How to Improve Transcription Accuracy

Microphone and distance

1. Get the microphone close — a phone 20–30 cm from the speaker beats a good microphone across the room.
2. Use a lapel (lavalier) microphone for interviews and lectures.
3. In video calls, ask participants to use headphones to avoid echo.

The room

1. Record in a room with soft furnishings; bare walls create echo.
2. Turn off fans, air conditioning and music during recording.
3. Don't put background music under speech you plan to transcribe — add it later in editing.

How people speak

1. One person at a time. Crosstalk is the single biggest cause of errors.
2. Spell out unusual names at the start of an interview — it helps you correct the transcript later.

Files and processing

1. Transcribe the original recording, not a re-recorded or heavily compressed copy.
2. If one track has the dialogue (a dialogue stem or a separate mic track), use it instead of the full mix.

After transcribing, search the transcript for names and technical terms — that's where corrections are most often needed. Ready to try? Use the audio to text or video to text tool.