A few days ago I posted a blog about transcription – what it is, who uses it and in what circumstances.
An important thing to keep in mind is that the cost of having your recording typed up into document format varies greatly but as a general rule, the better the quality of your recording, the more affordable having it typed will be.
There are so many things you can do to improve the sound quality of your recording, things such as:
- speaking as clearly as possible
- making sure you are talking somewhere with little, if any, background noise (interviewing someone in a cafe setting is absolutely disastrous)
- do a practise recording first to test your volume settings and the positioning of your microphone
- avoid background noises such as dogs barking, telephones ringing, heavy traffic. If these noises occur or one of the speakers needs to cough or sneeze, pause speaking and, if necessary, repeat the last few words
- spell any difficult words, particularly names
- be aware of shuffling papers and clanking glasses/coffee cups while recording. Even though you will hardly notice the sound, the microphone will pick them up and it makes it more difficult for the transcriptionist to hear the words
- where there is more than one speaker, identify each speaker clearly
- avoid speaking over the top of one another and interrupting. In a group situation, the group leader should ensure that only one person speaks at a time and if necessary, ask speakers to repeat their comments made while others were talking
- speak loudly enough to be heard
- ensure that you have spare batteries for your recording device before you start recording
As a final note, I always suggest that people find a transcriptionist before they begin recording. Any professional service will be happy to go over these types of suggestions to ensure that you get the best possible quality recording, which will in turn make their job quicker and easier, thus costing you less $$!
