Your Transcript TeammateYou're protective of your work, and you should be. It's your name on the transcript and your reputation. Trusting another person to complete a task worthy of bearing your name can be scary. And while letting go can be daunting, having someone help you out behind the scenes is one of the perks of being an independent contractor.
Consider me an ally on your team—someone who understands the importance of an accurate transcript and who will work hard to make you look good. |
It’s a fact of life that our human eyes will gloss over errors in our own work while a second pair will catch them more easily.
But why is this? ✦ For one, multitasking is a myth. Have you ever tried having a conversation with someone who’s watching a football game? Our brains juggle vast amounts of information by filtering what's important and ignoring the rest. So, while we're focused on the overall content, those little details—double words, misspellings, etc.—are more difficult to keep track of. ✦ In addition, being too close to our own work causes something called “familiarity blindness,” where our brains tend to fill in the gaps and correct mistakes automatically. ✦ When you add to this our brains’ inherent bias towards seeing what we intended to write rather than what's actually on the page, it becomes clear that catching errors in our own work can be challenging. |
The need to reduce costs in any business is clear. However, think of hiring a proofreader as an investment rather than an expense. Mistakes are not only distracting but could spell disaster for an entire legal case.
A dropped word or a wrong name, for instance, could lead to misinterpretations, potentially impacting the outcome and fairness of the proceedings. Proofreading transcripts is not just a matter of correcting typos; it’s to ensure an accurate and reliable record. |