Interview Transcription: AI & Manual Methods for Beginners

I'm a beginner, but I want to know how to transcribe interviews!

When conducting an interview, transcribing the recorded content is crucial.

Whether you're publishing interview content as web or print articles, or using it as material for research or academic papers, transcription is the first step in the process.

However, if you try to transcribe manually by typing everything out, it can be very time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Therefore, this article will thoroughly explain how to efficiently and accurately transcribe interview content.

We've compiled all the essential knowledge for interview transcription, from the differences in writing styles (verbatim, edited, and polished transcripts) to recording tips and methods for efficiency using AI.

We recommend using AI transcription services, which have rapidly improved in performance and functionality in recent years.

They offer convenient features that make it easy for even beginners to transcribe interview content into text. Why not give them a try, referencing this article?

What is Interview Transcription?

Converting audio content into text, or transcription, is an indispensable task after conducting an interview.

What exactly needs to be done during interview transcription?

How to Transcribe Interview Content?

To use interview content for web or print articles, or as material for research or academic papers, it needs to be transcribed into written text.

During an interview, the interviewer (listener) asks questions to the interviewee (speaker), and the interview progresses through conversation.

Unlike other forms of transcription, such as lectures or dictation, interview transcription requires organizing the content spoken by multiple people for each speaker, which means beginners will need some tips and tricks for this task.

Types of Interview Transcriptions (Verbatim, Edited Verbatim, and Polished Text)

Before starting a transcription, it's important to decide how much to refine the audio content.

There are three levels of interview transcription, used differently depending on the purpose.

• Verbatim (Raw Transcription)
• Edited Verbatim (Clean Verbatim)
• Polished Text (Summarized/Edited)

Let's compare the differences using examples from the same interview content.

(This is also explained in this article)

What's the Difference Between Verbatim, Edited Verbatim, and Polished Text? A Deep Dive into the 3 Transcription Formats

A thorough explanation of the differences between verbatim, edited verbatim, and polished text! Optimize your transcription process by choosing the right format. Significantly reduce work time with AI. Detailed guide on the best methods for various purposes.

Verbatim Transcription

Verbatim transcription is the process of transcribing spoken content exactly as it was said.

This includes meaningless words like "um," "uh," "hmm," and even misspoken parts, transcribed exactly as they are.

Interviewer: So, first of all, um, I'd like you to tell me about a product you've recently developed.

Speaker: It's an innovative smart home device, I guess. Um, it was, uh, it was born from customer requests to improve the convenience of daily, daily life, you know.

Interviewer: Oh, so, what are the differences or advantages compared to competitors, then?

Speaker: When we were doing competitive analysis, um, there were devices already existing in the market, and, um, we investigated those in detail, you know.

In this way, the content spoken during the interview is transcribed exactly as it was said.

Edited Verbatim Transcription

Edited verbatim transcription involves removing unnecessary parts, such as meaningless words like "um," "uh," "hmm," and misspoken sections, to make the text easier to read.

This level is often used in interview transcriptions because it retains subtle nuances while improving readability.

Interviewer: First, I'd like you to tell me about a product you've recently developed.

Speaker: It's an innovative smart home device. It was born from customer requests to improve the convenience of daily life.

Interviewer: What are the differences or advantages compared to competitors?

Speaker: During competitive analysis, there were devices already existing in the market, and we investigated those in detail.

As you can see, by removing unnecessary parts, the transcribed content becomes much easier to read than a verbatim transcription.

Polished Text

Polished text is the process of further refining the edited verbatim content into its final form.

• Converting spoken language into written language
• Adjusting the writing style to suit the purpose, such as for business articles or casual articles

These tasks are performed.

This is often the final step when publishing interview content as an article.

Interviewer: Could you please tell me about the product you recently developed?

Speaker: It is an innovative smart home device. It was created based on customer feedback to enhance daily convenience.

Interviewer: Could you explain the differences and advantages compared to competitors?

Speaker: In our competitive analysis, we thoroughly researched existing devices in the market.

In this example, the content has been refined from the casual conversational tone of the original interview to a style suitable for a business-related interview article.

Recommended Interview Transcription Methods

There are three main methods for transcribing interview content.

• Using AI transcription services
• Manually transcribing by typing yourself
• Hiring a professional transcriptionist

If you transcribe by typing yourself, it typically takes 5-6 hours for one hour of interview audio.

While hiring a professional transcriptionist is an option, it usually takes about 3 days for delivery and incurs a significant cost.

Therefore, we recommend using an AI transcription service.

For example, for one hour of audio:

Transcription that used to take many hours manually can be completed in just about 1 minute with an AI transcription service.

AI technology is rapidly advancing, offering high accuracy, which significantly reduces the effort needed for post-editing.

How to Choose an AI Transcription Service for Interviews

While there are many AI transcription services available, there are key points to check when using one for interview transcription.

Utilizes High-Precision, Latest AI

A high-performance AI that can accurately recognize speech will produce high-quality transcriptions.

By choosing a service equipped with the latest AI, even hard-to-hear parts can be accurately converted into text.

Timestamp Display

When transcription results include time information (timestamps), you can immediately tell "at what minute and second of the audio this statement occurred."

This eliminates the need to listen to the audio from the beginning when you want to find "where that particular statement was made."

Speaker Diarization Function

In multi-person interviews, a speaker diarization function that separates transcription results by speaker saves the effort of organizing statements later.

AI Summarization and Analysis Features

It's even more convenient if the service offers functions for AI to automatically process the transcribed content.

This eliminates the need to extract key points from scratch when compiling interview content into an article.

Recommended AI Site for Interview Transcription: Mr. Transcription

Mr. Transcription is an AI service perfectly suited for transcribing interview content.

Mr. Transcription is a web application equipped with the latest speech recognition AI.

Even long audio files can be transcribed with high accuracy in just about 1 minute.

Furthermore, it comes with convenient features for interview transcription:

• Speaker Diarization Function: When you upload with the speaker diarization function enabled, it distinguishes who spoke and transcribes each speaker separately.
• Timestamp Display: Time information is added to the transcription results, allowing you to check the timing of statements within the audio.
• Meeting Minutes Creation Function: AI automatically creates meeting minutes from the transcription results. You can quickly summarize the key points of the interview content.

It can quickly handle situations like "I want to create an interview article" or "I want to summarize interview research content."

Moreover, Mr. Transcription does not require registration and offers a free trial of up to 3 minutes per day.

Additionally, free members can transcribe up to 10 minutes per day for free.

If you're looking for an interview transcription method, why not try AI transcription with Mr. Transcription first?

How to Transcribe Interviews with Mr. Transcription

Now, let's specifically explain the process of transcribing interview content using Mr. Transcription.

Record Interview Content During the Interview

First, when conducting an interview, record the content.

You can use a smartphone or a dedicated IC recorder for recording equipment.

However, if possible, using dedicated equipment such as a condenser microphone or lavalier microphone will allow you to record in higher quality.

How to Transcribe Recorded Audio from IC Recorders/Voice Recorders for Free

Learn how to save recorded audio from IC recorders and voice recorders to your PC or smartphone and convert it to text using a free AI transcription service. We cover checking file formats and sizes, uploading, and how to edit and save transcription results.

※While AI speech recognition is highly accurate and can handle some background noise, better audio quality will result in even higher quality transcriptions.

Transcribe Audio with Mr. Transcription

Transcribe the recorded audio using Mr. Transcription.

We will explain how to use Mr. Transcription step-by-step.

1. Select Language and Turn on Speaker Separation

This is the top page of Mr. Transcription.

First, select the language you want to transcribe from the menu.

If you want to transcribe an interview with multiple people, separating each speaker, turn on "Speaker Separation" next to the language selection.

※Audio containing multiple languages cannot be accurately transcribed.

2. Select a File

Drag and drop or select the file you want to transcribe.

For drag and drop, you can place the file anywhere on the screen.

Once a file is selected, the upload and transcription process will start automatically.

Files supported by Mr. Transcription

The following file types are supported:

• [Image Files]
  File size: Less than 10MB
  Supported formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .webp
  *If the text is sideways or upside down, transcription may not be possible, so please correct the orientation.
• [Document Files]
  File size: Less than 50MB
  Supported format: .pdf
• [Audio Files]
  File size: Less than 1GB
  Audio duration:
  ・Basic Plan: Within 90 minutes
  ・Value Plan: Within 3 hours
  ・Premium Plan: Within 5 hours
• Supported formats: .mp3, .wav, .wma, .m4a, .aifc, .flac, .aac, .aiff, .aifc
• [Video Files]
  File size: Less than 1GB
  Audio duration:
  ・Basic Plan: Within 90 minutes
  ・Value Plan: Within 3 hours
  ・Premium Plan: Within 5 hours
  Supported formats: .mp4, .mov, .avi, .flv, .mkv, .webm, .wmv, .3gp

*Uploading multiple files simultaneously is not supported. Please upload one file at a time.

Uploading files that exceed the supported formats or time limits may result in an upload error.

You can enable uploads by reducing the file size, converting the file, or splitting the file.

Large video files are automatically converted to audio files (learn more here).

Example: Splitting a 3-hour MP3 file into three 1-hour files.

For detailed instructions, please refer to " How to Make Unsupported Files Compatible".

Mr. Transcription's Supported Files and Sizes: How to Handle Unsupported Files

This guide explains Mr. Transcription's supported file types and what to do when you have an unsupported file.

3. Transcription Completed

The transcription is now complete.

If you kept the top page open, the transcription results will appear there.

If you closed the page, you will be notified by email once the transcription is finished.

Alternatively, you can access the history page by clicking the "Check History button" or selecting "History" from the menu.

4. Opening the Transcription Results Page

The history page has opened.

On the history page, click on the file name of the uploaded audio.

This will open the transcription results page.

If you transcribed with speaker separation, the transcription results will be displayed for each speaker, as shown here.

On this screen, you can also play back specific sections of the original audio to check the content, and edit or save the transcription results.

5. Downloading Transcription Results

Clicking the "Download Text" button allows you to download the file in text format.

You can also save the file in Microsoft Word's DOCX format by clicking the "Word" button.

This completes the process of transcribing an interview audio file using Mr. Transcription.

What would take hours for manual interview transcription is now just an audio upload with Mr. Transcription.

Why not try Mr. Transcription yourself and reduce the time and effort spent on interview transcription?

Key Points for Interview Transcription

Here are some important tips to ensure a smooth interview transcription process.

Prepare the Recording Environment

The accuracy of transcription heavily depends on the quality of the recording.

Conduct interviews in as quiet a place as possible, and be careful to avoid extraneous noises like air conditioning or background music.

Position the microphone as close to the speaker as possible to capture their voice clearly.

Note Down Proper Nouns and Technical Terms

Interviews often contain many proper nouns and technical terms, such as names of people, companies, products, and industry jargon.

Creating a glossary in advance will make checking and correcting the transcription more efficient.

Decide on a Speaker Identification Method

Since multiple people speak in an interview, it's crucial to be able to identify who said what after transcription.

Having participants state their names at the beginning of the recording or noting down seating arrangements can streamline the editing process later.

By enabling Mr. Transcription's speaker separation feature, the transcription will be organized by speaker, making it easy to identify who said what.

AI Transcription Services Recommended for Interview Transcription

Interview transcription is a particularly time-consuming process among post-interview tasks.

While transcribing used to involve hours of typing on a keyboard, it can now be completed quickly using AI transcription services.

By reducing the time spent on transcription, you can focus more on the tasks you originally intended to do, such as writing articles or analyzing content.

If you're using an AI transcription service, we recommend one with features like meeting minute creation and time code display, such as Mr. Transcription!

Why not streamline your interview transcription with the latest AI?