![]() Your time (assuming your value your own time) should be spent doing valuable things. I’ve already mentioned that it takes less of your time to dictate. ![]() If there was only one reason that you need to learn to dictate properly, it’s this.ĭictation is a form of leverage, and leverage is a critical part of how law firms make money. But if you don’t start practising your thinking in that way, then you’ll never be able to nail that part of things. This process comes with experience and practice, but it is one that allows a senior lawyer to dictate a complex document where a junior lawyer would struggle. That way you don’t miss things, you don’t get lost, and you can dictate without needless interruption. Each part flows from the previous and is linked to the next. This means that you begin to structure your thinking so that your document can be done in a cohesive way. I’ll bet you couldn’t ride a bike that well when you first tried, right? How did your first Court document look? What about your first kiss?Īs with most things, we get better with practice.īecause to be effective at dictation you must develop clarity of thought before producing any complex document. This is a frequent objection I hear from young lawyers – they forget where they were up to, what they just said, they keep having to rewind and redo. I’ll be the first to admit that, at first, dictating longer and more complex documents can be challenging. If this article convinces you that dictation is a must, then don’t forget to check out my Complete Guide to Dictation. The short version: when it comes to the amount of your time required to produce the product, dictation is always faster. In longer documents, I’ll bet that over time your otherwise fast typing slows right down and your word for word match with a typist becomes lackluster at best. So while you might be able to produce the contents of a short letter or a tiny document, those tasks make it much longer than you thought it was going to take. It’s printing the letter, going to the printer, waiting, clearing the jam, refilling the paper, and eventually (if you’re lucky) coming out with the product to sign. It’s saving the letter to the correct file, in the right place, using the right format and description. It’s putting the right signing block on the letter with the correct partner. It’s checking the style guide to make sure you’ve used numbers, headings and the like correctly. Yet, in all but the shortest pieces of email correspondence, dictating is by far the better way to do it. In fact I reckon I can match it with some pretty speedy secretaries around the place, although I admit some would put me to shame. I Don’t Care how Fast you Are – Dictating is Faster ![]() Today I’m going to tell you why that’s foolhardy. There’s also a good chance that you are handy with computers generally – you know how to use the software, you know how to produce documents and letters. If you were born from about 1980 onwards, chances are high that you’re a pretty good typist.
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