Was it “we’ll never sell” or “we’d never sell”?
One is a promise. The other is a guess. Get it wrong and it’s their name next to words they didn’t quite say.
Everyone who’s done an interview has a quote like that, one they almost remember. Your notes say roughly what was said. A transcript can hear “we’ll” as “we’d”. A summary has already decided what they meant. The only thing that settles it is the recording, and finding the right ten seconds of it quickly.
That’s what Noted is for. Every line you type during the interview is linked to the recording, so tapping it plays them saying it. Here’s how to use that, whether you’re a journalist, a researcher, a student interviewing for a dissertation or someone on a hiring panel.
Before you start
Ask before you hit record. “So I can quote you accurately” is a reason most people like hearing. Once it’s running, ask again, so their yes is part of the recording too.
Write your questions in the note. You get a running order to follow, and a space under each question for the answer.
Turn on Identify speakers. Noted labels each voice in the transcript, and you can name them afterwards, so every line is clearly theirs or yours.
On a video call? On a Mac, Noted can record the call window and its audio straight into a note, without a bot joining the call. Already recorded it somewhere else? Import the file into a note and carry on from there.
During the interview
Look at them, not your screen. People open up when they can tell you’re listening.
Type a couple of words, not the quote. “great quote”, “check figure”, “contradicts March”. Each line is time-stamped to the recording, so each one is a way back to that moment.
Tag the lines you’ll use. Type #quote when you hear one, or #fact for anything you’ll need to check. These are TimeTags, and they gather in the Tags tab: every #quote from every interview, in one place. Useful when one story draws on five conversations.
Writing it up
Every #quote from every interview in one list. Tap one and Noted plays the moment it was said.
Start from your marks. Tap a line or a #quote tag, and the recording plays from there.
Find with the transcript, check with the audio. Search the transcript for a word like “pricing”, then tap the line to hear it said. Listen before anything goes in quote marks. Names, numbers and anything said quickly are where transcripts slip.
Slow down fast talkers. Drop the playback speed until every word is clear.
Skip the gaps. Intelligent Playback skips the silences, and background noise too if you switch that on, so going back over an hour-long interview takes less than an hour.
Listen for what the words leave out. A pause, a laugh, a “well…” before an answer can change what a quote means. Only the recording keeps that.
Keeping it safe
Interviews can be sensitive. AI Transcribe runs on your device, so the recording doesn’t have to leave your iPhone or Mac to be transcribed. You can also lock a note with Face ID, Touch ID or a password, so a source’s words stay between the two of you.
The habit that pays off
You’ll rarely need to prove a quote. But when an editor, a client or the person you interviewed asks “did they really say that?”, you’ll have the answer in one tap, in their own voice.
Get Noted on the App Store & Mac App Store
Find the exact moment. Keep the recording.