Element	Format
Filler words	Offset any filler word or crutch word with commas.
• What, like, would be a reason for you to, like, quit your job?
• And then, you know, we were just talking…
• So, uh, like, I wasn't too sure.
Feedback words	Include the word like you would include any other word. Use capital letters where necessary.
• You know what I mean? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Totally.
• There was really no milk left? Nah, nope, mm-mm.
Informal contractions	Write the words according to how they’re traditionally written. Consult Google if you’re not sure. Always use ‘ apostrophes, not accents or quotation marks, for contractions.
• I’m tryna be the good guy here.
• She was boutta head home when y’all called.
• There’s a whole lotta things to know about ‘em.
Stutters	**For partial word stutters, use a hyphen. For full word stutters, a hyphen or comma is
acceptable. Full word stutters are quick and always one word, usually short. Do not add spaces before or after the hyphen. Do add spaces after the comma.**
• I-I-I wasn’t aware, I p-promise!
• Wh-wh-what makes you think that?
• She-she said she’ll take over fr-from here. OR She, she said she’ll take over fr-from here.
Repetitions	Offset any repetition with commas (just like with filler words).
• Where, where on earth have you found this, this, this atrocity?
• She decided to go, go, go to the movies last night.
False starts	**Use two hyphens (--, do not use en dashes (–) or em dashes (—)) followed by a space.
Use a capital letter if a whole new sentence is produced. Use a lower-case letter if not.**
• It’s impossible-- I mean it’s unlikely that the deal will be closed.
• I sometimes walk-- run to the river bank.
Use one hyphen if the speaker is interrupted by another, just like usual.
• How do you know if-
I just know!
Emphasised words	Lengthen the letter to 3 vowels or consonants precisely.
• Hellooo and thank you for having me.
• Weeell that’s a wrap from our side.
• Thisss is amazing.
Words with multiple consonants or vowels forming one sound should have their last letter elongated.
• Worthhh every penny.
• Hello to all of youuu…
Try not to overuse this formatting. Focus on the most emphasized sounds. Follow up with an ellipsis (…) if succeeded by a long pause.
Speakers’ sounds	Included in lower-case, present continuous, between round brackets, in-line.
Include only sounds that are emotional responses, voice pitch alterations or indistinguishable noises. See here.
****• (laughing) And er… that’s kinda how it went.
• And he was like (in low voice) “How are you today?”
• (gasping)
Trailing off	Use an ellipsis (…) symbol.
• Never have I thought… (3 seconds pass) Never did I think that this would become an issue.
• I just bought… I forgot what I bought. But it’s in my bag.
• Why is there… (2 seconds pass) well, why is there no caption under this photo?
Interjections and swear words	Include the word like you would include any other word. Use capital letters where necessary.
• Ugh. I can’t stand this man, aah!
• Yikes, that must’ve, ahem, hurt.
• Blegh, this is disgusting.
• Wow, wow, wow, this transcript is incredible, yay!
Swear words and standard swearing phrases should go with an exclamation mark, unless they’re not interjections but they’re part of a regular sentence or adjectives (see the last 4 examples).
• Fuck! I almost lost my phone.
• Dammit! Not again…
• For christ’s sake! Can’t you do anything right?
• This shit makes no sense.
• Fuck this, I’m not going.
• Damn you and your technology.
• They did a fucking shitty job on this one.
Grammar mistakes	Do not correct them.
• She don’t know what she’s missing.
Pronunciation mistakes	Correct them.
• Then you’ve got the fifth floor, sixth floor, ecsetera. → Then you’ve got the fifth floor, sixth floor, etcetera.
Symbols and numbers	Always written in full.
• It’s 25°C → It’s twenty-five degrees celsius.
• That plan will have cost us 700.000€ → That plan will have cost us seven-hundred thousand euros.