. Use short-cuts to save time.
6. Proofread.
7. Find-and-Replace placeholder text.
8. Format the transcript.

1. Listen to the full recording before transcribing

Most people dive straight into transcription without first analyzing the recording’s complexity. This is a mistake because if the audio is complex, it can cause you much frustration later.

So before beginning transcription, always listen to the audio end-to-end. Check for things like:

• The exact length of the recording.
• Number of speakers.
• Rate of speech.
• Languages and accents.
• Technical terminology.
• Whether you want to transcribe the full recording or just some parts of it, etc.

Once you understand the complexity of the recording, you’ll know whether you should use an audio-to-text converter, transcribe it youself, or outsource it to an agency/freelancer.

2. Calculate how long it will take

If you decide to transcribe the recording yourself, first calculate how long it will take you.

With a decent typing speed of 50-60 w.p.m. you can transcribe a simple 1-hour recording in approximately 4-6 hours. Complex recordings with multiple speakers, poor audio quality, strong accents, or technical content can take 9-10 hours to transcribe. You should also account for time-coding and formatting, as those will take extra time.

If you’re transcribing for the first time, you should probably set aside a full day.

Read more: How long does it take to transcribe a recording?

Expert Tip: If you need to transcribe frequently, then investing some time in improving your typing speed may be a good idea.

3. Pick the Right Tools

These should include:

An Audio Player

No, not QuickTime or Windows Media Player. Install a free transcription audio player on your computer for audio/video playback (for e.g. Express Scribe, Transcription Buddy, or InqScribe).

Unlike regular audio players, transcription audio players players are designed specially for transcription and allow you to use hot-keys for play/pause/rewind/fast-forward/time-coding functions without having to take your hands off the keyboard.

This can be a HUGE time-saver when transcribing’ long recordings.

A Word Processor

To type the document, you can use the in-built text editor that your transcription software offers or use an external one like MS Word or Pages.

Be sure to learn how to save the document while transcribing because you don’t want to lose all your hard work in the event of software crashing or battery failure!

Headphones

Get a good pair of headphones or earplugs to listen to the recording. You can use speakers too, but we don’t  recommend that unless the audio is studio quality with a single speaker.

You will be able to capture words far more accurately and in greater detail if you use a headphone.

A Foot Pedal (optional)

If you have many hours of audio to transcribe, then you might want to invest in a foot pedal.

This tool basically allows you to play/pause/rewind/fast-forward a recording using your foot rather than hot-keys, saving you extra keystrokes while transcribing (almost all professional transcribers have one).

4. Transcribe a Draft

With the right tools in place, you can now load files onto your chosen transcription software and begin transcribing.

In the first pass, transcribe quickly without worrying about getting everything right.

You may stop now and then to research something online, but remember that you’ll be proofreading the full transcript later, so it doesn’t make sense to waste time checking everything at this point.

Also, don’t try to transcribe the complete file in one shot. Transcribing in 5-10 minute segments will help you stay focused and not feel exhausted.

5. Use short-cuts to save time

There are some simple yet effective ways you can save time while typing your draft transcript.

Auto-Correct

Microsoft Word comes with an in-built feature called auto-correct that can help you type faster.

Auto-correct is great for correcting words that are inadvertently typed correctly while typing. For example, if you typed WLAKING, it will automatically by changed to WALKING. You can also add other words that you know you often type incorrectly.

The great thing about auto-correct is that it can also be used as Auto-Complete. For example, you can add YK=YOU KNOW in auto-correct, so that whenever you type yk in your document, it is automatically converted to ‘you know’, saving extra keystrokes.

To activate auto-correct in MS Word, click Tools > Autocorrect Options.

Time-codes

When you transcribe an interview, you will invariably come across parts that are difficult to decipher.

Instead of re-playing these parts over and over to get everything right, simply insert a time code such as [hh:mm:ss xxx] or [or hh:mm:ss unclear] and move on. You can come back to these time codes later during proofreading.

Time codes are particularly important in qualitative research transcripts as they help readers easily find specific parts of the transcript on the actual recording. They also let the reader know which parts of the transcript have missing or doubtful words.

You can also add general time codes every 3-5 minutes in the transcript to facilitate editing/proofreading later.

Placeholder text

Another tip for saving time while transcribing is to add placeholder text for speaker names and speech habits.

This text can later be replaced with full spellings using the ‘find & replace’ function.

For e.g. while typing up your draft, you can use S1 and S2 for Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 or imo for in my opinion. After finishing transcription, you can quickly find and replace these placeholders with the correct spelling.

6. Proofread

Once you have the first draft ready with time codes in place, replay the recording from the beginning and proofread the entire file.

In this process, you check accuracy of the transcript and add missing words, fillers, false starts, ambient sounds etc.

How much detail you add would depend on whether the transcription is meant to be verbatim, intelligent verbatim, or true verbatim.

After proofreading if there are still words that are blanks in the transcript, you can leave the time codes in place to warn readers that there’s a word missing at that point. You can insert a phonetic transcription of the word, but still leaving a time code alongside is a good practice.

Again, do this in 5 or 10-minute segments so that you can focus better.

Read more: Types of Verbatim Transcription

7. Find & Replace the placeholder text

After proofreading the file, add in speaker names (simply ‘find and replace’ the placeholders you added earlier with actual names).

If names are not available or if you want to maintain anonymity, generic identifiers like Interviewer: and Interviewee: can be used.

8. Format the document

Now you are ready for the final step in the process of interview transcription, which is formatting.

Unless you have specific requirements like formatting for NVivo or video editing, you can limit formatting to adding paragraphs, adjusting the font size, and adding headers, titles, page numbers etc.

Example Interview Transcript

Here’s an example of an intelligent verbatim transcript formatted for easy reading –

In conclusion, interview transcription is an interesting exercise, but it can feel tedious if you’re new to process. It may initially take you a full day to transcribe an interview even if the file is perfectly clear.

But don’t worry, it gets better with time as you become familiar with the tools and shortcuts available. If you run into challenges or have questions, leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to help.