Turn an interview transcript into an article
Keep the speaker's voice; cut the verbal repetition and the digressions
Below is a transcript of an interview. Turn it into an article of about 1500 words: 1) reorganize by theme, not chronologically; 2) keep 5–8 of the most informative sentences as direct quotes, word for word; 3) cut filler words, repetition, and digressions, but do not change the speaker's voice or position; 4) list 3 questions I stopped short of asking but should have. [paste the transcript]
How to use
Before you hand it over, mark the three quotes you cannot do without — otherwise it will cut your point along with the filler.
Good for
- The transcript is ten thousand words of spoken rambling, but three of the customer's sentences are the entire value of the piece and must not move.
- The interviewee circles and says 'you know' constantly, but the position is sharp: flatten the tone and the position goes with it.
Not for
- The audio is bad and the key sentences are unintelligible: tidying fills the gaps with fluent invention.
- You need a verbatim transcript (legal, compliance, quote clearance requires exact wording): any reorganization makes it uncitable.
Example
Input
Yeah, so... we did not really think it through, we just shipped it and watched what users did, right... and then it was down for two hours on day one, we only saw the alert afterwards.
What you get
Regrouped by theme (ship first, monitor later); 'down for two hours on day one' kept word for word as a quote; filler removed while the voice stays; three questions listed that should have been asked (who approved the launch, why no alert, what changed after).
Common mistakes
- Dropping the whole transcript in without saying who it is for or how long: it defaults to 1500 words and sands the three sharpest lines into neutral description.
- Asking it to polish the quotes while it is at it: an edited quote is no longer a quote, and that was the only part you could stand behind.
Try tweaking it like this
- Change '1500 words' to '800 words plus five bullet points' when it is an internal brief rather than a published piece.
- Add 'keep the digressions too and list them at the end' when you have not decided what to save for the next piece.