5 Ways the Transcript of a Teleseminar Can Be Used to Improve Business
The transcript of a teleseminar is a content-rich tool that can be used in several different ways to improve business through customer engagement and increased web traffic.
1. As Bonus Material for Participants
People like to read through what they heard. It helps them deepen their understanding of what was discussed on the teleseminar, revisit facts and figures mentioned by the speakers, catch up on things they missed out during the live call, etc.
A well formatted transcript with proper labels and highlighted key-points can be a real bonus. Put it up as a downloadable PDF and give customers and prospects a reason to return to your website.
The transcript can also be sent out as part of a newsletter or a simple follow-up email.
2. As Content for Information Products
Get a professional writer to convert the transcript into a well-written e-book or presentation and offer that as a freebee or a paid product to customers.
The transcript can also be used to create blog posts, social network updates and forum discussion topics. With the entire conversation laid out in front of you, you can easily pick out parts of the teleseminar that had high audience participation and use this information to take the discussion forward.
3. For Increased Participation During the Teleseminar
If the teleseminar involves a lot of information download, listeners may get too engrossed in taking notes to actively participate in the conversation. A short announcement at the beginning of the teleseminar informing everyone that a transcript will be available later can go long way in increasing audience participation as they would be more attentive and free to communicate.
4. For Improving Search Engine Rankings
A teleseminar is packed with key words and phrases that can push up the ranking of your website on search engines like Google and Yahoo! But the search engines can’t read this content in video format. A transcript will add the key words and phrases to the body of your website in text format so that search engines can identify them.
5. In Reducing the Bounce Rate of Your Website
Uploading a recording of the teleseminar to your website so that visitors can listen to it online is almost a mandate these days. But not everyone has a high-speed Internet connection. Sometimes people may land on your website, see that the recording would take hours to load, and leave because they don’t have the time or patience to wait.
A transcript of the teleseminar displayed prominently on the page would encourage visitors to stay and read.
Do you know other ways a transcript can be used to improve business? Share them with us!
Interview Transcription Check-list
Here’s a check-list of things to provide the transcription company when sending an interview for transcription:
- List of uncommon words used on the recording.
- Names of the speakers.
- Transcription style – verbatim or clean read.
- Editing instructions.
- Formatting instructions.
- Preferred file format for the transcript (.doc, .docx, .txt, etc.).
- Spelling style (UK or US).
- Time-coding and Time-stamping instructions.
It is possible to get a transcript that doesn’t need hours of re-working and editing – just give the right instructions!
How to Transcribe a Focus Group
The purpose of a focus group is very different from that of an interview and so is the way it is transcribed.
Transcribing a focus group requires more care, detail, and patience.
Here are a few basic guidelines for transcribing a standard focus group:
Type Verbatim
Each and every word of the participants should be recorded on the transcript. This includes all the fillers (ums, ahs, hms, etc.) as well as non-verbal communication such as laughter, coughs, claps, pauses etc. Background noises should also be transcribed (such as doors opening, clicking of a pen, car horn, etc.). Read more on verbatim transcription here.
Don’t try to ‘clean up’
If participants use colorful language, commit grammatical errors, or mispronounce words – resist the urge to correct the mistakes while typing. If a mispronounced word creates difficulty in understanding the meaning of what is being said, put the correct pronunciation/spelling in brackets.
Use time stamps
If there are words or phrases that are not clearly audible, place a time stamp in the text so that the end-user of the transcript can quickly locate the part on the audio while editing. This is true for any parts that are unclear because of several speakers talking simultaneously – such parts should be indicated with [crosstalk] along with a time stamp.
Identify speakers
The moderator and speakers should be clearly differentiated on the transcript. A focus group usually consists of 5-7 speakers and it is difficult to identify each person by name, however a general identifier such as ‘Participant’ and ‘Moderator’ can be used.
Maintain confidentiality
At times it may not be appropriate to mention the names of the participants on the transcript – in fact, some researchers like to keep all names and places confidential. In such situations, discuss with the customer if they want the names/places transcribed with an identifier (such as =) so that they can easily locate and delete them at the time of editing. Alternatively, the information can be omitted altogether at the time of transcribing.
Develop an ‘ear’ for detail
A focus group is a discussion between several people. The discussion is usually not disciplined and people tend to talk over each other, turn away from microphones, and speak really fast in order to get their point across. As such, transcribing a focus group requires careful listening, a keen ear for multiple styles of speaking, and at least 3 rounds of proofreading to ensure accuracy.
The basic idea is to transcribe in as much detail as possible so that the person conducting research has complete information about the ‘what’ as well as the ‘how’ of what was said by each participant.
Factors that Affect Transcription Rates
Transcription rates are based on Audio Minutes.
1 Audio Minute = 60 seconds of audio/video recording
This means that no matter how long it takes to transcribe a recording, you would still pay by length of the recording and not the actual hours worked.
Here are a few factors that affect transcription rates:
Audio Quality
Professionally recorded high quality audio is the easiest to transcribe and therefore costs the least.
Audio with background noise or recording issues is difficult to understand and may require several rounds of proofreading to ensure accuracy; such audio therefore costs more.
Quick Tip: For those who record regularly, it may be a good idea to invest in a DVR or some other form of recording equipment. This will help generate high quality audio that will bring down transcription costs.
Accents
Recordings involving heavy accents generally require a native speaker of the accent (or a very experienced transcriptionist) to transcribe them accurately. For this reason, accented audio can costs considerably more depending on the accents involved.
The Australian, Irish and Scottish accents are considered to be some of the most difficult ones to transcribe and cost the most. More neutralized accents such as the US accent are easier to understand and cost lesser.
Quick Tip: When recording with speakers who have heavy accents, it helps to lay down some ground rules to ensure that the recording is clearly understandable both for listeners as well as transcribers.
Subject of the Recording
A recording on a technical subject like finance, real estate or healthcare would likely have terms and phrases that are not commonly known. These terms need to be researched to ensure correct spelling and context. For this reason, recordings on technical subjects take longer to transcribe and cost more.
Quick Tip: To improve the accuracy of transcripts on technical subjects, it is advisable to provide a list of commonly used terms to the transcription company. This will reduce transcription time and improve accuracy.
Number of Speakers
A single speaker talking at a steady rate of speech is easy to understand and transcribe. However, if a recording involves multiple speakers talking simultaneously (at a dinner meeting for example), it becomes difficult to catch all that is being said. Identifying each speaker by name also becomes a challenge in such cases. Multi-speaker audio therefore costs more to get transcribed and yet does not always meet accuracy requirements.
Quick Tip: When planning to record a multi-speaker audio, spend some time choosing a good microphone and DVR. Also instruct the participants to speak one at a time and mention their names before speaking.
Proofreading
Transcription is a 3-step process:
- Preparing a draft
- Proofreading
- Editing & formatting
The draft is an 85-90% accurate transcript prepared during the first round of listening to the audio. This draft is then taken through multiple rounds of proofreading to fill in the blanks and correct errors. The cost of transcription goes up with every round of proofreading.
Quick Tip: If you intend proofing and editing the transcript yourself, you can ask your transcription company to simply provide a draft, which costs much lesser than a fully proofed and edited transcript. Just make sure they duly time stamp all the blanks or put periodic time codes in the draft that will help you while editing.
Editing & Formatting
The final step in transcription is editing the text for grammar, punctuation, sentence structure etc. along with formatting the layout for easy reading. This step generally adds an additional 1-2 hours to the total transcription time (depending on the length of the transcript). Transcription companies generally factor in the cost for this work in audio hourly rate rather than charging for it separately.
Quick Tip: Editing & formatting costs can be saved if the transcript is for personal use and doesn’t need to look perfect.
All factors considered, a single hour of clearly recorded audio/video can take 3-4 hours to transcribe, 1-2 hours to proofread, and another 1 hour to edit & format. In effect, one audio hour can take up to 4-7 hours of work. This means that if you’re paying $60.00 for the transcription of a one-hour recording, you’re actual paying $1.00 per hour.
A Note on Economies
It’s a known fact that hourly wages differ widely in different economies of the world and naturally that affects transcription services as well. Transcription rates can be anywhere from $3.00 to $0.25 per audio minute depending on the location of the transcription company and the experience level of the transcriptionists. The quality of transcripts can also be drastically different depending on how much you pay.
Quick Tip: While hunting for the best deal in the global market, it may be a good idea to ask for a quote from several companies, sample their work and check credentials before making a final decision.
4 Rules of Verbatim Transcription
Verbatim transcription is the art of converting spoken word into text such that a message is captured exactly the way it has been spoken.
This requires a keen ear and attention to detail. Verbatim transcripts cannot be created by mindlessly listening and typing. One has to pay close attention to every sound, tone, word and make intelligent use of punctuation to convey the correct message.
Here are 4 important rules of verbatim transcription:
1. Capture EVERY word (don’t paraphrase)
Many transcriptionists have the habit of paraphrasing statements to convey the general idea of what is being said rather than typing out the exact words. This process is called clean read transcription is much preferred in business transcription because of the easy-to-read transcripts it produces. But it’s not very popular amongst researchers and analysts who need to know exactly what was said. Here are a couple of examples to illustrate the difference between the two styles -
Paraphrased sentence: “I was screaming for my mother and she was maybe 30 yards away in the house, she couldn’t have even heard me even if she was outside.”
Verbatim sentence: “And I’m screaming. You know, I’m screaming. I’m screaming for my mother. And She was uh maybe 30 yards away in the house. I mean she could have never heard me. Even if she was outside she probably wouldn’t have heard me.”
While the meaning conveyed in both sentences is the same, the emotion is far more pronounced in the second one. Depending on what the transcript is going to be used for, this may make a world of difference. So in verbatim transcription, it’s important to type each and every word that is said.
2. Don’t leave out non-verbal communication
Communication has a lot of components other than words – such as laughter, pauses, hand gestures, etc. Verbatim transcription captures all these in order to give a true account of what’s being said.
For example,
K: What does you mother think?
N: .. Not much. . She agrees with me . yeah.
K: Really?! [Laughs] Are you sure?!
[N laughs]
Here are a few more rules for transcribing non-verbal communication:
When two speakers speak at the same time, indicate this with /, as in:
N: Yes, I have been /living here
K: /Oh you have?
N: for three years.
I.e. ‘living here’ and ‘oh you have’ were said at the same time and N continued on his sentence without stopping.
Use = when two lines come directly after one another without a gap e.g.
K: Did you like her? =
N: = Yes!
That is a very fast reply.
For short pauses add a full stop, each one representing a second. For pauses longer than 4 seconds, put time in brackets and italicised e.g. [6 second pause]
3. Catch those fillers and false starts
Fillers are the ums, ahs, you knows, that are often used by speakers to buy time to think.
False starts are sentences that are started but never completed, such as:
“I would say that’s not such a… I mean that may not be… it’best to check with an expert before proceeding in such matters.”
Fillers and false starts may break the flow of speaking but often provide insights into the thinking process of a speaker. The process of verbatim transcription therefore includes these components in the transcript rather than editing them out.
4. Note external sounds
Qualitative research and even market research often requires knowing what’s happening in the surroundings while the subject or interviewee is speaking. Some examples of external sounds can be sounds of doors opening, people walking in, a side conversation between fellow participants, etc. These sounds/events should be duly noted on the transcript in brackets and with time stamps if required.
The main idea of verbatim transcription is to capture both the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of speech. Not everyone requires the same level of detail – for example, someone may need the non-verbal communication transcribed but may not want any external sounds/events noted on the transcript. It’s always a good idea to thoroughly discuss the specific requirements with your client before beginning a transcription project so that you know exactly what to transcribe and what to leave out.
