4 Tips for Accurate Transcription When the Speaker Stutters

The art of transcription requires some level of concentration and skill. Transcriptionists need to be able to decipher between words, muffles and other noises in order to produce an accurate and easy to read final document. In many cases, such as the audio of an interview or lecture, the person speaking will have a stutter. With more than 68 million people around the world dealing with a stutter, it's imperative that a professional transcriptionist learns how to handle speech hesitations like this.

Businesses in numerous fields will rely on transcription services for daily operations. Whether the speciality is legal or academic transcription, the following tips will come in handy for transcribing disrupted audio recordings with repetitions and speech quirks:

1. Write Out the Stutter

Listening intently is important with any transcription job and is especially important when dealing with a stutter. The transcriptionist should write out exactly what is being said. For example, instead of "chair" the word "ch-ch-ch-chair" should be written.

2. Focus on Verbatim Transcription

With an exact replica of the conversation, the transcriptionist can then use verbatim transcription to give a general sound of the stutter. Verbatim transcription is the process of typing up everything that has been recorded. This is a common form of transcription used for stutters and is used widely in interviews and for court transcripts.

3. Intelligent Verbatim

If edited or content-only transcription is being completed, stutters should be left out completely. Intelligent verbatim is the process of writing out sentences with an accurate beginning, a middle and an end. By avoiding the stutter, such as by writing out "thought" instead of "th-th-th-thought" the reader can clearly understand what message was expressed in the audio. This technique is a preferred choice for general transcription, because irrelevant material can be eliminated, allowing for a smooth and to-the-point piece of content.

4. Transcribing Actual Words

Legal and research fields require transcribed documents to be on point and free of errors. Because of this, there is no room for a stutter. What is being said is of high importance to people in these fields; therefore, accurate documentation is a must.

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