Re: transcription software and hardware
I use Express Scribe and I think the majority of VAs who transcribe use it also. I started off using the hot keys as I am a keyboard girl and it was great to be able to start straight away. I eventually bought a VEC pedal from the NCH website. It really did make transcription faster and less hassle and was easy to set up. Well worth the money.
If you want to practice transcription just Google for practice transcription and you will find some files to download. Another good idea is to use podcasts and that way you can pick a variety of topics and maybe even learn something ;-)
There was another thread on here recently that talked about transcription and as I advised there, it's not just a matter of if you can type you can transcribe. You have to be confident in your grammar, spelling, ability to hear clearly (recommend you get proper headphones that close in your ear as they make audio much clearer) and you need to be able to make the text flow the way the client wants it. If they are doing an interview, they may want verbatim if it is to be used as a legal document, or they may want you to take out all the ahs and ums and likes so that it sounds like a 'normal' conversation. Focus groups are a pain, but at least you can charge more for them if you are good at deciphering the different voices when they talk over each other!
Tip for transcription, when you have regulars or you find that you are using the same phrases or making the same typos over and over - set up your Autotext and save yourself a lot of stress! I do psychology assessment reports so there is a lot of terminology that is the same on most reports, so I can type say 'nim' and the text will appear as 'number of items within the minimum number of moves' -so you can see how it would save time hehehehe
Good luck with it. Like WordPro Wizard I've been at it for quite a while and do tend to drift off sometimes and think about what to cook for dinner, but it may take you a while to get to that stage ;-)
Cheers,
Marie
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