Leverage Technology To Increase Service

by Terry Brock

(Note to editors: NaturallySpeaking is treated as one word with no space)

The power of technology is not just that it helps us to do things faster. Sure it is nice that we can use Microsoft Word to type faster and churn out documents faster than with the old typewriters. But the real power of using a word processing software package is the ability to accomplish tasks that we couldn’t do before, like making quick changes, using a built-in spell checker, a built-in thesaurus and many more which you’ve discovered.

I find it exhilarating when I discover a new technology or an old technology than I can use in a new way. One of these that I recently discovered is the new version of Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking, Version 8. This is a software package that has been around for quite a while and is the undisputed leader in speech-to-text processing. It holds the position as the most dominant package available for consumers to take spoken word speech and turn it into text on your computer screen.

In fact, as I can put this article together, I’m actually speaking it and not touching a computer keyboard. It is almost like something from an episode of Star Trek when I watch the words appear on the screen as I speak. You’ve probably read before about the beauty of using words and speech in order to type. If you’re not a good typist then this is particularly helpful. However, I want to look at some new options for you as a business owner and entrepreneur that will help you in propelling your services to your clients even farther using a package like Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking.

One of the real-world tasks that we face regularly in business is phone calls. Often, I found I want to keep a record of what was said on a given phone call. Of course, a recording can be done, and the technology exists to record the conversation, but the biggest difficulty with that is going back and listening in real-time to a recorded phone conversation. It takes much more time than reading a transcript. And of course, you want to be in full legal compliance with state laws regarding recording conversations over the phone by notifying the other party that the conversation is being recorded.

However, I found it very helpful to use NaturallySpeaking to transcribe my side of the conversation as I speak so that I can keep track of what was said, and commitments that were made. It’s much easier to have a written record of conversations that I would conduct by using NaturallySpeaking than to try and write things down. I find I can speak much faster than I can write.

However, one of the best areas for a small business person, like yourself, is to use NaturallySpeaking to increase your knowledge. Like me, you probably read a lot of magazines and books. We know that this is critical to stay competitive in today’s environment. I have found that it’s very useful to read areas I’d underline or highlight into NaturallySpeaking. I have found that if something is worth underlining it is worth recording. So what I have done is go through various books that I like to read, and as I find something that’s particularly good where I would underline or put stars ---I transcribe it with NaturallySpeaking. I now record these “best of the best” passages and have my own summary of a particular book. This is then transcribed in Microsoft Word, and I have reference to it for the future very quickly.

There’s also another benefit. In addition to reading we can retain more as we hear the words we speak. This helps those ideas from the written page to permeate our brains deeper by hearing something and reading it. You’re more likely to remember it and to utilize it. What better way to make new ideas yours than to put them in action and to really benefit from good thoughts? Plus, you have the benefit of retaining the essence of the book in an easy to access method, like Microsoft Word.

Know the program is not perfect. Notice how it inserted the word “K N O W” instead of the word “N O.” Yes, you will have to touch the keyboard for some corrections. I find that I operate well typing and thinking as I’ve used this method for years. However, think how many mistakes you make while typing. If you’re willing to accept the 98% to 99% accuracy of NaturallySpeaking you’ll be fine. Always use a spell checker, and always check what you write. However, you just can’t beat it for taking thoughts from your head and quickly getting them down on to a word processor.

If you are a busy salesperson or small-business person you need to look into Naturally Speaking version 8. The program is the best that I have ever seen and works incredibly well for putting together thoughts, ideas, and leveraging wordprocessing tasks. Now than I have the program and am using it, a wide variety of possibilities are open for me in writing, in organizing my thoughts and in retaining good information I’ve read from magazines and books.

Every once in a while a new technology comes along, that gives you the ability to leverage what you’re doing and go far beyond where you are. This is one of them. Get more done faster with a tool like Naturally Speaking.

(Dragon Systems Naturally Speaking, $199.00, www.scansoft.com 1-800-654-1187)

Terry Brock is a marketing coach who helps business owners market more effectively leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their busy days using the right rules and tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

Copyright © 2005, Terry Brock, All Rights Reserved Internationally. No portion may be reprinted or used in any way without prior written permission. Permission granted to Biz Journals to use in regular publications.