Excerpt from virtual industry e-book

An excerpt from my e-book "Working From Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa" which retails for R120. Contact me gpaynter@telkomsa.net for more info and to buy.

STARTING OUT



Now that you’ve decided what aspect of transcription you’re going to do, let’s get started!


It’s a great idea to start out part time if you possibly can and build things up slowly, however if you have lost your job or have some  financial backing to see yourself through some times of setting up, then it may be viable for you to start out full time.

You will probably get many people who tell you it won’t work. Those are people who either want to manipulate you in some way or have employee mindsets. If you go into this with an entrepreneurial mindset and the belief that it’s what you want to do and if you are prepared to work harder than you’ve ever worked before — as Shakespeare puts it, “suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”, then there is no
reason why it should not work. Be warned however, this is not for people who are lazy and want things to fall into their lap. It has to be fought for, and things can happen for you from day one or from year six. Fighting for something you believe in means going against the flow if necessary and surrounding yourself with people who believe in it as opposed to listening to negativity.

"Gaynor Paynter has written a down to earth, user-friendly guide based on her own personal experience. It’s easy to read and mostly comprehensive." – Michelle Nel, freelance environmentalist journalist. 

General Recording Tips

Nothing is more stressful than receiving poorly recorded audio to transcribe. You just know that try as you might, you are going to struggle to give your client the quality transcript you usually return. Therefore, I urge clients to look at the following, and for transcriptionists to distribute the following general recording tips to clients.

• Ask participants not to speak simultaneously. If possible ensure that each person has a microphone to speak into. One recorder placed in the middle of the table is not sufficient.

• Mikes should be placed close to the speaker and pointed at him or her. If there is only one mike and one respondent, point the microphone towards the interviewee as it will be of less consequence to lose what the interviewer is saying than the interviewee. Spell out difficult names or references.

• Ask each speaker to introduce him or herself clearly at the beginning and spell out their name.

• Send a list of commonly used jargon or names to us. Agendas and notes help greatly with transcribing conferences. If the interviewer has used a list of standard questions, please send that along too. If you're concerned about the quality of the recording, ask the interviewer to repeat what the respondent has said.

• Try to minimize background noise. Some common sources of background noise include: Traffic, construction and other street noise Noise from other rooms or hallways through open doors. Machinery running in the background TV sets and radios. People making noise in the background. Pets or other animals. Clocks that chime. Doors shutting or slamming. Coughs, sneezes, etc.

• Try to minimize people leaving or entering during the event, but if they must ask them to do so quietly and to not bang the door.

• Conduct a thorough sound check before the event.

• If possible, encourage speakers to make some verbal reference to things they may be indicating visually.

• Although we accept recordings in most formats, we prefer mp3 as this format is standard, works on most digital playback software, and does not usually require conversion.