Speaker Labeling

Speaker labeling is BY FAR the issue that results in the most client complaints in Spanish multi-speaker jobs. It is essential that you understand the speaker labeling policies set forth below and be able to apply them in any Spanish Job you may receive.

Speaker Labeling Scope of Service

No more than two speakers should ever be identified, regardless of client instructions.

Oftentimes, a client will provide name spellings for speaker labeling in the job instructions. These instructions must be followed.

Do not label three or more speakers just because their name spellings are provided in the job instructions.

Type of Group Conversation

Labeling Procedure

Interview with two speakers only

Identify the interviewer and interviewee by name (if given) or by Speaker 1 and Speaker 2.

If a name is given for either speaker at any point during the audio, that speaker should be labeled by that name.

If only one speaker is identified by name, it will be used to label that speaker, and the other speaker will be identified as either Speaker 1 or Speaker 2, as appropriate.

Interview with more than two speakers

Identify the main interviewer and interviewee by name (if given) or by Speaker 1 and Speaker 2. (Follow the same procedure as listed above for a regular interview.)

Label all other speakers who interject as Other Speaker. Even if there are several different additional speakers, they will all be labeled Other Speaker.

Speaker Labeling Reminders

1. The first two voices in a multi-speaker Spanish job are not necessarily the two voices that should be labeled by name or speaker number. In an interview, it should be the main interviewer and main interviewee that are labeled by name (if given) or by speaker number.

2. A job with more than two speakers can still be an interview. Many times, multiple speakers will be introduced at first, but then an interview begins with a main interviewer and interviewee.

Note: When you are unsure of how to label a Spanish Job or if you cannot distinguish between multiple voices, please open a Help Ticket

Information Including Titles on Speaker Labels:

Avoid utilizing long titles in speaker labels unless the client requests them. If a first and last name is given, use this as the speaker label and omit any titles. For example, when a speaker introduces herself as "Senior Claims Examiner Margaret Thatcher", the speaker label should just be Margaret Thatcher. Only include titles in speaker labels if:

The client instructions include the speaker's title (ex. First speaker is Investigator Luke Wilson.)
The speaker only identifies themselves by a short title and a last name (ex. My name is Investigator Dawson.)

Including long titles when not requested results in the client being overcharged, sometimes excessively.