Most transcription problems don't start with the transcript — they start with the recording. A cleaner file means faster turnaround, fewer flagged sections, and a more accurate document. None of this requires studio equipment.
1. One microphone per speaker when possible
A single laptop mic in the middle of the table works, but separate mics (even phone voice memos placed near each speaker) make it dramatically easier to tell speakers apart and catch words lost to distance or overlap.
2. Kill the background noise before you hit record
Fans, open windows, coffee shop ambience, and notification pings don't just sound bad — they directly cause misheard words, because background noise competes with speech at exactly the frequencies that carry consonants.
3. Ask people not to talk over each other
Overlapping speech is the single hardest thing to transcribe accurately, AI or human. A two-second habit — "sorry, go ahead" instead of talking through someone — saves real accuracy downstream.
4. State names at the start
Thirty seconds of "thanks for joining, this is [name] and [name]" at the top of the recording makes speaker labeling far more reliable than guessing from voice alone partway through.
5. Watch your recording levels, not just the room
Audio that's too quiet picks up more background hiss when amplified; audio that's too loud clips and distorts. Aim for levels that peak comfortably below the red zone on your recording app.
6. Do a five-second test before the real thing
Record a few seconds, play it back, and confirm you can hear both speakers clearly. It costs nothing and catches the one mistake — a muted mic, a wrong input source — that ruins an otherwise good interview.
None of this needs to be perfect. Even a moderately noisy recording is workable — these six habits just move a file from "needs the difficult-audio add-on" to "standard turnaround."