| In a discussion forum for non-fiction writers | | | | forever! Does the software know when to break |
| (where I had posted my introduction of myself | | | | the sentences apart? |
| and my professional transcription business), | | | | How about when the quality of the audio |
| another member replied and mentioned that for | | | | recording is not top-notch, such as when there is |
| simple dictation, she uses a voice recognition | | | | background noise or people speaking on top of |
| software program. | | | | each other... how does it handle that? |
| When what she had said really sank in, I felt like | | | | Even when there is only a single speaker, if they |
| someone had punched me in the stomach! | | | | do not dictate punctuation, paragraphs, etc., does |
| Then my reaction was huge dismay and | | | | the software intuit that correctly? |
| questioning, "Why should I even stay in business?" | | | | If the software does not handle these issues well, |
| This came JUST after spending almost two | | | | how much work is involved in cleaning up the |
| months getting clear on why my transcription | | | | text? |
| business feels exciting to me and realizing that I | | | | Also, in my relationships with the clients I've |
| want to assist and support creative, positive, | | | | worked with, there is the unquantifiable element |
| motivated people to succeed in ways they have | | | | of me being an objective outsider who can catch |
| not been able to before, working on interesting | | | | errors or discrepancies in the CONTENT. And I |
| projects! | | | | often even come up with valuable ideas to help |
| I imagined emptying my transcription business | | | | them improve their material! |
| website of all information -- just leaving a notice | | | | There is a creative, collaborative give and take |
| (as a 'public service') pointing out to the people | | | | between my clients and me that often seems to |
| who THINK they need me to transcribe their | | | | be of benefit to us BOTH beyond the action of |
| audios that they should go and buy that software | | | | me 'just' transcribing their audio recordings. |
| instead! | | | | So, I concluded, there IS still a need for my |
| Yikes! Drastic thoughts! | | | | services by many people! Not all, but I'm sure |
| But seriously, then I started thinking some more... | | | | enough to keep me busy. I actually do enjoy this |
| I mean, it's a legitimate question! Why SHOULD | | | | kind of work under the right circumstances and |
| someone hire me if they can buy software for | | | | with the types of clients I intend to connect with! |
| dictation? | | | | So in the end, I thanked that discussion forum |
| In what situations would dictation software be | | | | member for her post and the internal thinking |
| inferior than having a live, intelligent human being | | | | process it sent me through, because it helped me |
| (who is passionate about helping her clients | | | | face a fear and come out stronger on the other |
| succeed) listening and transcribing their audio | | | | side! |
| material instead? | | | | And then, as a welcome validation of everything I |
| Knowing such software exists, ANYONE might | | | | had deduced on my own, quickly after I had |
| appropriately ask that question! | | | | submitted my reply to her, she was kind enough |
| Since I've never worked with this kind of | | | | to reply with a more detailed explanation of how |
| software, I realize I may not understand it | | | | the voice recognition software works and its |
| perfectly, so I decided to ask some questions... | | | | definite limitations -- everything I had suspected, |
| With audio recordings of interviews, groups, or live | | | | and even more! |
| teleclasses, seminars, and so forth, how does the | | | | I truly have a valuable, worthwhile service to |
| software distinguish between multiple speakers? | | | | offer my clients. I'm very proud of my skills, my |
| How does it know to punctuate and break the | | | | dedication, and my opportunity to make a |
| text into paragraphs appropriately? | | | | contribution to the entire world by assisting my |
| When people just speak naturally, their speech is | | | | clients to develop their own gifts in ways they |
| filled with tons of 'ahs' and 'ummms' and 'you | | | | might never on their own IF it was up to |
| know's' and so forth. Does the software know to | | | | themselves alone to type out their wisdom and |
| filter those out when appropriate? People also | | | | creativity! |
| string multiple sentences together with 'and' | | | | |