A transcript can be annoyingly hard to read, intelligently edited, or very, very detailed depending on the transcription style used.

There are three basic styles of transcription:

Verbatim

Verbatim transcription is a detailed account of every word, sound and non-verbal communication (like laughter and pauses) on the recording. Here’s an example:

“…’Cause I mean…I think there are so many different needs er… different requirements within each one of those you know, those many and different segments that er… if you can hone in on each one of those segments um… and gosh there’s a lot of needs within the 25 to 54 [laughs]. I mean you know you’re getting families and…”

In this style the recording is transcribed without deleting or editing anything.

Verbatim transcription is used for research and analysis where every little detail counts.

Clean Read

This style uses editing and paraphrasing to create easy-to-read and ready-to-print transcripts. For example:

“There are so many different requirements within each one of those different segments that if you can hone in on each one of those… and gosh there are a lot of needs within the 25 to 54! I mean, you’re getting families and…”

Here the transcriptionist removes fillers, paraphrases incomplete sentences, corrects minor grammatical errors and presents the text in short, easy-to-read paragraphs.

This is the preferred style of transcription for business-related recordings

Intelligent Verbatim

This is a cross between the verbatim and clean read styles of transcription; it mixes word-for-word transcription with light editing. For example:

“…’Cause I think there are so many different requirements within each one of those many and different segments that if you can hone in on each one of those segments… and gosh there’s a lot of needs within the 25 to 54 . I mean you’re getting families and…”

In this style the transcriptionist doesn’t correct grammatical errors or paraphrase the sentences, but simply edits out the ums, ahs, you knows, etc. to create a neater transcript.

This is the default style of transcription used by transcription services unless you ask for something different.

Which one is best for you? Think of how you plan to use your transcript. A simple rule of thumb is to use verbatim or intelligent verbatim for research and clean read for business.

It’s a good idea to let your transcription service know your preferred style of transcription so that you get the right level of detail in your transcripts.

Original transcript- “The idea you know is to take…is to place your umm.. business er…right at the…where your customers can you know see it”

Clean read transcript – “The idea is to place your business where your customers can see it”

The main idea is to create an easy-to-read, intelligent transcript that captures everything that’s important and leaves out the parts that are not relevant.

Clean read transcription is ideal for teleclasses, lectures, presentations, non-research interviews, podcasts, and conferences. It’s perfect for creating content that’s can be published as it is.

Tell your transcriptionist that you’re looking for a ‘clean’ transcript at the beginning of a project. The transcriptionist will then clean out the transcript as much as possible right in the first round of typing and will then take it through another round of editing to create an easy flowing, intelligent transcript of your audio/video.

Refer to Verbatim Transcription to learn about transcripts that document everything that’s recorded.