What Are the Best Digital Voice Recorders for Meetings?

One of the best ways to create content is to record a meeting. It is as simple as that. Record what people have to say.

Of course, you would have to ask for their permission first. But once you get the green light, this is one of the easiest and best ways to create blog posts and articles.

You can then repurpose that into a wide variety of forms. Turn them into tweets, YouTube videos, infographics. Turn them into small bite-sized videos, which is appropriate for TikTok. The possibilities are endless.

And with each version, you tap into a potentially rich traffic source, which every blogger craves. What is not to love? And all you need is a digital voice recorder.

People have been using digital voice recorders to record meetings for decades. These devices are useful tools for students and professionals. They make note-taking during group discussions and lectures a breeze. Instead of listening intently and making decisions on which to write down and which to ignore, you can capture everything.

Just turn on your dictaphone and place it on the table close enough to the speaker. This way, you listen intently to the speaker instead of filtering a lot of stuff out as you frantically write down your notes.

The same goes for group interviews. These are like meetings, and it is easy for people to take manual notes and get confused.

During a meeting, how many times have you focused so much on a particular individual, only to learn somebody, from the other side of the room, said a few sentences that are the game-changer?

Believe it or not, it is more frequent than people care to realize. Well, you will not miss out on any of that if you bring a digital voice recorder to a meeting.

Similarly, if you are a secretary, this makes the job so much easier. Just record the proceedings, and make your notes regarding key points that you will focus on once you get the audio transcribed.

How To Get the Most Out of Meetings When Creating Content?

You want to pack as much value into your transcribed blog posts. What do you need? A plan. Before you even show up to the meeting, have a plan of action.

At the very least, know who will go there. What do they talk about? What do you expect them to say?

After you know the people going and what they understand, you can set up a series of questions that go beyond the surface.

Not All Meeting-Based Content Is Worth Publishing

When you go to any group meeting, often people talk about the same stuff. That is right. The things you talk about today are like the stuff you talked about yesterday. A transcript of yesterday’s meeting would not differ much from last week’s transcript.

Do you want to come up with game-changing or valuable transcribed content for your blog? Never settle for this. Your initial set of questions must rock the boat. They must push people up against the outer limits of their comfort zone.

If you are willing to do this, your digital voice recorder would be of use.

Here are some tips and tricks to maximize your use of the digital voice recorder in meetings.

Key interview content creation tactics

Focus on Controversial Topics

Everyone knows what topics are safe. These make for boring blog posts.

Start with a bang by asking about controversial topics in your niche. At the very least, you increase your chances of getting a unique take on the hot-button issues your blog community is excited about. Everybody has an opinion.

Pit Personalities Against Each Other

In any meeting, there will always be at least two personalities with little or no rapport. Sometimes, they rub each other the wrong way. One’s views, presentation, or mannerisms leave an unpleasant taste in the other person’s mouth, and vice versa.

Take advantage. Come up with polarizing views that may lead to an exchange. See to it that people argue passionately and provide useful information.

Play the Devil’s Advocate

If everything else fails, bite the bullet and take the role of the bad guy. You are aware of what is controversial or weird in your niche. Be its advocate. Shake cages. See what opinions they come up with.

Never use trick questions. It must go beyond cheap tricks like that. Instead, look for positions. Look for people to tell you and your fans something beyond what you know.

That is the key to working meetings. Make no mistake. If you only bring a recorder and expect to find gold, you are wasting your time.

People flood YouTube with interviews. They ask the same cliché and boring questions and get the same robotic answers. Those videos are forgettable as they are numerous.

Talk about generic content. You want your dictated blog to stand out. Be different. Using the techniques above, you will throw people off enough to get some gems out of them.

How To Select the Best Voice Recorder for Meetings

Now you understand how to make the best use of your voice recorder and how to generate useful responses from people.

Let us get down to the business of selecting your equipment.

If you want to find the best recorder, be methodical in selecting. The following factors are non-negotiable.

Let me put it this way. You are not making an informed decision if you do not consider these factors when buying a digital voice recorder.

Does It Come in a Convenient Size?

When you are recording meetings, do not assume that you will lay the voice recorder on a flat surface near the speaker.

Things will get heated if you know how to work a meeting. You might have to move it around. Things can get out of hand.

For this reason, it is crucial to pick a high-powered voice recorder that has a small, compact form. You want a voice recorder that is easy to pick up and hide, just in case.

Can It Store Enough Data?

How many hours of audio storage a device has? Knowing this is non-negotiable.

When you are recording a meeting, things can drag on. Hours can pass before people get to the good stuff. Even if you are using the tips provided so far, you still have to wait.

These low-quality exchanges take up storage space. Your voice recorder must have sufficient internal storage.

Is the Audio Clear Enough To Be Transcribed Manually?

A lot of dictation bloggers take their recorded audio and transfer it to their computer. They then run Dragon NaturallySpeaking or other forms of audio-to-text software to transcribe their files. As mentioned in my review of the different transcription methods, this method has its own set of pros and cons.

If you prefer the highest level of quality, have your audio transcribed by another person. For this to happen, the audio has to be clear and loud enough. So sound quality and audio playback quality are important.

This is directly related to my next point: recording quality.

Does It Pick up the Right Sounds?

Choose a digital voice recorder that picks up what it is supposed to record. During a meeting, your device should pick up voices talking over each other. It helps the transcriber makes out who is who.

It must not pick up somebody shuffling papers halfway across the room. That recorded sound is noise. It will not improve the quality of your blog post, article, or even the book that you are writing based on a recorded meeting.

Recording quality is crucial because it has to zero in on voices. You are not just buying an audio recorder here.

Does It Use Condenser Microphone Technology?

Condenser mics record high-quality voice audio. As much as possible, only buy digital voice recorders that have condenser mics or superior technology.

Anything else will be a waste of money.

Will the Device Run Long Enough?

Suppose you have a dictaphone that does an outstanding job of picking up the right sounds and delivering crystal clear audio. It is all good, except that it cuts off after thirty minutes. What is the point?

Ensure that the digital recorder you are buying has the right battery technology while maintaining a compact form. Battery options range from AA, AAA, and lithium-ion batteries.

Is It Easy To Control and Figure Out?

If you need a degree in electronic engineering to work your recording device, you are in trouble. Make sure the device is easy for you to record, stop, playback, and transfer information.

If it is not that intuitive and you need to go through a labyrinth of menus, skip that unit.

Is It Voice Activated?

It is vital to avoid dead air. If you follow the tips I give you above on how to run a proper meeting, you will not have this problem. But if you are just getting started or just figuring things out, there will be dead air.

Not only is dead air going to cost you money as you get your audio manually transcribed, but it’s also a waste of resources and battery life. Therefore you must pick a device that turns on and off depending on when somebody speaks.

Does It Support Most Automated Transcription Technologies?

All digital voice recorders support manual transcription. Of course, some are better than others as some models produce crisper and clearer quality audio. But manual transcribers can pick up a significant amount of information from even the worst and cheapest dictaphones.

The question is, If you will not take that expensive transcription route and choose instead to use software to transcribe your audio, can you do it?

Transcription technology is handy in this situation. Look for devices that work smoothly with audio-to-text conversion software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

It can save you a ton of money down the road.

Does Your Audio Device Allow You To Edit Your Audio?

Admit it. When you record a meeting, chances are, you expect where the good stuff is going to be just from the first few minutes. Maybe you have another appointment to go to after this recording. Perhaps you want to save storage space.

Whatever your reasons may be, invest in a device that will allow you to edit the audio quickly and easily. It enables you to free up space or create a final file containing only the good stuff.

Does the Device Allow You To Play Back Audio Easily for Possible Editing?

You might playback your audio to get a good idea of what you recorded, or perhaps you are thinking of cutting out bits and pieces. Your device has to playback what you had recorded.

You should be able to do this with no hassles. The playback feature should also be very intuitive. You must not jump through several hoops or go through different menus and screens so you can playback.

Is the Device Fully Compatible With Your Operating System and Software?

It should be an afterthought, but I include this because you cannot be too sure.

Some digital voice recorders are niche products. They have been designed from the ground up to meet the exclusive needs of some industries. For example, certain voice recorders are for insurance claims.

Some of these devices have their unique way of transferring digital data to a computer. You want maximum flexibility on this point.

Whatever device you get, it should enable you to transfer, edit, and upload voice recordings and other audio files from its data storage to your computer.

The fewer steps there are, the better.

Keep the selection criteria above in mind, so you can be sure that you have bought the very best product for dictation blogging and other dictation-based content creation using recorded meetings.

Best digital voice recorders for meetings

Sony SX Series MP3 Digital Voice IC Recorder

This recorder series features the NeeGo Microphone, and Sony’s Intelligent Noise cut function. It has a built-in 16GB memory with up to 159 hours of recording time, excellent audio quality with its 3-way directional microphones, Micro sd card slot for expandable memory. Records in PCM or MP3 format(Mp3 recording), digital and stereo recording. With a lithium battery that can give you up to 30 hours of battery life.