Info about Dictation
Dictation
You can use a dictation service as a great way to outsource some of your tasks, keep track of correspondence and reports, improve client relationships, and let you be more productive. However, it is important to realize that the person who is doing the transcription cannot read your mind. The following tips can help your dictation service provide accurate transcriptions that will save you time as well as money.
You should eliminate all background noise when you are dictating. It may be more convenient to dictate while driving down the road with the window down, but the noise of the wind can make it impossible to hear anything that you say. This also applies to dictating in crowded restaurants, airports, and subways. Any place that has a lot of background noise will make it impossible for the person doing your transcription to clearly understand what you are saying. Always try to do your dictating in an area such as a closed office that has minimal background noise.
Any unfamiliar names or terms should be spelled out. It is easy to think the dictation service will know whom and what you are talking about just because you do. However, that is not always true and there are many spellings for lots of common names so it is a good practice to always spell all the names. This is also true for any terms that are specific to your type of work.
Dictate as if you are talking to somone real. You should talk just as you would to a secretary or some other person you know. It is fine to use a broad term like ‘operator’ when you are addressing the person, but it helps the person who is doing the transcription tell the difference between instructions and what you want transcribed into your letter or document.
It is necessary to provide and special instructions for formatting. You should tell the person who will do the transcript how you want your document set up at the beginning before you start dictation, or when you reach a place where format should be changed.
You need to speak clearly and directly into the microphone and pay particular attention to the enunciation of your words. It is best not to dictate while you are shuffling through projects or working on something else. If you are doing this, you need to be especially careful to speak into the microphone. If your head is turned away your voice will not be very clear and the transcriptionist will not be able to understand you. Make sure that you do not mumble when you speak.
Some people are fast talkers and some people talk faster as they dictate. It is important that you slow down because the transcriptionist cannot keep up with you if you are speaking very fast. One reason for this is that your words will slur and make them hard to understand. If you slow down and enunciate all of your words your transcriptions will be much more accurate.