Clean Verbatim - Basic
The default transcription style at TranscribeMe is Clean Verbatim (CV). Clean verbatim is an approach to transcribing which ensures that the transcription is clear, succinct, and easy to read, while at the same time preserves essential information and meaning.
We want to accurately represent everything that is said in the audio. However, for our clean verbatim product, we do want to clean up their speech to make it easier to read. We just don't want to edit their speech. The most common features of speech altered by clean verbatim are stutters and stammers, filler words and crutch words. This section will lay out specifically how to transcribe your audio file using TranscribeMe Clean Verbatim.
Stutters and Stammers
Interruptions
When speakers interject or talk over one another, there are two ways to handle this:
When the first speaker is near the end of a sentence or phrase and the second speaker starts talking, it is usually best to go ahead and finish the first speaker's paragraph and then pick up with the first word of the second.
What is your name and your age, please? Fernando, and I'm 54 years old.
It's not clear from the transcript that Fernando interrupted, but it is absolutely clear and easy to follow the conversation.
On the other hand, sometimes the interruption has to be in place for the transcript to make sense, or the first speaker is going to continue much too long to reasonably finish their thought before getting to the interruption. In this case, we mark the interrupted and resumed speech with dashes.
Now I am going to tell you-- Wait a minute. --what I think about the company
You can also use dashes when the speaker is interrupted and never finishes their sentence or question.
I think it's time to-- So shouldn't we--? Sorry, you go ahead.
Conjunctions and Interjections
We know your English teacher taught you never to start a sentence with a conjunction - and, but, so, or, then, etc. - but at TranscribeMe, all such words at the beginning, middle, or end of sentences should be transcribed. If a speaker ends their sentence with a conjunction, we offset it with a comma and end in a period, so.
Interjections such as well, oh, or ah should also be included:
And I wanted to get a new dog, but. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So why didn't it work out? Well, it was like, "This dog won't work." Oh. But that's too bad. Eh, and he kind of smelled, so. Ah, that's a shame.
Background and Side Conversations
As a general rule, we transcribe the main speakers and their interactions with anyone else in the file. When deciding what to include or exclude from the file, note that, if the main speakers have no interaction with those speaking in the background, the background does not need to be transcribed. However, if the main speakers interact with or somehow acknowledge the other speaker(s), they become relevant to the transcript and must be included.
Background Conversations
This includes things such as conversations of other diners not at the speaker's table in a busy restaurant, the waiter taking someone else's order, or a hospital or school PA system announcement. However, that same waiter must be transcribed when he or she speaks to the participants in the file to take their order or interact with them, and the announcement must be transcribed if the main speakers comment on it or it affects the flow of the transcript.
Students in a classroom lecture are considered participants in the lecture and therefore you should transcribe what you can make out, using [inaudible], [crosstalk], and Guess Tags as needed.
If a TV or radio is playing in the background and the main speakers have no interaction with it, you may ignore it. However, if the speakers comment on any videos or audio clips in the file, they become relevant and must be transcribed.
Side Conversations
A side conversation is when the participants in the file break away from the main topic to have a conversation amongst themselves that does not include other participants in the file. It may be two people close to the mic making lunch plans, or a group in a lecture not paying attention to the professor but talking about the weekend. This also includes when an interviewer mutes the phone to have a side conversation with a coworker, even if that coworker does not speak at any other point in the file. You must make every effort to capture what the main speakers are saying, even if it requires breaking up another main speaker to do so and even if the topic being discussed has no apparent relevance to the rest of the file.