Why You Should Transcribe Your Podcast Audio and How to Do It

The world of podcasting is now bigger than it has ever been, and transcriptions for them are pretty much mandatory at this point. This tutorial will cover everything you’ll need to know about podcast transcription. Everything from automatic transcription, podcast transcription services, file formats, transcription features, and reaching a wider podcast audience and new listeners will be covered here.

What is podcast transcription?

Closed captions for podcasts are transcriptions of the audio content that are displayed as text on the screen and can be turned on or off by the listener. They provide a written representation of the spoken words in a podcast, which can help make the content more accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or for those who are listening in noisy environments. Closed captions can also help non-native English speakers better understand the content of the podcast.

As a podcast host, it’s important to try and reach as many people as humanly possible. Podcasts episodes that include a text version of the spoken words, sound effects, and music will do substantially better than ones that don’t.

There’s also the benefit of making the podcast more searchable online, or providing a written reference for listeners who want to revisit specific parts of the episode (episode transcripts). There’s a major benefit to having show notes and timestamps contained within a podcast. It makes it even easier for audiences to pick up where they left off.

Benefits of transcribing your podcast

Transcribing a podcast can offer several benefits, including:

1. Improved accessibility: Transcriptions make podcast content more accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing and also to those who are non-native speakers of the language used in the podcast.
2. Better search engine optimization (SEO): Podcast transcriptions can be optimized for search engines, making it easier for potential listeners to find the content.
3. Increased engagement: Providing transcriptions can allow listeners to more easily engage with the content by highlighting important quotes or sections, and taking notes.
4. Repurposing content: Transcripts can be used to repurpose content for other mediums, such as blogs, articles, or social media posts.
5. Better understanding: For listeners who want to revisit specific parts of an episode, or for those who struggle to keep up with the audio, transcripts can provide a written reference.
6. Improved accessibility for people with cognitive or learning disabilities: Transcriptions can provide an alternative way to access the content, which can be helpful for people with cognitive or learning disabilities.

Make your content more accessible

Closed captions for podcasts can make the content more accessible in several ways:

1. Accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing: Closed captions provide a written representation of the audio content, making the podcast accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
2. Improved understanding for non-native speakers: Closed captions can help non-native English speakers better understand the content of the podcast by providing a written representation of the spoken words.
3. Better accessibility in noisy environments: Closed captions can provide a visual representation of the audio content, making it easier to understand the podcast in noisy environments where audio may be difficult to hear.
4. Improved accessibility for people with cognitive or learning disabilities: Closed captions can provide an alternative way to access the content, which can be helpful for people with cognitive or learning disabilities.

By providing closed captions, podcast creators can make their content more accessible to a wider audience and improve the overall listening experience for all listeners.

Expand your audience

Podcast closed captions can expand your audience by making your content more accessible to a wider range of listeners, including those who are:

1. Non-native English speakers: Closed captions can help non-native speakers better understand the content, making the podcast accessible to a larger, international audience.
2. People who prefer to read rather than listen: Some listeners may prefer to read the closed captions instead of listening to the audio, which can expand the potential audience for your podcast.
3. People who are in noisy environments: Closed captions can make it easier for listeners to follow along and understand the content in noisy environments, such as on a busy street or in a public place. No matter how high-quality your audio is, it’s still beneficial to have audio transcription present.

By providing a transcript of your podcast, creators can make their content more accessible and appealing to a wider range of listeners, potentially increasing their audience.

Improve search engine visibility (SEO)

Podcast closed captions can improve search engine visibility in several ways:

1. Keyword optimization: Closed captions provide written text that can be optimized for search engines using keywords, which can make it easier for potential listeners to find your podcast when searching for relevant topics online.
2. Improved accessibility for search engine crawlers: Search engines use bots to crawl websites and index their content. By providing closed captions, you can make your content more accessible to these bots, which can improve the visibility of your podcast in search engine results.
3. Better representation of your content: Closed captions provide a written representation of your audio content, which can help search engines better understand the topics and themes covered in your podcast.

By making your podcast content more accessible and visible to search engines, closed captions can help potential listeners discover your podcast and improve your overall search engine visibility. What this will do is increase the engagement of your content on platforms such as LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google.

Types of podcast transcription files

Podcast transcription files can be broken up into a few different categories. For one, there are the actual file extensions of podcast transcriptions. This is the format that gets used when you add your transcriptions to your video files. There are several types of extensions such as .txt (made as a text file), .HTML (made in the HTML format), .docx (made in Microsoft Word), .srt files, and .rtf files.

These file extensions are different than the types of podcasts though. There are several different types of podcast transcription files, including

• Verbatim transcriptions: This type of transcription includes every word, filler word, and sound effect in the audio, providing a detailed and exact representation of the audio content.
• Clean read transcriptions: This type of transcription is a cleaned-up version of the audio content, with filler words, false starts, and other extraneous elements removed for readability.
• Time-stamped transcriptions: This type of transcription includes time codes that correspond to specific moments in the audio, allowing listeners to easily navigate to specific sections of the episode.
• Edited transcriptions: This type of transcription is a polished version of the audio content, with grammar and clarity improvements made for readability.
• Subtitled transcriptions: This type of transcription is similar to closed captions and includes both the spoken words and sound effects in a text format that is displayed on the screen and can be turned on or off by the listener.

The type of podcast transcription file you choose will depend on your specific needs and the goals you have for your podcast. Verbatim transcriptions provide the most detail, while edited transcriptions offer the most polished and readable representation of your audio content. When you transcribe podcasts, think about your audience and what subtitles are gonna work best for the kind of content you’re making.

How to manually transcribe your podcast

To manually transcribe your podcast, you'll need to listen to the audio and type out the spoken words, including dialogue, sound effects, and any other important elements. Here are the steps to manually transcribe a podcast:

1. Choose a transcription tool: You'll need a tool to type out the transcription, such as a word processor (like google docs) or dedicated transcription software. Many programs such as Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve have tools for this.
2. Listen to the audio: Start by playing the audio recording and listening carefully to the content.
3. Type out the content: As you listen to your audio file, type out the spoken words and any important elements, such as sound effects or background noise.
4. Edit for accuracy and clarity: Review your transcription for accuracy and make any necessary edits to ensure that it accurately reflects the content of the audio.
5. Repeat for the entire episode: Continue this process for the entire episode, pausing and rewinding as needed to ensure accuracy.

Manual transcription can be a time-consuming process, but it allows you to have full control over the final transcription and ensure that it accurately represents your podcast.

How to transcribe your podcast with Simon Says

Typing everything manually can be a huge pain in podcast transcription. Automated transcription software is a great time-saving tool with incredibly accurate speech recognition. Podcast transcription software is really the way to go for this longer-form content, with some offering real-time transcription. This is where Simon Says comes in.

Simon Says can automatically generate transcripts from your Podcast audio. You can then use the transcription to quickly add captions and subtitles to footage natively within your preferred video editing software. Sim