General Transcription: Effective Proofreading

By Guertin ~ The Go-To Writer

If there’s one thing I find I spend a lot of time on, it’s proofreading. This is especially true when it comes to transcription. If there is one thing I hate to see on a page when I’m working on transcripts, it’s those [inaudible]s and timestamps. I don’t like to see them when I’m working, and I certainly don’t like to have them there when I send my documents back to be officially proofread.

What I used to do – and for some reason I don’t think I’m alone here – is get totally hung up on figuring out what the word or phrase was before I would go on. Rewind. Play. Rewind. Play. Then I’d start talking to myself of course. “Come on now, it can’t be that hard. You should be able to get this.” Rewind. Play. Rewind. Play.

All of a sudden I’d have people peeking into my office asking if everything was okay. Apparently I have been mumbling at my computer – aloud no less – and my children are starting to wonder if they should be calling Dad. Mom definitely needs some sort of mental help or something.

It’s quite easy to waste 20 minutes or more trying to figure things out this way. When you don’t know the speaker you’re translating or what’s coming next, it’s often very frustrating. Two or three of these [inaudible] monsters in the same document can not only drive me a little nuts, but they can also make my transcription time run way over what it could be. Time is money folks, and you’re not making much of it when you’re holding yourself back from head-butting your monitor or screaming at your speakers.

In comes Mentor of the Year. She sees what’s happening and asks me a question. “How do you do your proofreading?” Now, I’m quite perplexed by this question. I’m not THAT new at this you know.

Well, this woman is a genius. Effective proofreading 101 – she should write a book. Until she does, here’s a fantastic tidbit of information that might help keep you sane a little while longer. Let me tell you there’s no need to fear the [inaudible] monster anymore.

When transcribing and you hit that area you’re not sure of, I do recommend you try to figure it out, but only twice or three times. No more than one or two minutes should be spent here at this point. After that, by all means use the [inaudible] with a timestamp and keep going. Chances are you’ll either hear something further into your audio or video that’s going to make your [inaudible] all of a sudden make sense, simply because the typical speaker will repeat the same information at one point or another in their dialogue.

If they don’t repeat the same thing, they may say something else which makes the entire grey area turn into a crystal clear thought or sentence. Finally, by hearing the entire audio or video you’re transcribing, things may ‘click’ better when you do your own proof of your document before sending it on.

By continuing with your transcription instead of beating your head on the corner of your desk to get through that small section of troublesome audio, you’re not only saving yourself time but a boatload of headaches as well. Tempted as you may be to sit there and work at it until you figure it out, move on and listen to it with ‘fresh ears’ afterwards. You’ll notice, I’m sure, a big change in the amount of frustration as well as time spent.

Happy transcribing!

Guertin ~ The Go-To Writer
Guertin Go-To Writer.com

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