Is full verbatim more expensive?

Generally yes, because it takes longer to produce and to review than clean verbatim.

Should I use full verbatim for subtitles?

No. Subtitles are constrained by reading speed, and fillers consume the budget without adding meaning for the viewer.

Does full verbatim include every "um"?

Under most conventions yes, which is exactly the difference from clean verbatim. Confirm against the client style guide.

How are non-verbal sounds written in full verbatim?

Usually as bracketed tags such as [laughs] or [sighs], applied only where they carry meaning. Which sounds to tag and how to write them varies by style guide, so it belongs in the brief rather than being assumed.

Definition

What Is Full Verbatim?

VideoText editorial team. Updated September 13, 2026.

Direct definition

Full verbatim (sometimes called true verbatim) records speech with fillers, stutters, repetitions, and often nonverbal sounds, following the client’s notation rules. It is used when how something was said is part of the evidence.

The sections below explain how full verbatim is used in transcription and subtitle work, what people often mix up, and which VideoText workflow applies when the next step is a file or review pass.

Key takeaways

Full verbatim is slower to read and more expensive to produce.
Notation for [laughs] or [inaudible] must match the style guide.
ASR output is a poor substitute for specified full-verbatim delivery.

When full verbatim is used

Qualitative interviews, some legal and disciplinary recordings, and user-research playback sessions often require it. Marketing transcripts almost never do.

The thing people often get wrong

Full verbatim is not “type every breath.” Style guides still drop coughs or specify brackets. Use only the notation the assigned guide lists.

What gets kept

Full verbatim retains the speech as delivered: filler words, repetitions, false starts, stutters, and often non-verbal sounds such as laughter where they carry meaning. Nothing is tidied for readability.

The point is evidential. In research, legal and clinical contexts how something was said — hesitation, self-correction, a sentence abandoned midway — is part of the data, and removing it removes evidence.

Formatting conventions

Style guides differ on how to write a stutter, whether to hyphenate a repeated syllable, which non-verbal sounds to tag, and how to mark an interrupted sentence. These rules are why two full verbatim transcripts of the same audio can look different and both be correct.

Agree the convention before starting. Retrofitting a different stutter or tag convention across a long transcript is slow and error-prone.

Frequently asked questions

Is full verbatim more expensive?: Generally yes, because it takes longer to produce and to review than clean verbatim.
Should I use full verbatim for subtitles?: No. Subtitles are constrained by reading speed, and fillers consume the budget without adding meaning for the viewer.
Does full verbatim include every "um"?: Under most conventions yes, which is exactly the difference from clean verbatim. Confirm against the client style guide.
How are non-verbal sounds written in full verbatim?: Usually as bracketed tags such as [laughs] or [sighs], applied only where they carry meaning. Which sounds to tag and how to write them varies by style guide, so it belongs in the brief rather than being assumed.

Related terms

Sources

Rev: Rev Transcription Style Guide