In this episode, we’re talking about podcast transcripts. While podcasts offer a unique audio experience, transcripts are not only fantastic for accessibility, it’s a tool that can help you connect with a broader audience, deepen listener engagement, and maximise the impact of your show.
In this episode about podcast transcripts:
- The significance of transcripts
- Apple Podcasts transcript feature
- The benefits and uses of episode transcripts
- Various tools & platforms for Podcasters
Links:
Podnews “How do Apple Podcasts Transcriptions work” article
Apple Podcast article
Descript
Riverside FM
Swell.ai
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
Join the Australian Podcasters Collaborative Facebook Community
More about Podcasting Tips & Tricks
Podcasting Tips & Tricks is a show designed to share quick, actionable tips and tricks for launching and growing a successful podcast and is aimed at both new and seasoned podcasters. We’ll cover a range of topics from launching your podcast, editing, publishing, hosting, equipment, systems and processes, marketing, monetising, industry news and lots more.
Podcast awareness and listenership are growing year-on-year so it’s no surprise that it is still growing in 2024. And now is a great time for small business owners and entrepreneurs to launch a podcast to raise brand awareness and position their expertise whilst building authority and trust.
I’m Lyndal Harris, Podcast Consultant and founder of Podcast VA where my team and I simplify the podcasting journey. We offer a variety of done-for-support services, online and in-person training, as well as strategy sessions and health checks. At Podcast VA, we have launched hundreds of podcasts for both Australian and international clients, who collectively captivate millions of listeners worldwide. And quite a number of these shows have hit number 1 in the charts!
Transcript:
Podcast Transcripts – A Tool for Inclusivity, Engagement & More
I am your host, Lyndall Harris, a podcast consultant and the founder of Podcast VA, where we help simplify your podcasting journey.
In today’s episode, we are going to be talking about podcast transcripts. So whilst podcasts do offer that unique way of consuming audio content, offering a transcript makes it accessible and engaging to a wider audience.
And in this episode we’re going to have a look at some of the benefits and the uses of it as well as some of the tools that you can use to get the transcripts of your episodes.
Now if you’re a podcaster or you listen to your podcast through Apple Podcasts you will know that they recently bought in the feature to generate an AI transcript for all episodes that are published through their platform which is amazing so we are going to touch on that as well but that is why I thought I would talk about transcripts today, but talk about it, not just about Apple Podcasts introducing it, but talk about how we can use them in a way that is a benefit to not just making it more accessible, but also for you, the podcaster.
Transcripts are a topic that I’ve spoken to podcasters about for years, and it is a question I get asked all the time on whether it’s a good idea to have a transcript.
And I do think they are fantastic and it’s really interesting because years ago we probably spoke about it quite differently because the AI transcripts that you could get didn’t have very good accuracy.
And so it was a case of talking about the accuracy or a perfect transcript and then the cost versus the benefit of having an accurate transcript that you want to use if you are going to put it onto your website, for example.
Example so if you don’t have much of a budget for your podcast then getting a human to transcribe your podcast episodes can increase your production costs significantly and I’m not suggesting that that’s not a great idea in fact I have friends that offer transcript and I love that they have that service but it really does come back to what is your budget for your podcast and is that that’s something that the audience need?
Do they need to have that 100% accuracy or is it okay to have an AI transcript that isn’t going to be 100% accurate but still makes sense?
And there’s the difference because years ago, you did have to probably spend a bit of time fixing it up if you wanted something that looked okay.
Now, there are so many tools available. So, I think that it is absolutely something that you should be doing as a podcaster and how you use that.
And there’s various ways to use it, whether you put it onto a website or you just use it for repurposing.
Having the transcript for your podcast isn’t just an added bonus.
It is a tool that you can use in various ways. And that’s what we’re going to have a look at.
Accessibility and Inclusion Benefits
Firstly, the accessibility and the inclusion. Now that Apple podcasts have brought in these automatically generated transcripts, it does mean that for the first time, nearly every podcast or certainly every podcast that is on their platform is now accessible.
That means that people who may have a hearing impairment or English isn’t their first language are able to consume your content as well if they can’t listen to the audio file.
Secondly, discoverability and SEO. Search engines crawl text.
So having a transcript embedded onto your web page will improve your SEO and giving those search engines much more rich content with your keywords that are relevant to your niche and will ultimately help you in the search results.
Discoverability and SEO Advantages
The next benefit is audience engagement and retention.
A lot of people actually retain information better by reading it.
And I put my hand up here because I am that person.
I actually do prefer to read content or I will retain it a lot better if I read it.
I like to read it and hear it actually just to drive that message home.
But certainly if I hear it, sometimes I will forget it.
Audience Engagement and Retention
So providing that transcript, you are catering to that different learning style as well. And it also allows your audience to consume your content perhaps in environments where audio playback isn’t feasible.
And the final benefit we’ll talk about today is content repurposing.
Now, this one to me is gold. Like this is one of the big benefits as well that people maybe don’t use enough.
Content Repurposing Opportunities
Having your transcript offers you so much content that you can then go and repurpose.
So if you think about social media posts, writing blog posts, email marketing, and even maybe eBooks, if you’ve got enough episodes on one particular topic, you could take all those transcripts and put them together and start creating an eBook.
And if you create audiograms, video snippets, quote cards, or anything like that, you might find it easier to actually find those little snippets and sections and highlight them in a transcript than listening through to the audio file.
Exploring Transcript Options for Podcasters
So as a podcaster, you may already be using transcripts, which is great.
But if not and you’ve been wondering how you can get a transcript and how can you use it, then there are actually plenty of options available now for podcasters.
Of course, as we mentioned, you can get a human transcriptionist and the accuracy will be fantastic.
You can find one who offers that as a service or you could find them through Fiverr or you could use a service like Rev. but many podcasting tools and platforms now offer an AI transcript where the accuracy isn’t too bad.
So you’ve probably heard of Descript and Riverside.
They will transcribe audio or your video into those programs.
Your host may actually provide a transcript and there are other platforms as well like Orphonic if you use that as part of your editing process or some marketing programs like like Swell.ai.
As we’ve touched on, Apple Podcasts now generate this transcript for every episode.
And if you go into Apple Podcasts, you can actually download this transcript for you to go and use as well.
There’s a couple of other great features with it in that you can turn the function off for them to generate, and you can add your own transcript as well.
And actually, I’ll pop a link in the show notes to a great article that James Cridland from PodNews wrote about it.
And I’ll also put a link to Apple’s page about the transcripts as well.
So you’ll find those in the show notes.
There are just a few ways that you can now get your podcast episode transcripts easily.
You don’t have to think about how am I going to go and find somebody to transcribe it for me, or if I’m going through Rev or one of the other platforms, it becomes quite expensive.
You probably are using something now in your process of podcasting where you can get that transcript for free.
And so now that we’ve touched on some of the benefits and how you can use that transcript, make sure you go in and at the very least, use the one that Apple Podcasts provides so that you can then go and use it to help you connect with a broader audience, deepen your listener engagement and maximize the impact of your podcast.
Because ultimately, this will all help you with the growth of your show.
Now, if you have different ways that you use your episode transcripts or any amazing tools that you would love to share, I would love to hear about them.
So feel free to reach out via social media, or you can jump into the Facebook community, the Australian Podcasters Collaborative, and we can continue the conversation there.
If you’ve got any questions about transcripts or about anything about podcasting, please reach out and you will find all the links for the resources that I have mentioned in today’s show in the show notes. See you next time.
