The Importance of Transcribing Stories

I was privileged to spend yesterday with a group of New Zealand’s most successful female entrepreneurs. Several told the stories of their journeys. Although each woman and each product or service they offered was different, there were some recurring themes, and deeply profound and moving elements to each story. I am kicking myself for not recording these stories.

My idea is not that I wanted to monetize these incredible stories but rather, I thought if I could just  capture the profound essence and elegance of these stories, then I could transcribe them for my daughters. Then when my daughters doubted what a woman can do, they could read these, and be inspired. You might wonder that they should need such inspiration in a world where women are doing such amazing things all around us but I will tell you, they do. I know this because not long ago someone had the audacity to tell my super smart daughter that as a teen she would have to make the choice between being beautiful or smart – because she couldn’t be both. As ridiculous as that is, I saw my daughter register the information.

Transcription of these amazing stories is important because these are records of sacrifice, challenge and intelligence and they should not be lost. This got me to thinking about transcribing stories in general. How wonderful it is, that this is now so easy to do. So now, even the stories that are incredible just to a family and friends for nostalgia, can be simply dictated and transcribed for keepsakes and inspiration. I like to think that I might even be able to mentor my own great grandchildren one day, by recording my own story and leaving it for them in book form.

Yes, the ability to create an autobiography has been around for as long as we have been writing but for those who are not proficient on a keyboard or, for those who are not natural storytellers, today’s transcription technology offers options we have not had in the past. With the ability to record long audio by smartphone, that option is also readily available to everyone. This is exciting.

This post was written by Helga Sonier.