Do you dictate and send the recording to your virtual assistant for transcription? If you do, here are some tips to make the exercise as streamlined, time and cost efficient as possible.
- At the outset please give me the necessary information. “Send a letter to Joe at Blogs Co.” really doesn’t tell me anything. Although I’m sure Joe is quite delightful, unless I’ve written to him before, can I have his full name, title and address please?;
- If we’re working on a number of different projects, please tell me which one we’re working on. There’s nothing worse than finding pages explicitly detailing the bathroom habits of the Upper Doolallyville Flop-Botted Monkey in a dissertion on healthy cooking;
- Speak clearly, with your teeth in and without a pen, pipe or stale donut in your mouth (you’d be surprised how many people do these things!);
- Switch off as soon as your phone or mobile starts ringing … it’s not good for my health to cling to the ceiling by my fingernails from the blast in my eardrums;
- Switch off when someone enters your office looking to chat. I really don’t find office gossip or what your spouse is making for dinner very fascinating and you’re paying for my time while I listen, toss a toy for the dog, and wait to get back to work.
- I know you’re hungry, but please try not to munch potato chips or slurp your soup while dictating. Not only does it distort the sound but it makes me hungry too!;
Good dictation is the key to saving time and money and getting first class results. So humour me, think about it next time you dictate.
