Welcome to Avert Transcription Style Guide!

This guide explains customer expectations for transcript quality and the metrics system, our way
of ensuring freelancer quality.

We trust you to deliver high-quality work. Our clients rely on your accurate and timely
transcription as a crucial part of their daily work.

Quality expectations fall into two main categories: Accuracy and Formatting.

Accuracy - Can you correctly hear and transcribe what words were said and who said them?

Formatting - Can you correctly communicate those words and notations in a way that is easily

readable and digestible?

Both categories have major errors and minor errors, which are the most common reasons

customers return files to be re-done.

Errors in your work may lead to lowered metrics. Avert requires transcriptionists to maintain
certain

metrics to remain active. Take special care in proofing your work before submission.

5 – Excellent; Near perfect – May contain a few minor errors that do not alter the meaning of
the original audio.

4 – Good; Customer ready – Errors are more frequent or noticeable but do not change the
meaning of the original audio.

3 – Fair; Not customer ready – Errors are present that would lead to customer confusion. This
includes wrong words, additions or omissions that change the meaning of the original audio.
2 – Poor; Not customer ready – Transcript reflects severe carelessness or lack of understanding
of the Style Guide.

1 - Very Poor; Unusable – Transcript is a poor representation of the original audio, verbatim was
not used when requested, the transcript is incomplete/content is omitted, or Line draft that is
left unedited.

All transcripts MUST label the Speaker. Speaker labels must always have a space after the colon.

Example: Peter: This is a nice car.

Use only square brackets “ [] “ around tags, never parentheses, (), curly brackets, {}, angle
brackets,

<>, or any other bracket-type symbols.

Important Criteria:

 Non-verbatim transcripts: must be cleaned up, not verbatim. No uhm, arrh etc.. (See
below section on Verbatim / Non Verbatim)
 Use standard English.
 DO NOT paraphrase.
 NEVER type anything that is not spoken in the audio, including your comments or the job
number or title.
Other Major Rules:

 Do not make up words. There are two ways in which we mean this:

Do not spell words phonetically. All words should be spell checked and must be actual English
words, unless the speaker was deliberately making up words, such as "what awesome
majorness!"

Otherwise, do not include words just because they sound similar to the syllables that were
spoken.

 Transcribe contraction as spoken by the speaker. If the speaker says “She’ll” then write
as “She’ll”, and if she says “She will” then write as “She will”.
 Read your transcript before submitting, as if you were reading an article or story. If the
words you used do not make sense in each sentence, they are probably not the words
the speaker was saying.
 Tag any words that you are uncertain about or can’t get with [?] i.e uncertain[?]
 Use all the information you have available. There are a few major ways in which you can
get extra information, and we ask that you use them
 ALWAYS read the Extra Comment area see if contain clues such as the speaker’s names
or the correct spelling for certain terms mentioned in the audio!
 The audio itself can give you new information. For example, if at the end, the
interviewer says, "Thanks, Lucy, for this tea!", and the interviewee’s response clearly
indicates that she is Lucy, then you must go back and relabel the interviewee as Lucy:
throughout the transcript.
 For both verbatim and non-verbatim, when one person is speaking and another says
nothing but "uh-huh" or “mm-hmm” in the meantime, leave out all those murmuring
noises as long as they aren’t an answer to a question from the speaker.
Speaker Labels:

• Each change in speakers should be placed on a new line. Add a blank line before the changed
speaker.

• Standard format: A complete speaker label includes a colon after the label as well as a space
after that colon. Do this: “Woman 2: “

• When to use: whenever the speakers change, or whenever something happens on a separate
line (like [laughter]) in the middle of a person speaking (even if the same person keeps speaking

after).

• Order of preference for labels: Use names whenever possible, then roles, then use gender as
the last resort.

• Full names: When you have information about a speaker’s full name (from Extra Comment or
because they state their name or are announced by name), use that the first time they appear
in your audio chunk. After that, use only their first name if known, or last name if first name not
known. Do not use full name.

• Descriptiveness: Make each speaker’s label as informative as possible about the person’s role
in the audio. Except in the case of large groups (see special subsection, later in this section),
labels must be useful for telling one person from another. Woman 1: is acceptable, but
Interviewer: or

Host: is much better. Other roles that may apply (use your judgment): Congregant:, Audience

Member: , Passerby: , Announcer: , Interviewee: .

• Adding gender: Use Male and Female only as adjectives for roles, never by themselves. Only
mention gender at all if people of different genders have the same role in the audio. Like this:

Male Host: , Female Host: , but two female hosts would just be Host 1: and Host 2: .
• Adding numbers and cutting down on clutter: Always use numbers with "Man" or “Woman”
labels. Do not use numbers if the speaker has a role other than just “Man” or “Woman,” unless
the audio includes two or more people of the same gender who are playing that same role. Like
this:

Woman 1: and Man 2: , or (if there are two male hosts and one female one)

Female Host: , Male Host 1: , and Male Host 2:.

Special rules for speaker-labeling a large group

• Audience: is the label for an audience as a whole, unless they are gathered in a church or
other place of worship, which makes them a Congregation:.

• A single member of that group is labeled Audience Member: or Congregant: .

• If there are already two or more other speakers in your audio, don’t worry about telling the

audience or congregation apart. Each one will just be Audience Member: or Congregant: with

no numbers or gender needed.

• However, if there is only one main speaker on the audio, then be more detailed in specifying
the first two group members who speak. We prefer you do this by mentioning gender (if they
have different genders from each other): Female Audience Member:.

If they are both the same gender, then add a number to their labels instead: Audience Member
2: .

TAGS

• [inaudible]: Indecipherable audio that seems to be in English.

• [foreign word]: Word (or [foreign words]) was spoken in a language that is not in English.
• [?]: This is your best guess about the word or words, but it does not really make sense in the

sentence, so you would like someone to give it a close look. (He hurt his knee playing[?]

Monopoly.)

Type 2: Use these for sound events

• When there are no real speakers: [background sounds only], [background conversations] or

[silence] are completely OK to use. If the audio file is completely silent, email us at
support@averttranscription.com. NEVER SUBMIT AN EMPTY FILE.

• Signs that an audio file may be corrupted include; all static; high-pitched squealing; high-
speed, high pitched voices, etcetera.

• Simply put, if it's out of the ordinary, email support@averttranscription.com

• End all transcripts with [End].

Non-Verbatim / Verbatim Transcripts:

Verbatim Transcripts

Do not summarize -- write down exactly as you hear it. A verbatim transcript is prepared by
transferring each and every utterance, including those that are non-verbal, and even the
[pauses], [laughter], [silence] and [throat clearing] etc.. in an audio file exactly the same way as
delivered.

In a verbatim transcript, false starts, repetitions, or grammatical errors are copied faithfully and
delivered without being tidied up, or by being made more concise. The reader receives a true
copy of an event with the words transcribed exactly the way they were spoken, thereby
according a movie- dialogue, realistic feel to the transcript. Such a transcript is quite helpful
when an interview is being documented or serves as a testimonial for legal purposes,
as the thought process gets implied through verbal cues, such as repeated words or phrases, or
awkward hesitations.

Transcribe every utterance, including repetitive phrasing, false starts, filler words like, "um,"
"uh," "er," etc., and every "I mean," "you know," etc (there are grammatically correct uses of
those and similar words/phrases, even in non-verbatim).

All slang should be retained, e.g., "gonna," "kinda," "sorta, "coz"), etc., should be exactly as

spoken. In other words, do not make any kind of grammatical corrections to the language.

When multiple speakers are involved, a verbatim transcript indicates segments in which there is
an overlap of voices.

Non-Verbatim Transcripts

Businesses that are looking to get meetings transcribed, or academicians who want to provide
their lectures to the students in the written form, wouldn't want to include something like a
verbal nod included in that transcript, but rather would want to go with a clean transcript so
that it is more reader-friendly.

A non-verbatim or “intelligent” transcription, rather than typing the words exactly the way they
are spoken, captures the fundamental meaning behind them. Errors in grammar are rectified
and words or sounds that don't contribute to the underlying message are removed. If fillers or
repetitions occur naturally in the speakers' speech patterns, they are simply removed by the
transcriptionist. In other instances, paraphrasing of a statement is required which conveys the
same idea, but more succinctly. A non-verbatim transcript can be published online without
edits, or it can serve as a marketing piece.
All slang should be changed to proper spelling, e.g., "gonna" changed to "going to", "kinda,"
change to "kind of", "cuz," (or "coz") changed to "because".

Sentence and Paragraph Structure:

• Where possible, break compound sentences into smaller ones. Long sentences should be
broken

into fragments.

• Insert a blank line between paragraphs. Also, start a new paragraph at every speaker change.

• Follow correct grammar. All sentences should start with a capital letter and have the correct

punctuation.

• If a single speaker speaks through-out without speaker change, break into different
paragraphs

as the topics change. New line does not need speaker Label.
Transcription Examples:

Example of a well formatted Non-Verbatim Transcription

Tom: This is the beginning of the transcription

Peter: All right, I am Peter.

Tom: Correct. because you can see, I am labeled with just my first name now. If you don’t know
my first name, then you may name me by my last name. Mr Blingford[?] or Mrs Blingford[?] if
female.

Man 1: Hi, I'm a new speaker. No one ever mentions my name, so the transcriber going to
[inaudible] give me a descriptive name. Here, the only information that can be gathered on me
is that I'm male. So in this case I'm Man 1.

Man 2: Now, there are two identified males. No one ever mentions my name either, I am
identified later than Man 1, so I’d be Man 2.

[END]

Example of a well formatted Verbatim Transcription

Tom: This is the beginning of umm arrgh the transcription.

Peter: Umm. Ooo. [laughter] All Right, I am John.

Jerry: Correct, umm cuz you can see, I am labeled with just my first name now. If you don’t
know my first

name, then you may name me by my last name. Mr Atkins[?] or Mrs Atkins[?] if female.

Man 1: Hi, I'm a new speaker. No one ever mentions my name, so the transcriber gonna
[inaudible] give me a descriptive name. Here, the only information that can be gathered on me
is that I'm male. So in this case I'm Man 1.
Man 2: Now, there are two identified males. No one ever mentions my name either, I am
identified later

than Man 1, so I’d be Man 2.

[END]

False Starts, Crosstalk, Incomplete Words:

These sentences have the beginning of an utterance and subsequently stopping prior to
completion.

Example, “He was… uh… He was not as good as he seems.” The beginning, “He was…uh…”
would have been edited out in a non-verbatim transcript, depending on the context. In a
Verbatim transcription, only the part of the word that is spoken is written, followed by a dash to
show that it was cut-off.

Example:

VERBATIM:

Man 1: Yeah! She ju-, uh, just suddenly lost consciousness.

Man 2: O-okay. W-, what have you done then? Did you, uh, bring her to the clinic?

NON-VERBATIM:

Man 1: Yeah! She just suddenly lost consciousness.

Man 2: Okay. What have you done then? Did you bring her to the clinic?
Stutters

Stuttering, also called as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is
disrupted by involuntary prolongations. Stammers are removed in Non-Verbatim transcripts but
retained in Verbatim Transcripts. Examples:

VERBATIM: W-w-w-w-w-well, I-I, uh, I th-th-thought that sh-she uh, s-she, uh, she left a-a-
already.

NON- VERBATIM: Well, I thought that she left already.

Pauses and Silence

In Non-Verbatim transcriptions, please note the silence if it is abnormally long (more than 1
minute).

On Verbatim, please indicate any pause longer than 10 seconds, using [pause], which can
appear anywhere in the sentence. Short pauses, 2-10 seconds, can be indicated using ellipses (
… ). Example:

VERBATIM

David: Did you see Francis point the gun to Mrs. Gomez?

Francis: [sighs]

David: Can you just answer the question, please?

Francis: I… don’t… [exhales]

Trailed Off Sentences

Use ellipses if the end of the sentence trails off. Example:

Nikki: Do you want some coffee or…

Stacie: No, thanks. Water will do.

When two or more persons are speaking at the same time, remove the overtalk in Non-
Verbatim Transcripts. . Try to get as much from each speaker as possible.

In Verbatim, show exactly where the speech was interrupted by the other speaker/s. Use
ellipses for the last word spoken before the interruption happened.

VERBATIM:

Manny: Are you accusing me of things I didn’t do?

Billy: Liar! You took all the money!!!

Manny: Don’t accuse me…

Billy: You liar, you are not…

Manny: … I didn’t take anything!

Billy: … telling the truth.

NON-VERBATIM:

Manny: Are you accusing me of things I didn’t do?

Billy: Liar! You took all the money!!!

Manny: Don’t accuse me [crosstalk], I didn’t take anything!

Billy: You liar, you are not telling the truth.

Example 2:

A patient is talking and the doctor interrupts with a question that is answered, do the following:
Non-Verbatim Example:

Patient: The pain is in this area [crosstalk] below the knee.

Doctor: How strong?

Patient: The pain is about eight.

The doctor interjected before the patient finished speaking, but we do not want to split the
sentence into two paragraphs. Therefore, the patient's sentence is completed, and then the
doctor's question is inserted into a new paragraph.

Slang and Profanity

RETAIN ALL SLANG (‘cus, y’all, dunno) in Verbatim transcriptions. You can also use slang in Non-
Verbatim, but sometimes, slang may be revised for clarity (‘cus to “because”)

Utterances for Affirmation/ Negation

Differentiate between the following:

AFFIRMATION: Uh-huh, mm-hmm, yeah…

NEGATION: Uh-uh, nah-uh, nah, mm-mm, hmm-mm

Numbers:

• Numbers: Phone number, street address, zip code, date, year, unit of measurement, numbers

between 0-9 should be written as numeric. ALL other numbers such as fractions, decimals,

month etc. should ONLY use words to represent. (Special case for time and money.)

• Time: - If an exact time is mentioned, write it as “8:11 a.m.”, If the speaker says “o’clock”,
write

as spoken: “eight o’clock.” If the speaker doesn’t mention an exact time, write as words. “Let’s

have dinner at nine.” Days: A.D. 2010, the 1980s, the ‘90s, 21st century.
• Spell out units of measurement, such as “inches,” “feet,” “yards,” “miles,” “ounces,”
“pounds,”

and “tablespoons.” However, if spoken in shortened form, symbols should be used. Example:

o WRONG: I'm five-eight

o TRANSCRIPTION: I'm 5'8''.

• For whole numbers, use numerals. Example:

o WRONG: I need five tablespoons of this.

o CORRECT: I need 5 tablespoons of this.

• Use numerals and the percent sign to indicate all percentages except at the beginning of a

sentence.

Examples:

o Middle sentence: Only 6% of the votes were counted.

o Beginning of the sentence: Fifty-one percent of the group voted.

• Use the numeral plus the lowercase “th,” “st,” or “nd” when a day of the month is mentioned
by itself (no month is referred to). Example:

WRONG: Peter went diving on the seventh.

CORRECT: Peter went diving on the 7th.

• When the day precedes the month, use the numeral plus the lowercase “th,” “st,” or “nd” if
the ending is spoken. Example: My birthday is on the 8th of May.

• Use the numeral alone when the day follows the month. Example: I will get back to you on

September 16.
• When the month, day, and year are spoken, use the numeral alone for the day, even if an
ending

(“th,” “st,” or “nd”) is spoken. Example:

NARRATION: Foster will marry Jenny on August sixth, nineteen ninety.

TRANSCRIPTION: Foster will marry Jenny on August 6, 1990.

• Use the numeral plus “cents” or “¢” for amounts under one dollar. Examples: I need 15 cents. I

owe you 32¢.

• Use the dollar sign plus the numeral for dollar amounts under one million. For whole-dollar

amounts of one million and greater, spell out “million,” “billion,” etc.

Examples:

Henry owes me $2000.

Belinda bought it at only $7.03.

He should pay $13 billion.

• Use the word “dollar” when describing a range, and upto to ten dollars.

Example: I hope I find three or four dollars.

• Use the dollar sign and numerals when transcribing a range of currency over ten dollars.

Example: Mary expected a raise of $7000 to $9000

At Avert, we require you to upload the transcribed file on our template. The specifications to
use are as follows:
1. Ensure the font type is Arial black, font size 12 and alignment 3.08.

2. The speaker names should be 1 tab from the text/paragraph.

3. There should be one space after each speaker/ separating two speakers.