We have it on authority that a normally articulate individual will speak at four times faster pace than conventional typing speed, and at seven times faster pace than writing speed. There you have it.

Going by that standard, it takes 2 hours to transcribe 30 minutes of clearly recorded speech. Therefore, it will take minimum of 4 hours to transcribe a one hour recording. Anyhow it negates the common impression that typing and speech can proceed hand in hand on a 1:1 ratio. At Transcriptionwave our own experience, based on innumerable factors, authenticates the former rule of thumb and disproves the latter erroneous assumption.

Let us get more specific, based on ground reality:

• One hour of dictation, one-on-one research interviews, lectures, telephone interviews, pod casts, web casts will require between 4 to 6 hours for transcription.
• With regard to focus groups, meetings, conference presentations, group interviews, teleconferences, vox pops, one hour of recording will take 6 to 10 hours of transcription time.
• All video recordings, time stamps added to transcripts, or all participants identified by name for groups, the required transcription time could be between 7 to 10 hours.

The type of transcript as specified by a customer could be a variable, having an impact on transcription timings. Our standard timing assumptions are based on the most popular and cost effective option: Intelligent Verbatim transcripts. Now about the variables:

• For Complete Verbatim transcripts, add 1 to 3 hours more of transcription time.
• For an Edited Transcript, add between 1 to 2 hours.
• Poor quality recordings can increase the transcription time almost exponentially.