Verbatim Transcription Rules

When you receive a transcription job and you are requested to transcribe it verbatim, are you just going to type away with your knowledge about verbatim transcription? Or are going to search more about it to be able to deliver the perfect verbatim transcription? What about retrieving clarification from your client?

Here in this post, we'll share some of the rules that you can consider for a verbatim transcription. 

But first, let's have a look at what verbatim transcription is.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, verbatim means "In the exact words" or "word for word". Does this mean that we have to transcribe every word including false starts and the uhms and ahs in the file? 

Absolutely. 

Verbatim Transcription means typing out every sound and every word on an audio/video recording. You should convert the original source to text with every corresponding word and you must be skilled in doing so.

You should be able to listen attentively without ignoring the fillers and false starts. You must have a great attention to detail and the patience to clarify every word you hear in the recording. 

Aside from the obvious, here are some rules that you can follow with regards to Verbatim Transcription:

• Don't leave out the non-verbal communication

When transcribing, you may have the tendency to just transcribe the spoken word. However, when you are required to do a verbatim transcription, you must also consider the non-verbal sounds in the recording such as laughing, hand gestures, and pauses. Be sure to include those in your transcriptions.

• Note external sounds

The difference between the non-verbal communication and the external sounds is that the external sounds pertains to doors banging, phone ringing, or dog barking. 

There are some instances when clients and customers require that this should be included in the transcript. Especially for transcriptions needed for market research or qualitative research, they often want to know what's happening with the surroundings while someone is speaking. It is vital to have these sounds noted. It can be placed inside brackets and may or may not have time stamps in them.

• Capture every word (Don't paraphrase)

Since this is a verbatim transcription, you ought to transcribe it word for word even if it's not quite readable. For business transcriptions, you might not need to do this. However, if the transcription is for researchers and analysts, be sure not to paraphrase the statements and always transcribe the recording word for word. This is because the emotion is captured more when each word is transcribed. Depending on the purpose of the transcription, this will really have a big difference. So when you're asked to do a verbatim transcription, always type them word for word.

So whenever you are being asked to do a verbatim transcription, consider these three rules and you can never go wrong.