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Delivering perfect dictation

Guest blog by Maxine Park

Whether you choose a dedicated dictation machine or a smartphone/tablet with the latest dictation app, the first rule is don’t hold it too close.

Microphones vary, but generally hold the microphone about six inches (15cm) from your mouth to prevent words becoming muffled – too close and there’s a danger your breathing will distort your words.

Technology now allows anyone to dictate anywhere, anytime, with any device, helping improve productivity and efficiency, but dictating out of the office poses different problems for the transcriber. Background noise is the biggest challenge to a clear dictation.

It’s important to have your notes to hand, but you should avoid shuffling papers and tapping at your keyboard whilst dictating. You can experiment with the sensitivity settings to reduce the distance at which the microphone will pick up sounds and ensure your voice remains the focus of the recording.

When preparing to dictate, you should know what you want to say, with notes if necessary, be relaxed when you speak and in an environment that allows you to focus. The most important thing to remember, is to speak slowly and as clearly; the better your diction, the better the dictation.

It might be tempting to speak quickly, but it’s better to be more precise and avoid too many ‘ums’ and ‘ers’, or the need to backtrack and re-record sections.

When starting your dictation, pause slightly after you press record and again before you stop the recording to prevent the first and last words spoken from being clipped. Again, every device is different, but you will soon get a feel for how quickly your device or app starts or stops recording.

Experienced transcription typists will only punctuate as instructed. They understanding the impact erroneous punctuation can have on the meaning of what was intended, so you must dictate everything, assume nothing and use consistent instructions:

Adding formatting instructions to your dictation can help reduce the work you have to do to the finished document; to underline, capitalise or bold certain elements of your text, simply say STOP and then issue instructions for how the next word, words, sentence etc, should be treated.

You need only spell the more obscure words, along with names and addresses, etc. Transcription typists in the UK will have a good working knowledge of English and experience of all aspects of medical transcription, from simple dictation of referral letters to more complex medical reports.

Transcription service providers will have a large pool of medical typists specialising in different disciplines, allowing each dictation to be matched to a typist with the relevant knowledge and experience.

When spelling words, the recommended phonetic alphabet to use is:

Numbers should always be dictated in the same way to reduce the chance of confusion.

Always identify yourself at the beginning of your dictation and if applicable, ensure you identify which template should be used for the transcription. If you are utilising outsourced transcription service providers, the typists are likely to be spread throughout the country, which not only increases confidentiality, but allows any dictator’s strong regional accent to be matched with the most appropriate typist.

And finally, remember to say ‘end of dictation’ when you have finished, so the typist knows there is nothing more to come. These simple rules will help you receive more accurate transcriptions that save you time amending, formatting and correcting returned work.

About the author

Maxine Park specialised in commercial litigation and was made partner at her firm in 1992. When she had her first child she worked from home. After the birth of her second child, she left legal practice, attained a PGCE and lectured law to legal executives, HR personnel and journalism students. She launched DictateNow with husband Garry to offer an enhanced and efficient transcription resource to businesses in a wide range of sectors including legal, medical, public sector, charity and Parliament. DictateNow employs over 300 home-based typists in the UK to provide fast, reliable and confidential digital dictation and transcription services.