A Hassle-Free Guide to Recording and Transcribing Sermons

By publishing your sermons on your website, you’ll be able to reach a broader audience, keep them more engaged, and increase your church’s online presence. Ultimately, you’ll be able to spread your faith quicker and, as a result, attract more people to your church.

To publish your sermons, you’ll first need to record and transcribe them, and for this, you need the right tools. In this post, we’ll show you what these tools are and give you some tips you can use to improve the quality of your recordings. 

What Is a Sermon and Why Do Churches Want To Record and Transcribe Them?

In its simplest form, a sermon is an oration or lecture by a preacher to his congregation. Traditionally, sermons were delivered in church but nowadays they’re available across a variety of platforms including podcasts and on video streaming services like YouTube. So, churches can record live sermons or from one of the platforms mentioned and then transcribe them. The question is, why would they want to?

Some of the reasons for this include:

• When transcribed, the sermons can be published on the church’s website which will make them available to a broader audience.
• Sermons can often be re-used and re-purposed into several blog posts where the church’s audience can get the message flowing from the sermons over several posts. 
• By publishing sermons, churches can constantly update their websites and keep their audience engaged. 

Ultimately, when you record and transcribe your sermons, you’ll elevate your church’s online presence which, in turn, not only helps to attract more people to your church but also helps you spread your faith faster and to a wider audience. 

How To Select the Right Equipment for Recording and Transcribing the Sermon

The equipment you’ll need to record and transcribe a sermon depends on whether you want to record only the audio or whether you want to record video as well. 

So, when you want to transcribe audio to text, you’ll first need an audio recording device. Your first option would be to use your phone or tablet. This option is very convenient and, because you probably already have a mobile device, it won’t cost you anything. When using your phone, you can use the native sound recorder on the device to record the sermon. 

If you want a higher quality recording, it’s always best to rather use a digital voice recorder with or without an external microphone. The recorders have microphones that are far more sensitive compared to those found in mobile devices. The higher-quality sound, in turn, makes transcribing easier.  

For recording video, it’s certainly possible to use your phone or camera, but you’ll get far better results with a dedicated, high-quality video camera. For video recording, you’ll also need a tripod and, depending on how far the camera will be from the pulpit, an external microphone.

How To Get the Best Quality in Recording Sermons?

Apart from using the right equipment, there are some things you should consider to get the best quality recordings. Firstly, to record clear audio, it’s important that your recording device is in the ideal position which will either be near the pulpit or on it. 

Secondly, if you’re recording video, you should ensure that the lighting is sufficient to get a good quality recording. Keep in mind, though, the quality of the video does not have an impact on the transcription and only serves to increase the viewing pleasure of your audience. 

How To Export the Audio or Video Recording of a Sermon

Once you’ve recorded the audio or video file, you’ll need to export the file to your computer or laptop. With a digital voice recorder or video camera, you’ll generally need to use the included proprietary software. If you don’t have the proprietary software available, you can simply connect the device to your phone with a USB cable and navigate to its folder to download the file.

When using your phone or tablet, you can export the files from these devices by connecting them to your computer using a USB cable. Another possibility is to save the files to a cloud drive from where you’ll be able to download them.   

Steps for Transcribing the Sermon

Once you’ve exported the audio or video recording, it’s time to convert it to text. Now, this could be a time-consuming process. Fortunately, our AI transcription software, Transcribe allows you to convert audio or video to text quickly and easily. 

We offer two transcription options: automatic and self.

Automatic transcription

To save time, we always recommend using our automatic transcription service. With it, you can transcribe audio to text and convert video to text with just a few clicks. Keep in mind, though, automatic transcription works best if you have clear and well-recorded audio or video. 

For automatic transcription:

1. Upload the audio or video file of your sermon. Here, you’ll have quite a few options to customize before uploading the file including inserting timecodes, subtitles formatting, and more.

For manual transcription mode

1. Select Self Transcription mode.

2. Select the audio or video file of your sermon. Our self-transcription editor interface includes an integrated editor and media player and it supports several common audio and video file formats.

3. You can also use the self-transcription feature to edit the transcript generated by the automatic transcription mode.

4. Slow down the audio and type as you listen. This gives you the ability to slow down the audio to a pace that’s suitable for you. 

5. You can also switch to dictation and repeat what you hear in your voice.

6. You can also use templates, auto loop, and foot pedal features that allow you to transcribe audio or video to text quicker.   

7. Once you’re done transcribing the sermon, you can export the transcription as a Word document to your computer. 

You can read a more detailed how-to guide about transcribing audio and video here.

Take the Hassle Out of Recording and Transcribing Sermons

With Transcribe by Wreally, recording and transcribing sermons is as easy as 1, 2, 3. And when you do, you’ll be able to publish your sermons on your church’s website, which will, in turn, elevate its online presence and you’ll be able to attract more people to your church. 

To find out more about Transcribe, visit our website for more detail.

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