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Youtube videos can come with autogenerated as well as manually uploaded transcripts. You can skim through the transcript to understand what's stated in the video without sitting through its entire playback duration. When looking up specific topics within the video, you can even search for specific words in the video transcript.
To search words in a Youtube transcript on Mac, you can use the Cmd+F combination. In the search bar, you can type the word you're looking for. You can also use the arrow buttons on the search bar to look for other instances of the word in the same transcript.
In this article, you will discover creative ways to use a Youtube transcript as well as transcript repurposing tricks. By the end of this post, you will understand how to leverage the platform's captioning features to their full potential. But first, let's look at the exact steps to take when looking for specific words in a youtube transcript.
Step-By-Step Guide For Searching Words In A Youtube Transcript
To look up words in a Youtube transcript, you have to use the browser's "find" function, which looks for anything you type in the entire window. Here are the steps you must take to open the transcript and look up a specific word in it.
Step 1 - Open The Youtube Transcript
The first step in looking up words within a youtube transcript is to open the transcript on your browser. Safari is the main web browser for Mac computers. Regardless of whether you use Safari or an alternative browser, though, you must follow the same process of looking up words in a window. After you've opened a Youtube video, you must click the three dots under the video and select the "Open Transcript" option.
Step 2 - Press Cmd+F
You might notice that there is no native button to look up specific words in the video's transcript. To search for a word, you must use the browser's own "find" function. On a PC, the Ctrl+F combination can be used to open the browser's "find" feature. As is the case with most PC-to-Mac shortcut translations, Ctrl is replaced with Cmd. Cmd+F Opens The Browser's Search Bar.
Step 3 - Type The Word In The Search Bar
In the search bar, you should type the word that you're looking for. As long as the transcript is open in the window, the find feature will look for the word in it. Even instances of the word outside the transcript will be highlighted.
5 Ways To Repurpose A Transcript
As you know, you can use a Youtube video's transcript to go over its verbal content without sitting through the entire playback duration of the video. Because one can skim text quicker than one can listen to standard-paced audio, people often use youtube transcripts to speed up their consumption of information. However, there are five others ways in which you can use a video's transcript. Let's look at what they are.
Summarize The Transcript To Create A Fresh Blog Post
By summarizing the points in a spoken-word video, you can create a fresh blog post. The transcript of a video can make its verbal content more accessible for adaptation. Summarizing, elaborating, and illustrating points with examples can all change the content significantly enough to produce fresh content that ranks on Google.
Avoid copying the transcript and spinning it with an online text spinner. Spun content is not very easy to read and can be easily flagged by Google. But the content you write after being inspired by the transcript of a video is entirely unique.
Use It As A Launchpad For A New Video
You don't have to change the medium of a video to repurpose it. While using a Youtube video transcript to create blog posts and articles is one way to repurpose it, it isn't the only method of creating fresh content from existing content. Go over the main points of the transcript and write down what you agree or disagree with. More importantly, write why you agree or disagree with the points made in the video.
This can help you create an outline for your own video. It can be uploaded as a reaction video or an independent piece of content. Let's suppose you come across a video praising a specific politician's policies.
You can create a fresh video praising the same politician's policies with more insight and for different reasons or criticizing their shortcomings. The title in the response context could be "Why [Youtuber] is wrong about [Politician]." In a standalone context, it would be more like "Why [Politician] is overrated."
Pull Quotes From The Transcript To Create Graphics
It is okay to make fresh commentary videos based on videos uploaded by others. But pulling quotes for graphics is something best reserved for one's own primary content. If you have uploaded an extempore Youtube video, then you can find quote-worthy sentences by skimming its transcript. These can look great in social media graphics. The ContentFries quote card generator is used by many content creators to produce social media images from their online content.
Create A Quiz Based On The Information In The Transcript And Use It To Collect Leads
We often perceive content distribution as a one-way street. The creator gives out information, and the consumer consumes it. But information can be gamified into a two-way interaction. Quiz creators like the Typeform Quiz Maker can be used to turn points taken from a transcript into a quiz. You can distribute the quiz via your social media, ad campaigns, and other **content distribution channels. **By adding an email field to your quiz, you can build an email list in the process.
Create A Slide Containing The Main Points In The Transcript
From LinkedIn to Instagram, you can post multi-image slides to different social media platforms. This content format is ideal for text graphics featuring different points, arguments, or facts. You can mine these points from informative youtube videos' transcripts and use them to create slide posts on Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram, among other social media.
Words To Search In A Youtube Transcript
ContentFries is a content repurposing tool used by content creators, podcasters, and educators to turn a handful of long-form videos into 36 times more bite-sized content pieces. Having served creators who repurpose their content regularly, we have developed a deep understanding of how high-quality repurposed content is produced from a variety of "raw materials," including podcast episodes, webinars, and youtube transcripts. In this section, we will go over the best practices for mining youtube transcripts for repurposing.
Analysis / Analyze - If the words "analyze" or "analysis" shows up in a video's transcript, you should pay attention to what follows. Usually, this word is followed by a deeper interpretation of a subject.
Example / Instance - These words are followed by case studies and examples that you can use to illustrate your points. You should definitely look up "example" and "instance" in transcripts of video essays.
Trending / Trends - If a transcript contains the words "trend" or "trending," then you can use what follows for fresh content ideas. Trends cited in the transcript of one video can easily be used as title ideas for new videos.
Tips / Tip - The word "tip" is a highly recommended search term in video transcripts that are meant to educate and inform. Whenever it appears in a transcript, you can be confident that what follows is an insight that is ripe for bite-sized content. You can mine transcripts for tips and create short clips, text graphics, and slide posts.
Creative - Sometimes, a YouTuber will says, "...that's very creative," or "a creative way to go about..." You can probably tell that both examples signpost an interesting idea. By looking up the word "creative" in a youtube transcript, you can find ideas and insights that the creator believes are fresh.
Story - If you're looking for anecdotes and stories to tell at parties, then searching the word "story" in multiple youtube transcripts can help. In some cases, the word is used in the context of social media story posts, and in others, it precedes an actual story.
Idea - The word "idea" is a healthy search term. Whenever it appears in a youtube transcript, it follows or is followed by an actual idea. It can be used to get over creative blocks.
Research / Study - If you want to cite studies and research regarding a specific subject, you should look up videos of academic lectures on it and spot "research" or "study" in the transcripts. You'll be surprised at how many on-point studies you can find in youtube videos.
Emotional / Emotion - If you create mental health, psychological, or personal development content, then you can find things that people are emotional about by looking up relevant terms in self-experience vlog transcripts.
Debunk - One of the best words to look for in a video transcript is "debunk" because it highlights the alternative argument.
Inspiring - The word "inspiring" is a positive signpost to look for in self-help videos. It can help you create inspiring content for your own audience.
Hack - The quickest way to find valuable bite-sized content opportunities in a long-form youtube video is to simply look up "hack" in its transcript. Life hacks as well as hacks in general have high bite-sized value and can be featured in short clips, graphics, and even text posts.
Secret - An alternative word that highlights handy hacks in a video is "secret." Whenever you find it in a video's transcript, you can be sure you have your hands on a repurposing opportunity.
Insight - Looking up "insight" in a video's transcript will help you land close to genuinely insightful findings presented by the creator. It also helps to select videos that are likely to contain deeper insights.
Opinion - If you intend on creating a response video or simply want to know about the personal perspective of a content creator, you should search for "opinion" in their content transcripts. With a dedicated search campaign that spans multiple videos, you can form a complete picture of the school of thought that the creator belongs to.
Lesson - Finally, you can look for "lesson" in a content transcript to find out what others have learned from different experiences. Lessons you pick up this way can fuel your own content as well.
How Can ContentFries Help Me?
Not everyone who watches youtube opens video transcripts, so looking up words in them is not very common. Only a few contexts call for searching for specific words in a youtube video. In this section, we will go over the different types of people who look up words in transcripts and how our program can help them.
Podcast Producer - If you're a podcaster who looks up content transcripts to produce podcast time stamps and notes, then you should look into ContentFries as your podcast clip generator. The program helps you create subtitled clips in minutes.
Youtuber - If you're a YouTuber, then you should consider ContentFries as your content multiplication tool. The program helps you multiply your long-form content by a factor of 36.
Educator - ContentFries can be used for more accurate transcription of videos. However, a youtube transcript is just fine for most educators.
Student - Students can use Youtube transcripts of video lectures. They do not need ContentFries unless they want to become social media influencers.
Journalist - Journalists can also rely on Youtube transcription unless they want to start creating content. E-journalists can use ContentFries to create more accessible content in a shorter period.
Final Thoughts
To search for a word in a youtube transcript, you should press Cmd and F buttons together, then type the word you want to find. If you're looking for a specific name, event, study, or experience, then this quick lookup can be helpful. But to leverage the transcript lookup to its full potential, you should use the list of words covered earlier, as it can help you extract maximum value out of a transcript in the shortest period.