Better quality recordings take less time to transcribe. The following tips are given purely for guidance as the time taken to transcribe recordings can vary.

1.     Get to know your recording equipment, how it works and how to maintain it. Make sure you know where all the buttons are located. If you are unsure, refer to your user manual. Try to remember to have your dictation equipment serviced at least one a year to ensure that your equipment is in good condition and that all recordings are clear.   

2.     Before you start your dictation, get yourself organised. Gather all the information you need before you start dictating to ensure that you have everything you need to hand. This will also help maintain your concentration.  

3.     When dictating, if you need to find a file or a piece of information, pause the recording device. Once you have pressed button to start recording, pause momentarily before starting to dictate, and when you have finished speaking allow the recording to continue for a moment more. This will help to ensure that none of your dictation has been clipped off. 

4.     Try to speak clearly and at a regular pace, spelling any difficult and unusual words, or names with various different spellings.  

5.     Make sure you are in a quiet area so your dictation can be heard clearly by the typist. Background noise can be distracting and can also distort words when recording, increasing the likely occurrence of errors. A quiet area will also help you maintain your concentration during dictation.

6.     When dictating a letter state the recipient’s full name and mailing address as clearly as possible and spell any unusual place or street names. Also spell ambiguous words which may have more than one spelling, e.g. Maine or Main Street.  

7.     Speak with your mouth at the recommended distance from your particular brand of dictation equipment for optimum sound levels (refer to the user manual). If you are too close your dictation can seem muffled, if you are too far the dictation can be too quiet or gain white noise; if you vary between the two, this can deafen the transcriber and be very uncomfortable.  

8.     Try to be aware of punctuation, say the words ‘comma’, ‘full stop’, ‘new paragraph’, ‘question mark’, etc. This will ensure that your document is easy to read and minimises editing later on.  

9.     Pause  between sentences! You may take pride in being able to fit 10 minutes of dictation into two minutes of tape but this can take longer to type and the error rate is likely to be higher.

10. When you have completed your dictation please let the transcriber know. You could say ‘end of dictation’, this way the transcriber will know that the tape has finished and does not lead onto another tape.