Transcription

There’s more to an earnings call than just a conference call of company executives discussing the company’s quarterly goals and how the business is faring so far. It is also a means of letting your shareholders know how their investments are growing with you and a way to attract or keep the support of investors. You also want to relay how well the business is strategically working its way around roadblocks or challenges.

Earnings calls are conducted to publicly deliver the company’s results conveniently to geographically-dispersed shareholders, potential investors, and analysts, all of which can participate in the Q&A session after the presentation. An earnings call recording is then uploaded and distributed online to make it accessible for all relevant individuals. Apart from earnings call recordings, many companies often get earnings calls transcribed and then publish transcripts of their earnings calls. This way, people can choose whether to read the whole document, skim quickly for specific information, or search using specific keywords only. 

Like all types of conference calls, preparation is of key importance for an earnings call to be successful. Nothing beats a well-organized preparation for earnings calls. 

To get a better understanding of how you can go about preparing for an earnings call, take a look at these best practices:

• Establish a timeline of deliverables

Create and send out invites ahead of time. Map out critical items such as the preparing earnings press release, requisite SEC filings, data, tables, and statistics, the earnings call script, and other needed supporting documents. 

• Coordinate with your conference call service provider

This includes making sure that you conduct tech checks days before the call. Don’t forget to reach out to your moderator for any specific instructions as well. At the same time, be prepared with possible technology glitches and have a back-up just in case something happens. 

• List down expected questions

Assemble a document with a list of expected questions. Stay updated with current topics and issues that investors, shareholders, and analysts care about so you can be more prepared to address such concerns. You can also research what your competitors are discussing and reporting so you’d have an idea about the kind of questions thrown at them as well. 

• Start your earnings call preparation period with thorough results analysis

Analyze and compare trends from the previous quarter to the recent one. Evaluate results and identify notable key points such as revenues, milestones, EPS, and other relevant metrics. When you discuss with the company, remember to be straightforward and avoid sugarcoating the results. You should keep in mind these questions when discussing with the team:

1. Considering all internal or external challenges, was this a good quarter?
2. Did we fall short of internal expectations?
3. Was this a solid quarter? 
4. Are we confident about moving forward for the rest of the year?
5. In what areas could we have done better? 

• Don’t be afraid to experiment with the Q&A portion

Apart from the press release, you can also distribute discussion points or specific information that you wish to go through during the call. This way, you can encourage more people to send in their questions. Should you receive a massive amount of questions, you can also create an online voting portal wherein people can pick out which questions they think are the most relevant. Seek assistance from your conference call moderator or operator for a more organized Q&A portion.  

• Strike a balance between being transparent and too conservative

Clarify where growth opportunities are by also discussing full operating income statements and balance-sheet items. Try to be as transparent as you can without giving away any strategic plans your competitors have not heard of yet. If you’re unable to disclose more detailed information, investors may feel skeptical about the performance of the company. 

• Monitor your shared earnings call recording online & manage its results

It’s important to measure how the earnings call went internally by going through how prepared the management team was, and externally in terms of how well the call was received. After the call and once you’ve uploaded and distributed the earnings call recording and the earnings call transcript, your next action plan should focus on monitoring how these are being picked up online. You can create Boolean strings to specifically track keywords. However, you should also make sure that you have a reliable earnings call transcription service with efficient features like flexible turnaround time and customizable transcripts. 

After monitoring how well received your earnings call online was, you can better identify what worked and what wasn’t as effective. You can also try to identify which news outlet generated the most engagement. From there, you can tweak your strategic plans moving forward accordingly. 

It is true when they say convenience is just a tap or a click away. If you’re curious about an unfamiliar word you encountered at a lecture today, you can easily Google it and find its definition. If you want to be sure your outfit for the night is appropriate before going out, you can call on Siri to check the weather first. If you’re ever feeling bored and want to kill time, you can catch up on your favorite web series via YouTube. And if you’re longing for a conversation when you’re situated miles away, you can hit your family or friends up for a Skype call.

Thankfully, modern technology just keeps getting better and better in making our tasks a whole lot easier. As more industries make the shift in incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the picture, today’s digital advancements go above and beyond as you can now get results and accomplishments done not only from a key tap or a mouse click away but also from just your voice.

In case you didn’t know, some of your favorite apps have the capability to produce video or audio transcriptions for you or convert such into actual written texts.

May it be for work or for leisure, here are some of your usual tools that can transcribe your voice:

Siri

Yes, there’s more to Siri than asking her to solve your basic math problems or sing your go-to karaoke song in her famous monotone voice. Apparently, Apple has included a voice-to-text feature for Siri that could make your note-taking activity easy-peasy. Isn’t it great how you can easily enable voice dictation on your iOS devices? Think about the times you missed to jot down an important task for school or for work all because you (literally) had too much on your plate during lunch and weren’t near your pad or phone to note it at that moment. Try calling out for Siri next time and dictate your train of thought real-time.

Google Assistance

If not an Apple user, this is an Android loyalist’s best friend. Whether it be for setting alarms or adjusting meetings in the calendar, Google Assistance is an effective virtual assistant you can keep in your pocket. Much like a secretary, you may get it to type things for you as you speak. For instance, if you’re driving and couldn’t get a hold of your phone taped by the dashboard, you can just say, “Okay, Google,” and have a text be sent to your colleague saying that you’re running late but you’re on the way and almost at the meeting. Now, you can deliver a text message while still keeping your eyes on the road, thanks to this AI-powered tool. 

YouTube

Although creatively demanding and draining, coming up with well-put-together videos can be rewarding, as these can truly help turn subjects into becoming more interesting and appealing to others. If you want to share your visual work to the world, YouTube is a highly popular medium for that. With about 5 billion videos consumed on a daily basis, you can be sure to find an audience for your content in no time. Now, if you’re going to cater those that prefer having words shown below the frame while clips are on display, worry not about transcribing because YouTube offers an instant closed captions option that can go with your audio-visual presentation. Let it render for a couple of minutes during your upload, and then you can have the AI transcript linked in your self-made video.

Skype

Just when you thought Skype couldn’t get any better in connecting you to important calls you need to take, it just released a new function that has leveled up communication, in general. Partaking in the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities and embracing inclusivity, Skype launched options for live captions and subtitles as well as translations – targeting individuals that are deaf or hard of hearing and/or of a different race – during calls. With it being AI-powered, this feature enables you to send real-time transcriptions across; thus, allowing free-flowing and seamless video calls via the platform.

Next time you use these apps – or encounter other new, helpful ones – spare yourself a couple of minutes to further explore their functionalities. Go through all the keys and buttons. Take your time, and test them out. In this modern-day and age, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if you find yourself discovering a brand new task it could do for you that’s only going to make your life easier than it already is.

Market research can make or break a business. Through all the data gathered, a company can determine if consumers are satisfied with a product or service, or if now is the winter of their discontent. Through market research, you’re able to determine the consumers’ preferences, what they need, and what they are willing to buy. To figure out which is which, researchers use verbatim market research transcriptions where all verbal and non-verbal components from an audio or video recording are converted into text format. This includes grammatical errors, slangs, pauses, even external sounds like side conversations or the sounds of doors opening and closing. 

This brings up the question, what is the value of transcribing market research in verbatim? 

Avoid misperception

Having a transcript done in verbatim could look a bit cluttered, but also within the clutter is the exact account of the speaker’s idea, opinion or experience. It is converting spoken word into text format in a way that the message is captured exactly the way it was spoken. As long as you’re able to capture everything, you now have a wealth of information you can further delve into. This becomes essential because both sides will give you vital information that you can further dissect – which they may or may not have said through their words, but their actions or mannerisms – when you get to the review and analysis portion of your research. If the interview transcription is verbatim, then you have full access to either individual’s statement and there’s no room for confusion.

The ‘How’ is crucial 

Recording everything is crucial, but the manner in which the respondents’ sentiments were spoken is equally vital. Getting the respondent’s reactions will help you know what they really feel about the research topic. There could be hesitation or excitement, confusion or enlightenment. By including the fillers and false starts, it reveals a respondent’s thought process and how they ended up with a particular perspective. Upon further analysis you can then decide whether to advise your client or company to go forward with their go-to market strategy or if their product or service does not resonate with what the audience wants after all.

Peace of mind

With transcripts are done in verbatim responses are thoroughly written and are more in-depth. There are no missing details. What’s on the transcript is what all the participants said when you were with them and when you weren’t. This way, you won’t regret putting your entire attention to the discussion instead of jotting down detailed notes or stepping out for a second to check on something. 

Completing a market research transcription in verbatim requires a certain level of sharpness. Each word, laugh, and pause should be transcribed to communicate the right information. The results of the analysis will then allow an organization to make well-informed decisions. It may seem like an exaggeration but truthfully, a sound or tone from an interview or focus group could either lead to revenue loss or a company’s groundbreaking success. Verbatim transcription may be further categorized into two; smart or pure verbatim transcriptions, but the essence really is to capture not just what was said on the recording but also how it was said and under what circumstances.

Some might say that out of all transcription work, transcribing podcasts are the easiest to do, for podcasts usually have good audio quality and are easy to follow because the very nature of podcasts necessitates that they be so.

However, transcribing podcasts can be hard, especially for those who are new to transcription.

Tips for Transcribing Podcasts:

1. Use quality equipment

This is one of the most important points to consider when transcribing podcasts, or indeed any other type of audio and/or video, for the right equipment will invariably both speed up and improve the quality of the transcripts you will produce.

Invest in a good set of headphones with noise-cancelling capabilities so that ambient sound doesn’t bleed through when you’re transcribing, thus helping you hear the audio better. Try to use a fast computer equipped with a good word processing software so that you can focus on transcription work itself and not have to worry about the computer lagging every now and then. Also, consider buying a foot pedal because it makes rewinding and playback of audio while transcribing a lot easier.

2. Use Transcription Software

There is a rather large variety of transcription software available in the marketplace, some of them free and others not so free. These transcription softwares further speed up your work by allowing you to slow down, speed up, pause, rewind, fast forward, and otherwise manipulate the audio, making the process of transcription much easier. Consider investing in a paid transcription software, as these usually have much more relevant features than can be found on free ones, although if short on budget or otherwise not willing to, free ones are good too, or at least much better than using standard audio players.

3. Invest in a good chair

This may seem like rather inane and irrelevant advice, but investing in a good chair to sit on during transcription work is an absolute must. Transcription work is a long and involved process, and you will spend most, if not all, of it sitting in front of a computer or laptop typing as you go through the audio again and again. This is especially true for podcast transcription, as podcasts are typically long affairs that can stretch on to hours on end. To avoid the pain and fatigue, and thus the inevitable decrease in the quality of your transcription that will come with the abovementioned two, it is important that you are sitting in a chair that conforms to your body’s natural shape and contour.

4. Research terminology

Some podcasts which focus on obscure or somewhat high-level topics such as science and technology may contain terms and acronyms and slang that the average layperson would not know. Try to look up such terminology via the Internet. If the Internet is not forthcoming with answers, communicate with the podcast makers and ask for a list of common terms in their podcasts so that you can transcribe much more accurately.

5. Look at audio quality

A big part of transcription depends on the quality of the audio you are given. The audio which is muffled or contains significant “fuzziness” will automatically result in an inaccurate and error-filled transcript. It is thus doubly important for a transcriptionist to check the quality of the audio before getting around to transcribing. Look for parts of the podcast which sound muffled, is too quiet and hard to hear, or is fuzzy, and use audio editing software to try and mitigate or completely remove these problems. If audio editing software does not help much, try asking around for a better copy of the podcast; there is no harm in checking around, after all.

6. Ask a reliable transcription service to do it all for you

Transcribing podcasts, or indeed even any kind of audio, may seem like a no-brainer, but it is not. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to sit down and listen to audio over and over again, all the while accurately typing down what is in the audio. If you feel like you are not the type of person who can do this, it would be better to simply delegate the job to those who can; that is, to a professional transcription service. These services offer high-quality transcriptions at rather affordable and flexible rates, and they can also follow specific formatting and transcript delivery guidelines that you may set.

Some people would say that making podcasts is as easy as making pie. After all, the only thing you have to do is talk and talk and talk, right? Having a solid grasp of the topic and a good and pleasant-to-hear voice helps, yes, but even without these, one can make, with the help of scripts and prompters, stunning enough podcasts for people to listen to.

Those who would believe that the above sentences are correct must not have any experience at all of making podcasts, nor even also of making pies, for like pie-making, there is an art and craft to the creation of good podcasts that are above and beyond the norm, and that truly deliver good content in an easy-to-understand way. There are many steps to follow, many things to consider, many points to remember, and many options to choose from.

One of the most important points to consider in podcast creation is whether or not to provide a transcript, i.e., a copy of a podcast’s content presented in the written format. Arguments abound whether or not to even consider providing one. While there are some valid points to be made about one not needing to provide podcast transcripts (one of the most important being the cost of getting good transcripts in the first place, although this can be abated by having your podcasts transcribed by a transcription company with vast experience and expertise in creating podcast transcripts which offer good rates for you to consider), there are also very great and convincing reasons to consider making a transcript available. 

Importance of Podcast Transcriptions

1. To enhance user experience

One of the most important things to consider when making podcasts is the user experience of those who would listen to it. Of course, you want your listeners to be as comfortable and at ease as much as possible when consuming your podcasts, and the user experience when consuming your podcast as simple and as accessible as possible, because if they found your podcasts accessible and user-friendly and thus rather enjoyable, they would undoubtedly tell their friends to listen to your podcasts, thus increasing your audience and boosting your podcasts’ popularity, which is by no means a bad result, but rather is the end goal of producing podcasts.

A transcript would go a long way towards improving the user experience of your podcast, for not only can a transcript allow them to jot down notes and interesting segments far easier than it would be, it also gives them the option of consuming your podcast by reading through its content. Having these two options lets anyone – whether they like reading or listening, whether they merely like to skim over what they consider important parts of your podcast or listen to in its entirety – have their pick of how to enjoy podcasts, thus enhancing their – you guessed it – user experience.

2. Reading versus listening

As much as some people love listening to podcasts, there would no doubt be a rather significant population of your listeners who would prefer the option of having written records of your podcasts stored in an easy-to-access place for them to access and enjoy.

There are many reasons for this, one of the most obvious ones being that some people just like reading more than listening to podcasts, and thus they are able to extract better meaning and understanding from a podcast if they were to read it and engage their eyes rather than simply use their ears and merely listen to it.

Even those people who prefer listening to your podcast than reading it would appreciate having the option of getting a look-over at the contents of your podcast via transcripts, for then these transcripts could help them decide whether to listen to the entirety of your podcast.

3. To boost your SEO

What is the easiest way of knowing something in this day and age?

Going to the libraries is one way, yes, but it is not the easiest nor is it the most comfortable way. Asking friends for help is another, but there is always the chance that even with all of your friends combined, none of them would know the answer to a specific question you’re posing.

What, then, is the best way of knowing something in this day and age?

One answer comes to mind very quickly: the Internet, and more precisely, search engines like Google or Yahoo!

But alas, these search engines may profess to know everything, or at least knowing where to search to get the information you want, but there is still a field that they haven’t touched on as much as they probably should have: that of the field of audio content.

Most search engines are still unable to “listen” to audio recordings, podcasts, and the like to find content within them. There is a workaround to it, however.

There is nothing more than search engines love to “read” than the written text, and so posting transcripts of your podcasts on your website would allow these search engines to “see” your podcasts’ contents and position them higher in search results than what you would otherwise get without podcast transcripts.

4. Increase accessibility for everyone

Podcasts are a wonderful medium, but not everyone can enjoy them in the same way someone else might.

Consider, for instance, deaf or hard-of-hearing people. They wouldn’t be able to enjoy your podcast because of their auditory impairment. Or what about people whose first language is not English and thus may have some good bit of trouble following along on your podcast? Or people whose disorders may give them an inability to understand audio content, or even make it so hard for them to try to make sense of auditory content that the only recourse left for them is to consume content in other forms?

It may not even be practical or of good sense to listen to a podcast in certain settings. For instance, putting earphones on and listening to a podcast in the middle of the class would be rude to the professor or instructor teaching upfront, but opening up a transcript or two and reading it subtly on your laptop or a well-hidden smartphone would never hurt anyone. Just make sure to not get so engrossed in reading podcast transcripts that you forget to pay attention to the lecture!