A lot of people don’t know what transcription is. “I listen. And then
I write it down,” I say. I make hand gestures to illustrate it, miming
the act, without which my explanation would remain indecipherable.

“For what?” they ask. The idea, in this age, that things get typed up
in a seemingly long process surprises no-one… but what exactly needs
to be typed up?

I usually respond that I type meetings and interviews. But that is
only half the fun. I get to be a fly on the wall, party to the
conversations and events that make our society tick. The ones that
need to be recorded and referenced for their importance. Or I type
hours of sports commentary.

Previously, I worked on television documentaries. The thrill of
gaining exclusive insights into peoples’ lives and their stories is
what drew me. I was a fly on the wall, albeit a huge one with imposing
lights, cameras, and microphones dangling in front of peoples’ faces
from above. Now it is just me, a computer and a comfortable set of
headphones. I am a much smaller fly.

I have learnt about accident investigation, health
services and drug addiction, how to play poker, how to run a
successful global engineering business. (Money, drugs and gambling.
It’s a healthy diet!) Some of the sound files I get sent made me
think, others have made me cry. And of course, they’re all
confidential, so I must keep these personal tragedies and triumphs all
to myself.

I am an auto-completion thrill-seeker. (That’s when word processors type
half the word for me. Or correct my spelling as I go. My favourite
sentences all have names of months and days of the week in them. I
can’t type the word “beautiful” with letters in the right order.)

I am attached to the word processor, the keyboard, the pedal.
Transcription is more tactile, sensual than you would imagine. I try
not to be bitter about the way most people speak. (Ungrammatically.) I
love Wikipedia and won’t type a word I don’t understand. I am
interested in etymology. I remain constantly fascinated and I wonder if the
correct spelling of obscure famous peoples’ names, the heads of
panels, the authors of unimaginably niche reports, surprises our
clients.

But mostly I am grateful to you – the clients, for your quirky
stories, curious interviews, ambitious theses, and investigative
passion. Thanks for keeping my job interesting. You are all unique.

Joe

Hello and welcome to the new UK Transcription blog.

Here you can find news and updates about UK Transcription’s expanding range of services, and also more general news relating to transcription, speech to text technologies, and writing.

If you have any suggestions for posts, please feel welcome to contact us.