Transcription proofreading skills are paramount to a transcription proofreader’s success. Why do you need to hone your skills? Well, let’s look into the subject further.

Proofreading Skills

Are proofreading skills necessary for general transcription or legal transcription? Do you want the short answer, or do you want the longer answer?

If you want the short answer, simply put, yes, it is. The longer reason for why you want to have excellent proofreading skills is that accuracy is absolutely necessary in one’s transcription business. Above all, my strongest advice is to always put quality first. As a matter of fact, when I first wrote this post, I was tired and in a hurry. Someone on Facebook was kind enough to let me know that I really needed to revise this article. It had too many grammatical errors throughout it. I cannot thank her enough.

What Is Transcription Proofreading?

Transcription proofreading skills necessitate your taking the transcription you or someone else has typed and reviewing and correcting the mistakes of that document. Typically, it involves adding important dictated words that have been omitted. In addition, editing a word that has been used incorrectly  and ensuring that spelling, grammar and punctuation are accurate are needed. And it has to be according to the original audio you are listening to.

Yes, that means the proofreader needs to listen to the audio to perform the above process. Sometimes certain words and phrases are confusing. They might sound different than what the transcriber thought they heard. Now, let’s take a look at the various transcription proofreader skills that are needed.

Transcription Proofreading Skills

What are the different skills you need to have for proofreading your transcription or the transcription of a client or colleague? There are not a lot of skills you need. Moreover, some of them are the same as the skills needed for general transcription.

• A real desire to get things right
• Have an excellent grasp of written English
• Self-Motivated
• Can stay focused for extended periods of time
• Excellent people skills (you may need to speak with a client for clarification on something.
• The ability to interpret difficult words on an audio that are technical, foreign, or just plain…difficult
• You have a strong ability for research on the Internet.
• You can stay on schedule.
• There are probably more that I may not have touched on, but this gives you an overview.

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Transcription Proofreading Education

Is it possible to get specialized transcription proofreading training to get ahead in the general proofreading world of work-at-home business.  That is a big YES!

While it is possible to become an expert transcription proofreader without getting specialized training, why would you want to do so when you can learn all about proofreading by listening to a free webinar by Caitlin? The webinar will give you an overview of who, what and how proofreading works.

Caitlin Pyle’s General Proofreading: Theory and Practice™ (GPTP) course will teach you everything you need to know in order to learn how to quit your 9-to-5 schedule and earn money from home. Just look at what you get:

• 40+ lessons in 8 modules
• 8 grammar-specific worksheets
• Bonus resource guides for all types of service-provider markets
• 20 real-life example jobs

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Borlok Transcription started doing transcription in 2006, and started out doing all sorts of transcription. We started out in the freelance marketplaces like Elance.com and oDesk.com (now known as Upwork.com). It took us awhile to feel comfortable doing transcription, but we hung in there – and you can too!

Completing business transcription as a virtual assistant is only one choice for bringing in an income.

Revised 12/25/2023