Debate transcripts. Keep each argument in context.

Return to the words behind the feedback

A debate coach may need to revisit the moment a speaker quotes the other side, challenges an assumption or concedes a narrow point. A reviewed transcript helps locate the words; timed subtitles let the team read them alongside the recording. Polyglot creates a draft from authorized audio or video on an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 14.4 or later, supports human text review and translation, and exports text, SRT or WebVTT.

Use this workflow after a practice or competition recording has been cleared for processing. It does not provide live captions, automatic speaker identification, argument scoring, fact checking or a judge’s ballot. Fast speech and overlapping voices need careful listening; a fluent-looking draft is not evidence that every argument was captured.

Keep the motion and assigned roles with the recording

Before importing, make a separate round sheet: the exact motion, debate format, round identifier, recording revision, assigned sides and speech order. Use the final video’s clock for any navigation notes. If you export individual speeches with another tool, record whether their timestamps are local to each clip or refer to the full round.

The English-Speaking Union’s Schools’ Mace page describes teams receiving a motion and an assigned Proposition or Opposition position. That is one format, not a universal role list. Verify the actual event’s roles and speaker order. An assigned side should not be presented as a participant’s personal belief, and an argument repeated by an opponent should not be attributed to that opponent as their own position.

Confirm the organizer’s rules for recording, AI processing, reuse and recipient access. Obtain the required permissions for participants and any captured audience contributions; follow the institution’s requirements where students or minors are involved. Permission to attend or view a round is not a blanket grant to redistribute it. Clear the media, transcript and translated tracks for the same intended audience.

Listen across the quotation and rebuttal boundary

Check the draft against the audio, using approved names or role labels only when the speaker is confirmed. Listen to a complete thought before changing an individual cue: an isolated sentence may be a quotation, a hypothetical example or a concession followed immediately by a rebuttal. Review negation, numbers, named sources and phrases such as “they argue” or “even if” with particular care.

This fictional coaching example uses a motion about extending library hours. It illustrates a lost attribution, not a real debate or a tested transcription result. The review note belongs in the coach’s document; the captions should contain the words actually spoken.

Sample round: library hours
Role: Opposition / speech 2

Heard:
“They say longer hours help.
We question that evidence.”

Draft omitted: “They say”
Action: restore heard words.
Coach note: quotation ends
before the rebuttal begins.

Preserve uncertainty without repairing the argument

W3C’s transcription guidance calls for faithful speech, relevant speaker identification and meaningful non-speech sounds. Do not rewrite a weak argument into a stronger one, correct a mistaken statistic inside the captions or add a citation the speaker never gave. Put factual questions and coaching suggestions in a separate document linked to the recording time.

Where a question interrupts a speech, review both the change of voice and the return to the original speaker. Do not guess an identity or reconstruct words from the expected argument when the recording is unclear. Resolve uncertainty with an authorized listener, or clearly mark an unintelligible passage using the delivery’s agreed convention. Add missing caption events in a suitable editor when needed; Polyglot does not automatically produce complete accessibility captions.

Check that the spoken language is supported before automatic transcription. Recognition and translation have different language coverage. A bilingual reviewer should compare translated quotations, concessions and rebuttals with the reviewed source and the surrounding audio. Preserve who is making each claim and the degree of certainty. A translation is a viewing aid, not proof of a speaker’s language ability or the truth of an argument.

Test the coaching handoff against the exact cut

Export a reviewed text transcript for reading or SRT/WebVTT for a player that accepts that format. Keep the round identifier, recording revision and language in the filenames. Attach the round sheet and any coaching notes separately; Polyglot does not create the round map, identify arguments or manage the team’s feedback. Retain the original recording and an unchanged source transcript before making later revisions.

Open the subtitle file with the exact delivered video and review the whole track. Pay special attention to a quoted opponent, a speaker transition, a question or interruption, and the final reply. Check that a label or cue does not linger into another speaker’s turn, and that dense passages remain readable without silently deleting substantive argument. Caption timestamps are display times, not official speech-time measurements.

For an approved hosted delivery, use the platform’s own caption controls. YouTube documents uploading a file with timing, but its hosted tools may already meet a team’s needs; Polyglot is a local file preparation option, not an upload integration. Verify caption language selection, seeking and mobile readability, then check access through the institution’s permitted recipient-preview process. Do not broaden sharing to fix a playback problem.

The handoff is ready when an approved viewer can locate the relevant speech, follow what each person said and distinguish the reviewed record from the coach’s interpretation. Local processing does not set hosting permissions or redact the media. Removing a name from the text alone does not remove it from the recording.

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