Some of you may feel this is old school, but transcription and dictation is still widely used. There are still lots of entrepreneurs and executives that use recorders and software on their phones to dictate letters, emails, meeting notes, etc. They use this to help them move on to the next thing by having the dictated recordings sent automatically to their assistant.
For an assistant that has not had to do this before it can be a bit overwhelming but it just takes practice and finding what works best for you to use.
I found that keeping a Word document open at all times helped me. When my executive called, I would quickly have that document readily available and just start typing away. Does it have to be perfect? NO. You have to develop what I call your “own” style of short-hand. I usually just get the meat of the dictation then add all the other before anything is sent out. I do not even use periods I just type in a complete sentence.
When you take dictation over the phone there is no pause or rewind; you need to pay attention, so you don’t miss anything. When you are transcribing from a recording, you have the option to rewind this helps so you can listen to the recording a few times. This ensures that the email, letter, or meeting notes are correct before the message is sent.
Don’t stress when you have to do this for the first time. It takes practice and finding what works best for you. Once you find what works best for you, it makes it so much easier.
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