Otter.ai Prompt for Interview Transcription

This prompt helps you analyze interview transcripts to extract key insights, themes, and actionable takeaways. Perfect for researchers, journalists, UX designers, and recruiters who conduct interviews and need structured analysis. Otter.ai’s AI features will turn raw transcripts into organized findings.

Works Best With: Otter.ai | Also works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini

The Prompt

Analyze this interview transcript and extract key insights.

Interview context:
– Interview type: [USER RESEARCH, JOB CANDIDATE, EXPERT INTERVIEW, CUSTOMER FEEDBACK, etc.]
– Interviewee: [NAME/ROLE/BACKGROUND]
– Interview purpose: [RESEARCH QUESTION OR HIRING GOAL]
– Date: [INTERVIEW DATE]

Analysis focus:
[CHOOSE RELEVANT SECTIONS]

For User Research:
– Pain points and frustrations mentioned
– Current solutions/workarounds being used
– Desired features or improvements
– Emotional reactions to specific topics
– Quotes that illustrate key problems

For Job Interviews:
– Demonstrated skills and experience
– Red flags or concerns
– Cultural fit indicators
– Standout moments (positive and negative)
– Comparison to job requirements

For Expert Interviews:
– Key insights and expert opinions
– Novel information or surprising findings
– Quotable statements
– Follow-up questions to ask
– How this connects to existing knowledge

Format output as:
1. **Executive Summary** (3-4 sentences)
2. **Key Themes** (3-5 main themes with supporting evidence)
3. **Notable Quotes** (5-7 powerful quotes with context)
4. **Action Items** (What to do with these insights)
5. **Follow-Up Questions** (What to explore next)

[PASTE TRANSCRIPT HERE]

When to Use This Prompt

• You have interview transcripts but need to extract patterns and insights
• You’re analyzing multiple interviews and need consistent structure
• You need to share findings with stakeholders who didn’t attend interviews
• You’re looking for themes across multiple interview transcripts

What You’ll Get

The AI will deliver a concise executive summary capturing the most important findings, identified themes with specific evidence and quotes supporting each theme, context-rich notable quotes ready for presentations or reports, actionable next steps based on interview insights, and smart follow-up questions to ask in future interviews or research. The analysis transforms a wall of text into scannable, shareable insights that drive decisions.

Why This Prompt Works

• Context specification: Interview type determines what matters—user research needs different analysis than hiring

• Theme identification: Patterns across answers reveal more than individual quotes

• Quote extraction: Pulling memorable statements with context makes findings persuasive to stakeholders

• Action orientation: Analysis without next steps is academic—forcing actionability drives results

How to Customize This Prompt

1. [INTERVIEW TYPE] — Context: “customer discovery,” “technical interview,” “subject matter expert”
2. [INTERVIEWEE] — Background: helps interpret responses
3. [PURPOSE] — Research question: “understand why users churn,” “evaluate for senior developer role”
4. [ANALYSIS FOCUS] — Choose sections relevant to your interview type

Pro Tips

• Multi-interview synthesis: After analyzing several interviews, ask “identify patterns across all 5 interviews”

• Highlight contradictions: Request “flag where interviewees disagree or contradict each other” for deeper insights

• Sentiment analysis: Add “rate emotional intensity of responses” to understand what people really care about

• Presentation format: Ask “format findings as slide deck outline” when presenting to leadership