If you have decided to be a transcriber then it's the time to talk about what you need to be a transcriber.
In order to become a transcriber, the first thing you'll need is a good command of English. (or French, Arabic... for that sake.) Transcription is acquiring video or audio and type it in a perfect way without missing a single word. You'll have to deal with many accents and audios from low quality like telephone calls to audios that are difficult to hear because the speaker is a bit far from the recording device. Some of the audios you'll transcribe also have background noise that'll will make it difficult to understand what the speaker is saying. A good command of the language you're transcribing will help you to understand the words missing due to difficult audio segments. Next issue is a grammar and punctuation. I hope you'll understand by now that the speakers in the audio you're transcribing are not saying "put a comma here!" "here you should put a period" etc... (unless it's a dictation) So punctuation is totally upon you and failing to know where to put punctuation on the transcribed text can really affect your career as a transcriber. Grammar is also supposed to be considered important in transcription world cause of editing a transcription as a full verbatim (Everything as it's said) or clean verbatim (clearing out filler words and false starters and making the transcribed text readable) will mostly depends on it. Once we're done with the skills that're needed to start our career as a transcriber, we must own some materials in order for the business to work. The first one is a desktop/laptop. Although sometimes when you're on the go, you can transcribe on an iPad, tablet or any other smart phone, one of those two items (Desktop/Laptop) is a must have. You'll also need to have a good quality headphone so that you can listen to the audio as clear as possible. There are some softwares which will be either basic or just assistance for the job. (We shall discuss about them one by one in the coming days) And I am not sure if there's one in Kenya but, a foot pedal will also make your work a bit easier. Now acquiring all the skills and materials doesn't give you a green light to start earning cash right away. You'll need to be trained. (Or you can just decide to train yourself) Anyway you'll have to practice and work on practice files for quite sometime before you even consider applying in any online company. Because most of them have an entrance exam and the exam is set to those people who at least have a bit experience to start with. So unless you start practicing now, you might not be a transcriber in a near future.
Feel free to tell us how you see our perspective on becoming a transcriber. Are you a transcriber now? How did you start? What were your challenges? How did you survive? Are you a newbie to this world? What are your thoughts about this transcribing world? Tell us on the comments below. And Don't forget to subscribe to our mail list to be updated about this world.