Contributor Knowledge Base & Tutorials

Task Guides & Tutorials: How to Complete Every Task on Verbatimly

Step-by-step instructions, quality standards, equipment recommendations, and practical checklists for audio transcription, original writing tasks, and voice recording projects.

Transcription Guide Writing Guide Voice Recording Guide Quality Standards
Task Guide 1

How to Complete Online Audio Transcription Tasks

Audio transcription on Verbatimly requires listening to short, recorded speech clips and converting spoken dialogue into accurate, readable text. High-quality transcripts must be faithful to the spoken words while adhering to formal punctuation and orthography standards.

Step-by-Step Transcription Workflow

Step 1: First Listen & Context Gathering Play the audio once from beginning to end to understand the speaker's accent, pacing, vocabulary, and subject matter before typing.
Step 2: Incremental Playback & Typing Listen to 3-5 second segments, pausing or rewinding as needed. Type the words exactly as spoken into the submission input.
Step 3: Proofread Against the Audio Play the recording one final time while silently reading your transcript. Verify spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and ensure zero words were missed.

Core Accuracy & Formatting Rules

Verbatim Accuracy

Transcribe the words actually spoken. Do not summarize, rephrase, or substitute words with synonyms, even if you feel the grammar in speech was imperfect.

Sentence Punctuation

Insert periods, commas, and question marks that match spoken pauses and sentence boundaries. Avoid continuous run-on sentences without punctuation.

Capitalization

Capitalize the first letter of each sentence, proper nouns (names of people, places, brands, days of the week, months), and acronyms (e.g., NASA, UK, USA).

Numbers & Numerals

Spell out small whole numbers from zero through ten (e.g., "four apples"). Use digits for numbers 11 and above, percentages ("25%"), dates, and currency.

How to Handle Inaudible Audio

Never invent or guess words when speech is muffled, obscured by loud noise, or unintelligible. If a word cannot be deciphered after three focused listens, use standard notation: [inaudible]. Guessing reduces accuracy scores during validation.

Hardware & Speed Tips

  • Use closed-back headphones: Over-ear headphones isolate low-volume phonemes and fricatives that built-in laptop speakers easily lose.
  • Learn keyboard controls: Use keyboard shortcuts for play/pause and rewind whenever supported in the browser to keep your hands on home row.

Pre-Submission Transcription Checklist

  • Did I capture every spoken word without adding or deleting content?
  • Are all proper nouns and names capitalized correctly?
  • Is punctuation natural and accurate?
  • Did I proofread against the audio playback one full time?
← View Transcription Hub Register to Transcribe
Task Guide 2

How to Complete Online Writing Tasks

Writing tasks on Verbatimly provide the foundational text scripts for downstream voice recording and audio transcription. Contributors draft original, informative passages on assigned topics while strictly adhering to required word count thresholds.

Understanding Topic Briefs & Word Limits

Each writing topic defines two critical bounds: minimum words and maximum words. Submissions outside this range cannot be submitted or approved by the system.

Target Range: Specified per topic (e.g. 100 - 300 words)
Character Range: Must not exceed maximum character constraints
Language: Standard English with clean spelling and grammar

The Secret to Great Task Writing: Read-Aloud Cadence

Remember that your text will be read aloud by another contributor during a voice recording task. If your sentences are clumsy or full of unpronounceable characters, the recording contributor will struggle.

Keep sentences between 12 and 22 words: This allows natural breathing points for voice contributors.
Avoid symbols and obscure abbreviations: Write "and" instead of "&", "percent" instead of "%", and "dollars" instead of "$".
Organize with clear paragraph breaks: Group thoughts into logical paragraphs rather than submitting one monolithic wall of text.

Zero Tolerance for Plagiarism & Filler Text

Submissions must be drafted by you. Copy-pasting text from Wikipedia, news articles, or other websites violates our Terms of Service and results in immediate rejection and account review. Do not repeat words or sentences simply to inflate word count.

Pre-Submission Writing Checklist

  • Is my content 100% original and authored by me?
  • Does the total word count satisfy the topic's required min/max boundaries?
  • Did I read the passage aloud once to confirm smooth, natural flow?
  • Are spelling, capitalization, and punctuation accurate?
← View Writing Tasks Hub Register to Write
Task Guide 3

How to Complete Voice Recording & Speech Tasks

Voice recording tasks require contributors to read approved written passages aloud into their browser microphone. Clear, natural speech recordings provide speech data and create the audio clips that transcriptionists convert back to text.

Acoustic Environment & Room Setup

Microphones capture everything in your surroundings. Room acoustics directly dictate whether your audio passes quality verification:

Ideal Recording Spaces

Small, enclosed rooms with soft furnishings (carpets, curtains, sofas, or bookcases) absorb room reflection and prevent reverberant echo.

Spaces to Avoid

Kitchens, tiled bathrooms, empty hallways, or rooms with active ceiling fans, humming refrigerators, or open windows facing traffic.

Microphone Positioning Best Practices

  • Optimal Distance: Keep the microphone approximately 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) away from your mouth. Too close causes distortion; too far causes thin, hollow audio.
  • Off-Axis Speaking: Angle your microphone slightly toward the corner of your mouth rather than pointing directly at your lips to eliminate explosive breath pops on "P" and "B" sounds.
  • Keep Hands Off Hardware: Rest your phone or USB microphone on a stationary table. Handling the device during recording produces handling thumps.

Vocal Delivery Guidelines

Cadence: Speak at an even conversational pace (120 to 140 words per minute). Avoid rushing through sentences or dragging out words unnaturally.

Articulation: Enunciate words clearly with standard pitch. Avoid dramatic whispering or theatrical shouting.

Verbatim Reading: Read every word exactly as displayed on screen. Do not improvise, omit phrases, or add unscripted remarks.

Pre-Submission Voice Recording Checklist

  • Is the room completely quiet with fans and televisions turned off?
  • Did I read the entire script verbatim from start to finish?
  • Did I listen to the playback preview to verify clarity, volume, and absence of distortion?
← View Voice Recording Hub Register to Record
Platform Standards

Quality Review Architecture & Account Health

Verbatimly maintains a structured multi-layer review system to guarantee high accuracy for clients and protect honest contributors from spam and automated bots.

Algorithmic Checks

Text length, character boundaries, audio duration, silence detection, and speech recognition match benchmarks are tested automatically upon submission.

Editorial Peer Review

Submissions undergo review by senior platform reviewers to confirm grammar, pronunciation clarity, and verbatim transcription integrity.

Accuracy Scoring

Your overall accuracy score determines task prioritization, progression level unlocks, daily task caps, and withdrawal eligibility.

Consistently meeting quality standards allows contributors to advance from Level 1 through Level 4, unlocking higher task volumes, lower processing times, and reward multipliers. Learn more in our How It Works Guide.

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