Today I’m back on the blog with another installment in our series on productivity tools for leaders.
In my many conversations with leaders across the country, I’ve often heard them remark about how correspondence – mainly emails, but also letters – takes up a significant portion of their time. What surprised me though is that in many of these conversations, I’ve discovered that a large number of people still don’t take advantage of one of the most amazing productivity tools there is – voice recognition software.
Use voice recognition software
So, if you’re not taking advantage of voice recognition software, then you absolutely must start now! Seriously, are you still typing out everything you have to say in an email or letter? It is 2020, you don’t have to do that anymore!
The options to dictate to your computer or device are endless. If you use an Apple handheld device, you just need to click on the little microphone button, usually at the bottom of your screen. If you want something more sophisticated, there are numerous apps available for your devices, just search on Google for “speech to text software”. If you’re working on a desktop, there are free plug-ins available that you can use with most software (look up Dictate if you use Word). And if you’re prepared to invest a few dollars, Dragon has been around for a few years and works very well. My point is that you don’t need to waste time typing when the technology exists to convert speech to text.
Try out what’s available, even if you’ve tried it before
Now I know what some of you Luddites are saying – “I tried this once and the transcription was awful.” Well, you need to try it again. The technology is far more sophisticated now than it was even a couple of years ago. Or “It doesn’t get all my words right”. Of course it doesn’t, but it’s a lot easier and faster to go back and edit something than it is to write it from scratch. So c’mon, it’s 2020, it’s time to use the zenith, the ultimate of productivity tools – voice recognition capabilities and software.
Since the start of the year, I’ve been sharing a variety of productivity tools specifically for leaders. Here are links to some of my most other recent posts:
- To boost productivity, automate information requests
- Kick the telephone and email auto-reaction
- Or just access the whole series here: Productivity tools for leaders video series