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The Magic Wand of Transcription

By February 23, 2012September 4th, 2021No Comments

I made the mistake, once, of volunteering to transcribe an interview for a friend, thinking all I needed was my handy skill of typing at an average of 80 wpm. Unfortunately this was not enough – not considering when the average human talks at a speed of 110 – 150 wpm. It cost almost three hours — and a splitting headache — to filter through the 30-minute interview and create some semblance of sense on paper. A magic wand would have come in handy.

But this is not a Harry Potter novel and I am no magician, so there will be no magic wand – but nifty transcription software would be my second, more realistic, preference.

Transcription software in recent years has made great strides towards improving its accuracy and speed. Only too soon will the time come for me to say goodbye, to the hours spent winding and rewinding interviews, chasing words onto paper.

Professionals in various industries; medical, business and media, are already making use of this near magical technology. Founder of Eventory, a UK internet-based property inventory service, Mark Dann, made the move to dictation machines that transcribed speech into text almost 6 years ago — giving him a “winning edge” to his business. He said this move gave him the ability to produce instant reports, winning, what he described as, a competitive edge in the industry.

He claimed the machine transformed the equivalent of a 25-page report in just five or six minutes. Back then – 6 years ago – he would have saved hours. Today, with the giant strides transcription software is making, he may even save days worth of time. Dann used the extra time in his day to increase his company’s productivity and succeed in a tough industry.

Personally, I’d use this newfound time to even out my “work-life balance.”

Beginning with the top five fun things to do below.

  1. Take a four-day-weekend to a nearby lake, hot spring or even Pacific Island.
  2. Learn French
  3. Take a helicopter ride
  4. Enter a ballroom dancing competition.
  5. Take up skiing or snowboarding.

What would you do? The world is your oyster…

By Corazon Miller, Journalist