Oftentimes that’s where the process ends though and it can be difficult to make any use of the voice memo and this is where an audio-to-text transcription service is invaluable. By turning the voice memo into a text document, it’s easier to interact with and use and in this article, I explain how to transcribe voice memos for your benefit.
Why Transcribe Voice Memos to Text?
There are so many benefits to transcribing your voice memos including:
- To prevent missed information.
- For more accurate note-taking.
- To have a permanent record of the conversation/meeting/memo.
- For further research and analysis.
- To share with other people.
- To extract quotes and information from.
Voice memos stored on your smartphone or computer aren’t exactly accessible or easy to use. Converting them into a digital text file skyrockets their accessibility and usability. For example, you can copy and paste snippets of text from the transcription in the form of quotes.
It also makes sharing voice memos easy as you can either copy and paste the text into things like emails or directly share the converted text file.
Having a text document also makes for easier analysis and research. For example, instead of relying on hastily written lecture notes, you could use a voice memo to create an accurate transcription which would aid during revision.
Manual Transcription Methods
If you want to do things the hard way you can manually transcribe your voice memos. I don’t recommend this method as it’s time consuming although the results are accurate.
Essentially, manual transcription involves playing the voice memo on your device while typing it out as you listen on a computer or laptop. Even if you are a fast and accurate typer, it will take multiple playbacks to transcribe a voice memo fully whereas as you can see below, an automated service can do the same job instantly.
Automated Transcription Solutions
When looking at how to transcribe voice memos, an automated service is the way forward. To transcribe audio to text the software or app uses incredibly advanced voice recognition software to detect speech. This is then translated into text and converted into a common text file document such as a Word doc or Notepad doc.
Compared to manual transcription, an automated process offers speed, accuracy, and accessibility. There is virtually no manual work involved and the analysis and conversion are infinitely quicker than you could ever achieve.
Most advanced transcription services or apps also can detect and distinguish between multiple speakers and understand accents. You get a perfectly transcribed voice memo and a text file that you can easily share with others or extract data from.
The process usually involves sharing or uploading your voice memo to the transcription service. It then does all the hard work and spits out a text file.
Tips for Accurate Transcription
To help get the most out of your voice memos, I have listed some simple transcription tips below.
Put data privacy and security first
I can’t stress the importance of respecting people’s privacy and complying with laws relating to recording conversations enough. You have to behave ethically and as a bare minimum, you must have the legal right to create a recording whether this is an interview, a doctor's appointment, or a lecture for example.
If you can legally create voice memos, you then have to make sure that everyone involved consents to being recorded and is aware of the recording device.
Consider the quality of the audio recording device
A transcription service is only as good as the original recording quality! If the recording quality is poor with a heap of background noise and static, the transcription service may struggle to analyze the speech accurately.
Where possible, record your voice memo in a closed room where there is no external noise pollution . Next, consider the recording device. Are you using the cheap built-in mic from your smartphone, or do you have a high-quality microphone?
Make sure the recording device is centrally located
Lastly, consider the positioning of the recording device in proximity to everyone who will talk during the voice memo. Ideally, everyone involved should be close to the recording device so their voices are picked up and can be distinguished by the transcription app.
Make Better Use of Your Voice Memos With Accurate Transcriptions
Hopefully, you now have a clear understanding of how to transcribe voice memos and you can see the benefit of using an automated transcription app or service. With this knowledge, you can make use of your voice memos instead of simply storing them on your recording device and forgetting they exist.
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