Hi everyone, Kevin here. Today, we're going to look at how you can take audio, say me speaking, and then convert that into text, all from within Microsoft Word. You can upload an existing audio file.
You can also record directly in Word and then get a transcript. You can modify the speaker names. You can edit the text and you could even decide what you want your transcript to look like.
It really couldn't be any easier. To do this though, you will need a Microsoft 365 subscription. And if that's something you're interested in, I've included a link down below that helps support this channel.
All right, let's check out how to do this. Here I am in Microsoft Word, and I'm currently on the home tab. Over on the right-hand side on the ribbon, there's a category called voice, and here we have one option called dictate, and then there's another one called transcribe.
So what's the difference in which one should you use? With the dictate, this will give you a real time transcript of everything that you're saying. Here, I'll turn that off.
On the other hand, with transcribe, you can take existing audio or you can record audio, and then at the end, it'll convert that into a transcript. So, this is perfect for things like taking a lecture or maybe an interview and then getting all of the text from that session. Let's click into transcribe.
This opens the transcribe pane over on the right-hand side, and here you have a dropdown list where you can choose your language. There are over 80 different languages that you can choose from. Chances are you'll find your language here.
Down below, you have two different options. You can upload existing audio. Maybe you recorded some audio externally, and now you want to bring that into Word.
Right up above, you can see all of the different supported formats, and although it says upload audio, you can also upload a video file. Here we have MP4, and it'll pull out the audio and then transcribe that. To the right of that, you also have the option to just start recording.
You can use Microsoft Word to record your audio, and then at the very end, it'll transcribe it. So, let's test that out by clicking on start recording. Are you feeling hungry?
Do you crave something sweet and crunchy? Then you need to try the Kevin Cookie Company. They make the best cookies in the world with fresh ingredients and mouthwatering flavors.
I could click on this icon right down here, and this will pause the recording. I can compose my thoughts and maybe take a break, and once I'm ready to resume, I'll simply click on this again. And the best part is you can order them online and get them delivered to your door in no time at the kevincookiecompany.
com. I think I'm all done now. Right down below, I'll click on save and transcribe now.
It'll now take that audio file and upload it to OneDrve, and once it's done uploading it, it'll then transcribe the file. And check that out! I now have a transcript of everything that was said.
Here, I could see the speaker. I also get a timestamp of when it was said, and here I could see the text. Right up on top, I can see the name of the recording.
Let's start by clicking on this. This now drops me into OneDrve. This is cloud storage provided by Microsoft, and here it automatically created a new folder for me called transcribed files.
And right here, I can see the recording that I just made in Word. This way I have a backup of this file. Let's now go back to Word.
Back within Word, at the very top here, I have my playback controls and one of my favorite features. I can adjust the playback speed. This is especially helpful if you're trying to get through a very long interview or recording, here you can increase it all the way up to 2X.
Over here, when I click on play, are you feeling hungry? You'll see that it automatically highlights the text that's currently playing up above. This way you could synchronize the text with the audio.
To jump to a specific point in the audio, right here, I can also click on the timestamp. So, let's say I want to go back to this section where I was speaking. That'll bring me back to that specific point.
That's a nice way to jump around this transcript. As I highlight one of these sections, you'll also see that there's this pen icon and this allows me to edit the transcript. When I click on this, here I could change the speaker.
Currently it just says speaker one, but this was me speaking. I can update it to say Kevin and I can change it, so all of the references to speaker one will now say Kevin. I’ll click on the check mark and here I see that it was all updated.
You can support many different speakers and it'll differentiate between all the different speakers. Of course, I was the only one speaking here, so that's why we see Kevin every single time. Along with editing the speaker, here down below, I see that the URL for the Kevin Cookie Company is not quite right.
There's no space after Kevin. I'll click on the pen icon again, and here I can edit the text. I'll remove that space and that's now the correct URL.
Over here, I'll click on the check mark to confirm and that now looks good. As I hover over this text, you'll also notice that there's a plus icon. I can add just this specific section of my talk to the document.
When I click on this, here you'll see that it added it to the document along with the timestamp and the speaker. But for now, I don't want just this portion, so I'll delete that. Down at the very bottom, I have a few different options to add this transcript to my Word document.
When I click on this, I can add just the text. I can add the text with speakers, with timestamps, or both speakers and timestamps. I just want to keep it simple.
I'll click on just text. This has now added the transcript to my Word document and I can now edit this just like any other Word document. Right up on top, I see a link to my recording.
If I click on this, this will bring me to OneDrve where I can listen to that recording again. Over on the right-hand side, I can close the transcribe pane. If I want to bring that back in the future, right up on top on the home tab, back over in the voice category, I can click on transcribe.
That opens up the pane again, and here I see the entire transcript. The transcript itself is now attached to this document. In the bottom right-hand corner, I can click on new transcription.
However, when I do this, this will delete this existing transcription over on the right-hand side. You can only attach one transcript per document. However, because I've already inserted all the text into the document and there's a link to the recording, the recording will still be there and this text will still be there.
However, when I click on okay, this refreshes the pane, and here I can now start from scratch. If you would prefer to keep that pane, one option is you could simply open up a new document and then transcribe on that new document. Microsoft Word isn't the only app that supports this functionality.
You'll also find it in some of the other Microsoft 365 apps. OneDrve also has the same functionality. Here on the home tab, all the way over on the right-hand side of the ribbon, you'll see transcribe.
When I click on this, I can now transcribe and that opens up a pane and you probably recognize it. It looks just like it did in Microsoft Word. This also works with Word on the Web.
Here on the home tab, all the way over on the right-hand side, you'll see the microphone icon. When you click on this down arrow, here we have the option to transcribe and this too also opens up the transcribe pane. All right, well, hopefully you were able to generate a very high-quality transcript.
If you don't have Microsoft Word or a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can still generate a transcript entirely for free using something called Whisper AI. If you want to test that out, check out the video right up above, and that will show you how you can get started with it. It's not quite as user-friendly and it also doesn't differentiate between the different speakers, but the accuracy is extremely high.
In fact, it's probably even better than what you find in Word, at least today. To watch more videos like this one, please consider subscribing and I'll see you in the next video.
