Master the art of transcript writing with our comprehensive guide. Learn how to write a transcript and pick up tips and tricks for accurate and effective transcription.
Master the art of transcript writing with our comprehensive guide. Learn how to write a transcript and pick up tips and tricks for accurate and effective transcription.
November 13, 2023
This makes the editing process so much faster. I wish I knew about Descript a year ago.
Matt D., Copywriter
This makes the editing process so much faster. I wish I knew about Descript a year ago.
Matt D., Copywriter
Producing a high-quality podcast or video can take hours. You’ve recorded it, edited it, and published it online. But if you don’t have a transcript, your effort isn’t reaching as many people as it could. Limiting your content formats to video or audio-only means your content isn’t easily accessible to some internet users.
That said, there’s more to writing a transcript than publishing a word-for-word copy of your recording. In this guide, we’ll cover the different use cases for a transcript, alongside a step-by-step guide on how to write accurate transcripts that are accessible and enjoyable to read.
Before we dive into the tutorial on how to write a transcript, let’s cover why it’s important to create one for podcasts and video content:
Take Being Freelance, a podcast with over 300 episodes in its archive. Host Steve Folland says: “The podcasts become an absolute treasure trove of quotes on various aspects of freelancing. By having them transcribed I can easily search for and pull out quotes to use when both promoting or repurposing the podcast.”
Steve adds that these transcriptions also helped him make more money as a creator: “I also used this technique when creating my course for new freelancers. I could search on a topic and use quotes as evidence to help people learn and make the course all the richer for it.”
“I create transcripts as we had listeners who are hearing impaired who requested transcripts. I also prefer reading to listening as I find it easier to digest some content visually rather than when its absorbed audibly, and I need a low or zero sound option when in spaces with others.” —Dr Naomi Murphy, co-host of Locked Up Living
Now we know the benefits of producing a transcript, let’s explore the four different methods you can use to do it:
Before you start transcribing a video or podcast episode from scratch, get these four tools to make the process easier and faster.
Manually typing out a conversation is time-consuming. Transcription software helps you speed up the process by automatically transcribing audio into text. Instead of listening to the audio recording and manually typing out each word, tools like Descript allow you to create an intelligent transcription that writes the text for you with up to 95% accuracy.
“I've explored various transcription packages in my quest for the one that makes my job simplest. I settled on Descript as it allows me to edit my video and transcript at the same time.” —Dr Naomi Murphy, co-host of Locked Up Living
 |
There are also professional transcription services you can use if you want that human touch.
Anyone who is transcribing an audio or video file needs complete concentration on the recording—especially if you’re doing the process manually. Noise-canceling headphones help you tune out background noise that could interfere with your transcript. The last thing you want to do is muddle the transcript with words from someone else in your workplace. (Just don’t use them for audio editing—for that, check out our list of the best podcast headphones.)
If you’re not using software to transcribe video or audio, you’ll need a media player that allows you to pause, rewind, and fast-forward a recording.
Here are some other popular options to play audio and video, depending on the device you’re using:
While not essential, a foot pedal is a smart purchase if you plan to do a lot of manual transcription. A foot pedal is a piece of equipment that allows you to set the playback speed of your recording. You can also use it to create keyboard shortcuts that fast-forward, skip, or rewind parts of the conversation if you need extra clarity while transcribing.
In our opinion, the most efficient way to produce a transcript is by using transcription apps—especially Descript. But if you’re determined to write a transcript manually, here’s how to do it.
The first step to transcribing audio is to gather your tools. At the very least, you’ll need some sort of media player, an open text editor, and quiet workspace to hear audio clearly and minimize errors in the transcript.
Next, press play on the media player. Unless your typing speed is world class, it might help to change the dictation playback speed to 0.75x or 0.5x. Slowing down the recording will help you type alongside the speaker in real-time.
At this point, don’t worry about fixing any typos or grammatical errors. The goal is to get down a solid first draft that you can polish later on.
Now you’ve got a first draft of the transcript, go back through the content and format it for readability. Lines upon lines of text aren’t easy to digest, so you should help readers follow the written conversation by separating out topics and speakers into their own paragraphs. Depending on your purposes, you may also want to add:
This summary of an episode of the Freelance Writing Coach Podcast, for example, uses headings, numbered lists, and pull quotes to emphasize key points in the transcription:
 |
Keep mistakes from distracting your readers (and creating a negative perception of you) by cleaning up your transcript.
Editing tools like Grammarly and ProWritingAid can come in handy here. They use artificial intelligence to spot grammatical errors, spell-check words, and suggest missed words without having to scan for them manually.
It’s always a good idea to read through the transcript in a different font, size, or on a different device. The change in view can keep your brain from anticipating what’s ahead—and missing spelling or grammar mistakes that ruin the credibility of your transcript.
If someone is reading the write-up to find a specific point in your audio or video recording, timestamps can make it easier for people to reference specific points in the conversation.
Timestamps are especially useful if you’re transcribing a podcast or YouTube video, since you can use them to help people navigate your conversation. In the video podcast for this episode of The Break, for example, viewers can click the timestamp in the transcription to fast forward the video.
 |
No matter what transcription process you’re using, you’ll likely need to make a few final tweaks to your transcription before sharing it with the world. Here are four bonus tips to save time and publish high-quality transcripts.
Your job as a transcriptionist is made ten times harder if you’re working with bad sound. Even automated transcription software can accidentally “transcribe” unwanted background noise, which you’ll need to go back in and remove manually.
Before you start writing a transcript, improve the audio quality of the original file. Features like Descript’s Studio Sound do this automatically. It uses artificial intelligence to remove unwanted background noise, leaving you with a high-quality audio file that you can use to create an error-free transcript.
Depending on the topic of the discussion you’re transcribing, it might be difficult to understand the speakers. This is especially true if you’re manually transcribing someone speaking in a different accent or dialect.
Transcription tools are usually better at picking up these differences, but if you’re writing a transcript manually (or editing one that’s been automatically generated), it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the speaker, subject matter, and common abbreviations. It’ll be easier to turn text into audio when you know what the speaker intended to say.
Being Freelance’s Steve Folland uses transcription software to produce transcripts. He goes back and removes any filler words that muddle up the text in his first draft.
“I lose the filler words like ums and ahs,” Steve says. “Then some guests have their own filler phrases like ‘you know’—I can search and delete these. Then I go through making it readable. Humans don’t really speak as fluently as we like to think we do, so do I go to the trouble of tidying up the whole interview just as a magazine journalist or editor would.”
🧠Pro tip: Let Descript do this for you. The filler word removal feature removes awkward pauses, “ums,” and “uhs” from both the video and the automated transcript—so you can publish clutter-free content that keeps viewers (or readers) engaged.
 |
A transcript is a word-for-word write-up of a discussion. You might create them for audio or video files to help people engage with the content without having to listen to it out loud.
A transcript should include the words spoken by someone in an audio recording. It should also name the different speakers and attach sentences to a timestamp for easy reference.
There are two ways to make a transcript: manually typing out each word or using transcription software. Descript, for example, uses AI to transcribe video and audio files with up to 95% accuracy.
Elise Dopson is a freelance writer, creator, and fierce Descript user. She's also the co-founder of Peak Freelance.
