Transcriptions add great value to your podcasts and are extremely helpful for the audience listening to your podcasts. The transcribed text can be used to create closed captions, blog posts, or other forms of written content that can help to promote and share the podcast.
In this article, we’ll briefly cover everything you need to know about transcribing podcasts to text, including free and paid options for transcription software.
We will dive into why you should transcribe your podcasts to text, and analyze which is better, free or pro way.
So, without any further ado, let’s dive in.
Why Should You Transcribe Podcast to Text?
Transcribing your podcasts into written content has several benefits.
- Drive more accessible
One of them is accessibility. Transcripts make your content more accessible to hearing-impaired people or those who prefer reading over listening to podcasts.
- Improve SEO results
The second is that written content can improve your SEO by providing search engines with more text to crawl and index. By including keywords, you can make it more discoverable on the internet.
- Get various forms of content for different uses
Moreover, you may also repurpose transcribed podcasts into other forms of content such as blog posts, articles, and e-books, or you can upload the transcript of podcast episodes to your websites or add bits of the podcast in the newsletter or social posts to attract a larger audience.
- Better highlights
You can even add a highlight of your podcast to persuade viewers to listen to your full podcast and let them get an idea of what they’d be learning. Podcast viewers can skim over the highlights of your podcast video or audio recordings, making it easier for them to hit the play button.
- Better audience engagement
Furthermore, it also leads to better audience engagement. Transcriptions make it easier for the audience to follow along, for instance, taking notes to remember important sections and share the content with others.
With that said, let’s look at some ways podcasts can be transcribed.
How to Transcribe a Podcast?
There are several ways to transcribe a podcast, including manual transcription and automated transcription software.
Manual transcription is listening to the podcast audio and typing words yourself. This can be time taking, but it’s often the most authentic method, as it results in careful analyzation of phrases, jargon, accents, and difficult words.
Automated transcription software, on the other hand, uses AI to transcribe the audio to text. While this method is faster, it may not be as accurate as manual transcription, especially if the audio is of poor quality, has quite a lot of background noise and the speaker has a unique accent.
If you want to learn more about their differences and advantages, check this article about automatic transcription vs. human transcription.
Preparing Your Podcast for Converting Podcast to Text
Before choosing transcription software or service, it’s important to prepare your audio files for transcription.
Some tips to prepare your podcast for converting into text are as follows.
- Ensure good audio quality.
Clear audio makes it easier for transcription software to accurately transcribe your content. If possible, use a high-quality microphone and record in a quiet environment, thus minimizing background noise and tones.
- Choose a file format
Most transcription software supports common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and AIFF. Check the documentation of your chosen software to ensure compatibility.
- Edit your audio files
Remove background noise, adjust volume levels, and cut out any irrelevant parts of your audio, to ensure the AI accurately identifies the words for successful transcription.
If you cannot follow the tips to prepare your audio file for transcription, then it is the best to go with a paid podcast transcription service. You can try wordspath to help.
For high-quality and accurate transcription, paid podcast transcriptions services are recommended as they can identify change in tones, background noises, and understand different accents. And some of them even can do the preparation work for you.
Popular Free Podcast Transcription Software
If you’re on a tight budget, there are several free podcast transcription software options available. These free podcast transcription software does the job of converting podcast to text, but may need a bit of editing on your end to ensure the transcribed text is accurate and does not miss any important words.
Here are a few popular ones:
1. Otranscribe
Otranscribe is one of the most convenient transcription services that convert podcasts to text. It has features like keyboard shortcuts, audio slow-down, and export options.
The open-source online app welcomes you with a large blue button claiming: “Start Transcribing.” Simply submit your audio or video, and you’re ready to go.
When you’re done, log in to Google Drive and save your transcript. MD,.txt, or. otr (oTranscribe’s proprietary file type). It supports common audio file formats and offers automatic backups to ensure that you don’t lose your work.
2. The FTW Transcriber
The FTW Transcriber is a free transcription software that supports foot pedal control, allowing you to transcribe using a foot pedal instead of a keyboard.
The free transcriber supports a wide variety of audio and video file formats( MP3, WAV, and WMA )as well as technical features such as bookmarks and timestamps. It can also link straight to your word processor.
The only drawback is that it is only accessible for Windows and Android. It also offers timestamping and spell-checking features.
3. Express Scribe
Express Scribe takes a little longer to get started, but it’s jam-packed with features. Hotkeys and flexible playback speed make it ideal for experts.
It also integrates with other software, so you may transcribe podcasts right into your favorite word processor. It offers foot pedal control, hotkeys, and automatic backup.
The software supports common audio file formats and offers both automatic and manual timestamping options.
Additionally. It also offers a premium Pro version with more features such as greater format compatibility.
Popular Paid Podcast Transcription Services
Even with so many great free tools, transcribing podcasts is quite a chore. For that, you may want to consider investing in automated tools, especially for longer-form shows, to help speed the process.
If you’re willing to invest in transcription software for transcribing your podcasts, there are several good quality paid options available.
1. Wordspath
One of the best podcast transcription service, Wordspath offers a combination of automated and human transcription options. It also offers translations, speaker identification, custom formatting, and subtitles for multiple languages.
With Wordspath, you can obtain superior quality podcast transcripts with a 99.8% accuracy rate, and build your audience not just through your podcast, but also content.
You can get an instant free quote for your podcast transcription by entering the info. They follow a 3-stage quality assurance process, where an initial transcriptionist, a second transcriptionist, and lastly, a dedicated project manager assures the transcription is free of errors, and accommodates any feedback and edits from the clients.
Get to know more details of professional transcription services.
Transcribe My Podcast to Text Now
2. Rev
Rev is a paid transcription service (starting at $1.50 per minute of audio) that offers human transcribers for higher accuracy. It also offers automatic transcription software for faster, cheaper transcriptions. Rev offers several integrations with popular podcast hosting platforms.
Rev provides both AI and human speech-to-text services. You may transcribe Podcast to text with 90% accuracy by dragging and dropping your Podcast video, audio files, and even a YouTube link.
If your podcast contains several terms from academic subjects such as medicine, physics, and so on, you can also use a human transcription service.
3. Podcastle
Podcastle offers both human and automated transcription options. It also offers translations for multiple languages and integrations with popular podcast hosting platforms. It has features like custom dictionaries, speaker separation, and export options.
It also allows you to normalize the level of the Podcast and remove any background noise as a specialist tool for editing Podcast audio. The only drawback of Podcastle is that it is unable to retain the visuals of Podcast videos.
As a result, you cannot avail of automatically generated Podcast transcripts as podcast subtitles for your Podcast video.
4. Trint
Trint is a paid transcription software that offers automatic transcriptions.
It also integrates with popular podcast hosting platforms and includes collaboration tools for multiple users.
It incorporates advanced speech recognition technology. And is a great choice at $48 per month.
5. Go Transcript
Go Transcript is a paid transcription service that offers human transcription at a number of transcription options, including verbatim, clean verbatim, and intelligent verbatim.
Starting at $0.84 per minute of audio, it is a cost-efficient option.
Which is Better for You? Free or Paid Transcribing Software
Transcribing podcasts to texts can be a time-taking task, but it is important for making your content accessible to a larger audience.
While there are both free and paid options available for transcription, the decision ultimately depends on your budget and the level of accuracy and convenience you require.
If you have a limited budget and can spare time, free transcription software can be a good option. However, if you require fast and accurate transcriptions and have the budget, paid transcription software can be a better option.
Regardless of which one you choose, transcribing your podcasts is a crucial progression toward reaching a larger audience and improving the accessibility of your content.
