Scenario Examples

Interview with two speakers only

*Note both speakers are labeled by name.  Use name spellings given, or spell names phonetically.  Always remember to check client’s word lists for name spellings, as well.

Interview with two speakers (with occasional interruptions)

*Note both main speakers are labeled by name.  When other speakers interrupt, they should be labeled as Other Speaker, even if names are given.

Interview with two speakers (only one name given)

*Note that since the first speaker’s name isn’t given, he is labeled Speaker 1.  The second speaker’s name is given and should be used.  If neither name is given, use Speaker 1 and Speaker 2.

Interview with an Interpreter

When an interpreter is involved in an interview, the interpreter is not considered an additional party, but rather as the "mouthpiece" of the interviewee who is not responding in English.  The interpreter should be invisible, and labeled only by the name of the interviewee they are speaking for. 

In these jobs, the foreign language is omitted.  The only exception to this is if the interviewee speaks in English, or in mostly English with occasional foreign words, type what the speaker says and use **** for the foreign phrases.  This should be typed using the same speaker label.  In other words, there should be no distinction between the interviewee and the interpreter who is speaking for them.

In the example to the right, an interpreter is speaking for Sara Gomez.  In the circled portion, Sara has answered mostly in English, and **** has been used for a Spanish word.

Interview with more than two speakers throughout

*Note that the first speaker isn’t labeled by name, even though his name is given in the audio, because he is not the main interviewer.  He may ask questions and participate regularly throughout the audio, but he will always be labeled as Other Speaker.

General chatter before or after an interview

During this section, you may use Other Speaker for all speakers, and are not required to label anyone, even if one of the participants turns out to be a labeled speaker during the actual interview portion.  

Non-Interview with two speakers

*Note that both speakers are identified by name.  If only one speaker was identified by name, the other would be identified as either Speaker 1 or Speaker 2.

Non-Interview with more than two speakers

*Note that even though multiple names are given, none of them are used.  When there are multiple speakers and it isn’t an interview, no speakers should be identified by name or number.

Court Hearings

Court proceedings with multiple witnesses should be considered to be consecutive interviews.  Treat each witness as a separate interview, and label the main interviewer and the interviewee.  If another interviewer participates, label them Other Speaker.  In each section, only two speakers should be labeled by name or speaker number. 

Review Boards, Etc.

Review board or other agency meetings which involve questioning of multiple people (one at a time) should be treated the same way.  There will be only one main interviewer labeled throughout the entire job even if multiple people are asking questions, but each interviewee/witness is treated as a separate interview.

Consecutive Witness Interviews by Police Officer

If a single police officer is interviewing multiple witnesses consecutively (one witness at a time), this would be handled the same as a court proceeding. The interviewer will be labeled by name (or speaker number, if no name given), and each witness will be labeled.  In no section should more than two speakers be labeled by name or speaker number.  Non-consecutive witnesses (multiple witnesses being interviewed at the same time) should be labeled according to our normal policies for interviews with more than two participants. 

Consecutive Witness Interviews by Social Services

Please treat these as per the above.  Only one interviewer is labeled throughout the entire job, but each witness/interviewee is treated as a separate interview for labeling purposes.