Podcast and Interview Transcripts and Subtitles
A transcript makes your episode searchable and quotable, and subtitles let people follow the video version without sound. Here is a simple workflow that keeps your raw recordings private.
Export the final mix
Use the finished episode, with music and edits in place, so timings match what listeners hear. MP3, WAV or M4A all work.
Generate and choose the language
Drop the file into the generator. For single-language shows, pick the language yourself for the best accuracy.
Proofread names and terms
Guest names, company names and technical words are the usual mistakes. Search for each one while you listen back.
Add speaker names
The tool does not label speakers, so add a name at the start of a line when someone new begins to talk.
Publish the transcript
Download TXT for a blog post or show notes, and SRT or VTT for the video version on YouTube.
Why a transcript is worth publishing
A podcast or interview lives as audio, which search engines cannot read and many people cannot or do not want to listen to. A transcript turns the same conversation into text. It helps readers who prefer to skim, listeners who want to find a quote, people with hearing loss, and anyone who is reading in a second language.
It also gives you raw material. A good transcript becomes show notes, a blog post, pull quotes for social media and a searchable archive of everything you have recorded. One recording, many uses.
Getting the best audio for the AI
- Export the final mixed episode as a single audio file; MP3, WAV and M4A all work.
- If you can, remove long stretches of music and ads before generating, so the AI spends its time on speech.
- For remote interviews, record each person locally when possible; clearer tracks give clearer text.
- Choose a higher quality mode for conversations with accents, technical terms or people talking over each other.
None of this needs special software. It is mostly about giving the AI a clear recording to listen to.
Proofreading a conversation
Interviews are full of names, places and jargon that an AI may spell in a plausible but wrong way. Play the audio while you read and watch for guest names, company names, product terms and numbers. The editor lets you click a line to jump straight to that moment, so you do not have to scrub through the recording.
Also decide how literal to be. Some publishers keep every “um” and false start; others tidy them for readability. Either is fine, as long as you are consistent and the meaning stays true to what was said.
Turning the transcript into something people read
Export TXT for show notes and articles, or SRT if you want captions on a video version of the episode. Plain text makes it easy to add speaker names, paragraph breaks and headings; a short summary at the top and a few pull quotes make the page far more inviting than a wall of text.
If you publish a video version on YouTube, our guide on adding subtitles to a YouTube video covers the upload. For a broader walkthrough of plain-text output, see how to transcribe a video or audio file to text.
Quick tips
- Use “TXT + times” to find the exact moment of a quote.
- Process long interviews in chapters so proofreading stays manageable.
- Link the transcript from your episode page to help people and search engines find it.
Ready to try it? Drop a video or audio file into the free subtitle generator and have subtitles in minutes. Open the generator →