Interview Transcription Tips Part One

Whether you are recording interviews for general information, research or a dissertation, there are a number of things that you can do to ensure that your recordings are clear, concise and contain all the information that you need for whatever project you are working on. Having your interviews transcription can be extremely useful for a quick overview of your interview session or as a way of collating data. For this reason, we want you to conduct and record the best interviews possible and so we have come up with a quick guide to getting the most from your interview sessions.
 
Reduce Background Noise
One of the most important things to do when recording an interview for transcription is to reduce the amount of background noise as much as possible. For instance, find a quiet room, where you won’t get distracted to record your interview. Public places such as restaurants, bars, clubs or parks are definatley not ideal for conducting interviews and can result in a transcript that is full of [unclears] and [inaudibles].
Other background noise to be aware of is cutlery if you are serving food at your interview and if conducting a group interview, participants speaking among themselves.
 
Use The Correct Microphones and Recording Equipment
Selecting the right recording equipment is imperitive if you want to record a clear interview. Common mistakes are, not using enough microphones and seating speakers too far from the microphone. Recording group interviews on your tablet device or smartphone is also a bad idea, as the speakers won’t be heard properly and you will end up paying a higher rate for your transcript due to bad audio quality and most likely receive a transcript with big chunks of dialogue that couldn’t be heard.
Another bad idea is trying to record a telephone conversation by holding a microphone to the earpiece, please do not do this as it is not an effective way of recording a telephone conversation and in fact there are now many free apps that allow you to record your telephone conversations clearly from your smartphone. Please note that it is illegal in the UK to record a telephone conversation without prior agreement from all speakers.
 
Intrigued? We hope so!
Be sure to visit our blog in the next couple of days for part two and more tips on how to get the most from your interviews and interview transcripts.
 
If you are interested in knowing more about our transcription services or would like a quote on an audio or video file, why not get in touch? We are always happy to help.