How To Dictate A Video On Word
Feb 17, 2023
Do you have a video project that you need to transcribe quickly but don't have the time or energy to manually type it all out? You can save time and energy by dictating your video project using Microsoft Word. With Word's dictation feature, you can quickly and accurately turn your video into written words. You can then use that transcription to accompany your video, making it more accessible and allowing you to post it on more platforms. Or, you can reuse that dictation and turn it into totally new content, like blog posts, articles, and more!
Whether you’re an individual trying to increase your productivity or a business looking for ways to branch out to new forms of content or make your posts more accessible by adding captions, there are a lot of reasons why you might want to use Microsoft Word to record and transcribe audio. In this blog post, we'll walk you through the steps of how to dictate a video using the web version of Word.
Why Would You Need To Dictate A Video?
There are lots of reasons why one might need to dictate a video using a tool like Microsoft Word or another third-party software. Transcribing your audio or videos not only helps you make them accessible to more people, but will also increase your viewing rates, help you create better content, and allow you to repurpose content on many different platforms.
Whether you’re a creator, an educator, or a business owner, there are countless reasons that dictating a video might be beneficial to you.
How To Dictate A Video Using Microsoft Word
Dictating a video requires you to transcribe audio, but you don’t have to do this manually; it’s time-consuming to do so on your own, and expensive to hire others to do it for you. Plus, humans are bound to make mistakes when transcribing audio and video by hand. That’s why so many people turn to alternatives like Microsoft Word and other third-party software to dictate their videos. Here’s exactly how you can transcribe audio and video using Word.
Enable Transcription In Microsoft Word
For users of Word for the web, you will need to use the Transcription feature to dictate your videos. In order to use the feature, you will need to manually open the transcribe panel by following a few simple steps. Note that you’ll need to be using Word for the web and you’ll need to be a Microsoft 365 premium subscriber, as it’s otherwise not possible to access the Transcription feature.
To access the Transcribe feature, open a new or existing Word document in Word for the web. Next, look for the blue microphone at the top right of the page. Click the arrow next to it to reveal a dropdown menu. In the dropdown menu, click 'Transcribe' to activate the transcription feature. This will open up the transcribe pane so you can begin transcribing or dictating a video.
Dictate Or Transcribe Your Video
The next step in the process is to dictate or transcribe your videos. Microsoft Word accepts many different file formats, including .mp3, mp4, and .wav files. This means that you can upload both the audio file and video file formats. If you want to upload and dictate a video file and not just an audio file, though, it should be in the .mp4 format.
If you haven’t yet converted your video to a format that is compatible with Word, you should do so. You can easily convert videos from other formats to .mp4 online if your file is not already in the proper format to use Microsoft Word’s dictation feature.
Next, click “upload file” from the transcribe pane. You can select “upload audio files” or “video files.” You can then upload the video or audio file that you would like to dictate by clicking “add all to document.” You can upload multiple files at once, but note that Microsoft Word can only process and transcribe one of them at a time.
If you don’t want to transcribe pre-recorded audio, you can also use this method to dictate live meetings or your own speech in real time! Just press the microphone button and click “Start recording” instead of “upload file.” If you need to take a break while recording, just click the pause button. When you’re ready to start recording again, press the pause button and the recording will begin.
Once you’re done, all you’ll need to do is select “save and transcribe,” and Word will show you your finished transcription! Now you’re all done transcribing your video, and you can move on to the final step of the process.
Edit Your Video Transcription
Lastly, you’ll need to edit the transcription that Word has created for you in your Word document. While the transcription should reflect a fairly accurate transcription of what you’ve written, Word’s dictation option is far from perfect, and you’ll likely have to make adjustments. Take a look at the transcription in front of you and look through it to correct any errors. You might want to add on any further information that isn’t included in the dictation, too.
Word also will not automatically format your dictation for you. If you want to add headers, bold, italics, or other formatting, you’ll need to do yourself during this step. Take all the time you need to correct Word’s transcription and to polish your dictation into something you’ll be happy to use alongside your video, whether it’s for blog posts, captions, or other uses.
With these features, Microsoft Word makes it easy for users of the web version of Word to set up voice recognition and quickly dictate their audio into written text. If you’re using Word for the web as a paid Microsoft 365 subscriber, you can easily record and transcribe your audio into a Word document.
Transcribe Videos Easier With Maestra Studio
While Microsoft 360 Premium Subscribers can use Word to transcribe their videos and uploaded audio, Word’s transcription feature isn’t the best. You’ll likely need to edit the transcription heavily after Word transcribes your video or speech since Word’s dictation isn’t known as being the most reliable. Thankfully, Maestra Studio presents the perfect affordable and convenient alternative with our tool that provides instant transcriptions for whatever you need.
All you’ll need to do with Maestra is upload your video or audio file and our automatic video transcription tool and it will transcribe it for you in minutes rather than hours. Our real-time editor makes it easy to make any edits as you go and make sure you have the perfect transcription for your uses.
Want to learn how Maestra Suite can make transcribing audio and video simple and easy? Book a demo today to learn how Maestra can help your business level up your video content! Try it our for yourself with 15 minutes of free transcription when you sign up today.
Feb 17, 2023
