As a lobbyist, I try and spend a lot of my time outside the office. It’s hard to influence decision makers from an internal meeting.
I’ve been looking for a system that quickly and easily takes my meeting notes and writes them up for me.
The software is advancing.
I used to use a dictaphone and transcribe the recording via Dragon Dictate.
Last week, I got my hands on Dragon Anywhere. The team in the USA unlocked the Belgium Apple Apps store to let me buy it.
Now, I am able to use my iPhone to dictate meeting notes, and send them out, more or less immediately.
It saves me the time of having to get back to the office and typing up the notes directly on the laptop.
I use it when reading a book, making a summary, or noting key points, observations and ideas.
I use it driving to work, during an evening walk, or any time when ideas and solutions pop into my brain from thin air. Unfortunately, iPhone’s are not water-proof, so inspiration gained in the shower (which is a good place for good ideas need to wait). I now just speak to my iPhone and see the words pop on to the screen immediately. It looks like I am chatting on the phone.
I used to use a dictaphone for longer text and Siri for short messages. I still use Siri for short messages, but it cuts out after 30-60 seconds.
It is a subscription service. Last week, it became available on the Belgium apple app store. It saves me a lot of time. My meeting notes are more accurate and turned around faster.