Free Word template · No sign-up
Interview transcript template: free Word download and a finished example
Download the free interview transcript template for Word with no sign-up and type each turn into its own row, or upload the recording and let Spirelight draft it for you, with 1 hour free and no card. You can try the first 5 minutes of your file here without an account.
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Three steps
How to use the interview transcript template
1. Download it and fill in the header
Start with the interview ID, date, length, participant pseudonym and transcription style.
2. Type the turns, or upload the recording
Give each change of speaker its own row and timestamp, or upload the recording and let Spirelight draft both for you.
3. Check it against the audio
Listen through with the text in front of you. Fix names, numbers and speaker changes, and replace anything that identifies someone.
Format
Interview transcript format, with an example
A clear interview transcription format has three parts: a header that identifies the interview, the conversation turn by turn, and a key to your marks. The template has all three; the invented excerpt below shows the middle part filled in.
- Header block: project or study, interview ID, date, length of recording, interviewer, participant pseudonym, transcriber, transcription style, whether consent was recorded, and notes.
- Rows: time, speaker and what was said, with a new row at every change of speaker. The first two rows are an example to replace. Give the participant a code such as P04, plus a pseudonym if you use one.
- Conventions key: (.) for a short pause, (2.0) for a pause in seconds, [overlap] when two people talk at once, [inaudible 00:06:51] for words you cannot make out, [laughs] for sounds, wo- for a cut-off word and [name removed] for a name you take out. Use the same marks in every transcript.
Interviewer00:06:12
What was your first week in halls like?
P04 (Sam)00:06:16
Quite lonely, honestly. [laughs] Everyone seemed to know someone from school, and I didn’t know anyone at [name of university].
Interviewer00:06:29
Did that change at some point?
P04 (Sam)00:06:32
When I joined [name of society], yes. (2.0) My mum kept asking if I’d made friends, and (.) suddenly I could say yes.
Interviewer00:06:45
So the society was the turning point?
P04 (Sam)00:06:48
[overlap] That and the quiz nights on [inaudible 00:06:51]. I still go every week.
Filling it in
How to write an interview transcript with the template
Choose the style first and note it in the header. Verbatim keeps every “um”, false start and repetition, while clean verbatim leaves them out and keeps everything that carries meaning. Our verbatim transcription guide helps you pick, and the whole method is in how to transcribe an interview.
- Pseudonyms: replace names, workplaces and places with codes or descriptions such as [name of school] as you go, and keep the real names in a separate file. The interview anonymizer swaps the names you choose, in your browser.
- Appendix: the University of York’s Health Sciences guidance, for example, lists interview transcripts as appendix material and leaves appendices out of the word count.
- Typing by hand: the US National Park Service puts it at 6 to 8 hours, on average, for one hour of recorded interview. Fine for one interview, heavy for ten.
- Uploading instead: Spirelight drafts the transcript with speaker labels and a timestamp at each change of speaker, and exports it to Word (.docx). Checking it while you listen still takes time, but you start from text, not a blank page. More on interview transcription.
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Questions about interview transcript templates
Is there a free interview transcript template?
Yes. Our interview transcript template is a Word file you can download with no sign-up and change as you like. It has a header block, a table for time, speaker and what was said, and a conventions key.
How do you format an interview transcript?
A header that identifies the interview, one row per turn with a timestamp and a speaker label, and a key to your marks, in the same layout for every transcript.
How do I include interview transcripts in my dissertation?
Usually as an appendix, pseudonymised, with the conventions key explained once. Cite quotes in your chapters with the participant code and timestamp, such as (P04, 00:06:32), and check whether your handbook wants extracts instead.
Do interview transcripts need timestamps?
Not always, but a timestamp at each change of speaker lets you find any quote in the recording again. A Spirelight draft has them already.
What does Spirelight cost if I upload the recording instead?
Confirm any email address with the code we send and you get 1 hour free, with no card; earlier free use counts towards the hour, and free time does not renew. After that it is €2 per hour of recording, or Spirelight Plus at €14 a month with 20 hours. Transcription runs on servers in the US, with servers in the EU as a backup, and files and transcripts are stored in the US, so check what your university allows before uploading identifiable interviews: Spirelight is not on any university’s approved list.
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