Many meetings are recorded and often transcribed as a result. Transcription is capturing and recording human speech, usually in written or computerized text form. It can take a while to accomplish, depending on how good of an audio recorder you can access. Additionally, it’s challenging to transcribe a conversation that isn’t just one speaker talking all the time; some meetings require multiple participants with different speakers jumping in and out of the meeting at different times. Many conferences are recorded by the organizers using webcams or speakers’ microphones. Some of these recordings can be very long: hours and hours of audio. If you have a few minutes to spare, transcribing these recordings may provide better context to the meeting and ease your mind from a transcription perspective.
How to Transcribe A Meeting In Just Minutes
Decide on the format of your transcription.
You may transcribe the audio into a text, either plain text or with formatting, or you may transcribe it as a video transcript in which everything from the voice-over to each speaker is listed and saved in a separate file. If you go down this route, you will need to ensure that everything is recorded from a single speaker’s camera.
Open the audio file, and record the voices.
You will hear the audio file, Which should be either a recording of the meeting itself or at least include the room’s sounds. If it’s a recording, note what you hear on your transcript. If it’s a meeting recording, go ahead and open the audio file. Record your computer voice. The default one is fine in your notes, leaving a few lines of text for each speaker in case you need to go back and listen to them later.
Begin transcribing the meeting.
Begin transcribing the meeting, typing your notes, and committing to the audio file’s proper spelling. You may find it hard to keep up with multiple speakers at once; however, try your best to keep up with them.
When you finish your meeting, check for errors.
If you have multiple speakers, use the computer’s spell-checker on your transcript to see if any errors or words need to be fixed. If there are, correct them and move on to the next step. You can also ask a colleague to review your transcript to see if there are any mistakes.
When you’re done, save and share your recording!
When you are sure that your transcript is perfect or as close to perfect as possible, print it out and give it to the people who need access to it. Additionally, create a video transcript and upload it on Youtube or Vimeo for other people who cannot get any transcripts of their meetings.
If you are transcribing a long recording and want to save time, ask your recording device to convert the audio file into a text transcript. It is often easier than typing out everything in a text document. Also, try to ask your speaker questions or get their point of view on the subject before you transcribe it so that you can insert those details into the transcript to make it more meaningful for others.
