In order to transcribe the spoken word, a person needs to have excellent listening, spelling and typing skills to do the job correctly. This is because it is important to make sure that the transcription is done accurately by including the proper punctuation and spellings so that is can be a true reflection of the words that were actually spoken. Below you will find some tips that will help you to transcribe speeches accurately.
To begin with, you need to obtain an audiovisual or audio recording of the speech that needs to be transcribed as this is the source where you will get all your details from. From here you need to listen or watch the recording so that you can be able to note any places where the speech is not clear and also take note of any words that you are not familiar with. This is also a great time to adjust the sounds to a level that you are comfortable working with to make the process run smoothly and also to get the best results.
Use a dictionary to look up any words that you are not familiar with as it is highly important to use correct words and spellings in the transcript to avoid messing up the entire process. Rely on the context cues that are used in the speech to be sure you are using the right word especially when handling words that sound alike like “bare” and “bear”. Thus is because this can be very confusing and using the wrong word might distort the entire message therefore it is best to be on the safe side by confirming the words and phrases.
After this is done, you can start transcribing by starting the recording at the beginning. You can stop the recording any time you want in the process so that you capture all the words and phrases without a problem. When you are done with the transcription process, go through your work to check out for spelling, spacing errors and punctuation. Even when the speaker has made grammatical errors, you are supposed to transcribe the speech as it is without making any changes.
It is advisable to double check your work or have someone do it for you to make sure that you have a perfect end product. You can make use of transcription software when dealing with longer and more complex speeches. Do not be in a rush when transcribing as this usually comes a long way in the prevention of errors.