White Paper Pundit

What’s the most valuable tool in a white paper writers’ arsenal? If you guessed a thesaurus, speedy notebook computer, ergonomic keyboard, or a comfortable Aeron chair you’d be wrong. (Although those chairs come in a close second).

The tool that I think is most important is a digital voice recorder. Why is this important? Let me count the ways:

First and foremost, a digital voice recorder is essential in capturing a content interview conducted with a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on the phone. This is especially true with highly technical white papers where details can make or break a good white paper. The ability to go back and listen to a content interview a second time, often uncovers essential details that are often missed the first time around. I have often re-played these sessions several times to ensure that I’m on track with the goals and details of a technical white paper project, and uncovered key points missed when I conducted the live interview.

Second, having a digital recording of your content is valuable in sharing that content with others. If you use an editor, freelance writer, or graphic artist, being able to have them listen to recorded content is an important element in ensuring the quality of their work. This helps to provide your customer with a higher quality final white paper as a result.

Third, storing digital versions of content interviews is essential for archival purposes. While it’s important to archive all your supporting files during the content gathering period at the start of a white paper project, having a backup of your recorded conversations is as or more important in the event of a hard disk crash. With your recordings backed up, you have the essential files necessary to start over again if all of your other files are gone.

All digital recorders support either USB connections to your computer or transfer via standard storage cards such as Sony’s Memory Stick. You can save these files into a variety of file formats such as MP3, WAV, or WMA making the process of importing into other applications or sharing with other computer platforms very easy.

So if you currently don’t have a digital voice recorder, get one! You’ll find it invaluable over time.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 11:24 am and is filed under White Paper Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.