Then I was introduced to A1 Speakers – a Toastmasters group.   This is a group of about 20 people who all want to improve their public speaking skills.  You get to practice speaking in front of people who want to help you succeed.

Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one, to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian.

There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.

I’ve been a member since October 09 and although I’m still nervous when I stand up it has really boosted my confidence.  It’s helped me with my 60 second intro at networking meetings and even improved my one-to-one communication with people.   And when asked recently if I wanted to do a 10 minute spotlight I accepted without thinking!

So if you”d like to improve your public speaking and gain more confidence I’d definitely recommend you join your local Toastmaster’s group. 

The Newcastle group – A1 Speakers - meets on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month 6.30 for 7.00pm until 9.00pm at Jury’s Inn, Scotswood Road, Newcastle upon Tyne.  NE1 4AD.

Whatever your business is you’ll want to spend most of your time focusing on gaining new clients and carrying out your core activity.  Unfortunately running a business generates a multitude of tasks that whilst don’t make you any money, are essential to the smooth day-to-day operation of it.

You can find yourself working late into the evening or on weekends just to keep on top of everything.  Eventually you may feel so overworked, with no time for yourself or your family that you begin to wonder why you ever thought working for yourself was a good idea.

Delegate

Learning how to delegate to a virtual assistant can put you back on the road to feeling fulfilled and motivated again.  It can get you back to doing what you do best.

Quite often people find delegating tasks difficult – usually because they think it’s quicker to just do it themselves.  It’s true that it may take a little longer at first while you explain what you want doing but is doing the task yourself the best use of your time?

What Tasks?

So how do you decide what to delegate?  Write a list of the tasks you do on a daily or regular basis that you don’t enjoy, are taking too long or are taking you away from other aspects of your business you feel are more important.

Do you really need to do them yourself or could you easily train someone else to do them?

Think about the things you could be doing more of if someone else took on those tasks.

Who To?

Okay, so now you’ve got a list of tasks you feel could be done by someone else.  But who do you delegate them to?  You may not want to employ someone and take on the added employer’s responsibilities of holiday pay, sick pay and national insurance contributions.  Perhaps you don’t have the office space for another person, especially if you’re working from home.

A Virtual Assistant (VA) could be the ideal solution.  They work from their own office with their own equipment and they’re ready to work when you need them.  As virtual assistants are self-employed business owners themselves they understand your needs better than anyone and you only pay for the time they spend working on your tasks.  A VA is happy to take on one-off projects or regular commitments.

Hiring the right Virtual Assistant is the next step and depends on the project or task you want to delegate.

There are VAs who specialise in audio transcription, book-keeping, marketing, social media, event management, e-commerce or copy writing.  Some will offer general PA services such as diary management, travel arranging and general copy typing.  A lot of VAs will offer a combination of both.  Some may also specialise in different industries such as financial, legal, manufacturing, or medical.

You may know someone who can recommend a Virtual Assistant or you can use a VA directory such as the UK Alliance of Virtual Assistants where you can search by services offered or by county.

Find out if their experience, knowledge and skills match the tasks you have in mind for them.

How Does It Work?

You may be wondering how a Virtual Assistant can carry out your tasks if they’re not in the same office.

If it’s audio transcription and you use a digital recorder it’s a simple matter of uploading your audio files and emailing them to your VA who will then type them up and email you the document back.  If you use cassette tapes to record then it’s a simple matter of putting them in the mail or if you’re local to your VA she may offer a pick up and delivery service.

Copy typing documents can be faxed or mailed to your VA.

If you want someone to work on files you have stored on your PC there are several ways this can be done.  File sharing tools such as Dropbox make it easy to share your files with someone on another PC.  Programs such as www.gotomypc.com can give remote access to your computer.

If you need your VA to keep your diary up-to-date online collaboration tools such as Google Calendar or Airset allow you to share diaries and stay organised.

A lot of tasks can be explained via telephone or email, or if you prefer speaking to someone face-to-face a Skype chat using a webcam is easy and free.

You could even get a VA to organise your filing by sending it all to her in the mail.  She can then organise it for you, put it into a cardboard filing box and mail it back to you.  All you need to do is take it out and pop it in your filing cabinet.

What Are You Waiting For?

Most Virtual Assistants will give you a free consultation.  Spend some time talking to her about the help you need.  She may be able to suggest things you hadn’t thought of.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions such as what the hourly rate is, does she offer a retainer package, has she got testimonials from other clients, is she able to take on another client, what the turnaround time is.

Don’t sit there feeling stressed about the amount of work you need to get through, contact Cloud VA today and give yourself more time to do what you do best.

The VA Success Group offers a range of online courses giving you the help you need to start a grow a thriving Virtual Assistant business.

Learn how to network as a Virtual Assistant

Click on the courses above for more details and get your Virtual Assistant business off the ground today.

My work as a Virtual Assistant involves a lot of audio transcription, the majority of which are recorded interviews between two or more people.

You’d be surprised at the amount of recordings I get that are a nightmare to understand, due to voices being too quiet, too much background noise, people talking over the top of each other, pen tapping etc.

People also don’t tend to think about the type of equipment they’re going to use.  Whilst digital voice recorders are more widely used these days, clients often come to me with micro, mini and standard size cassette tapes.  Whilst I do have the facilities to transcribe mini-cassettes, I’ve had to hire machines that take micro and standard cassettes, which ultimately means more expense for the client.

I expect 99% of VAs who offer an audio transcription service will have digital transcription software.

If you are going to pay someone to transcribe your interviews for you, having the right equipment and as clear a recording as possible will save you time and money.

12 steps to an accurate transcript

• Think about the equipment you are going to use.  Use a digital recorder if at all possible.  It’s much easier, and quicker, to email the digital audio files than having to put cassettes in the mail and hope they get there.

• Check that your VA has the correct equipment to transcribe your files.

• Place the recorder closer to the interviewee rather than yourself.

• Make a test recording of both the interviewee and yourself in the positions you will be conducting the interview.  Record a minute or two and then play it back to check the sound quality.

• If you are using a machine that has two different speed settings, set the speed control to fast to eliminate ‘hiss’.

• Don’t place the recorder near air conditioning units, overhead projectors, laptops, open windows, or noisy corridors.

• Try not to tap your pen on the desk!

• Switch off your mobile phone.

• Speak clearly and try not to speak over your interviewee.

• If you are interviewing more than one person and you want your VA to indicate names of speakers in the transcript get each participant to introduce themselves at the beginning so she can identify who is speaking.

• If you take a break during the interview, turn the recorder off (but remember to turn it back on again when you re-start!).  A VA will charge you per audio minute, which will include any gaps in the dialogue.

• Make sure you have some extra batteries to hand.

Give your VA plenty of notice – if you ring her up on Monday and want your interviews transcribed and back to you by the end of the day, the chances are it won’t be possible.  Get them booked in as early as possible.

Used correctly, audio recording can be an invaluable tool for individuals and businesses.  Make sure your transcript comes back quickly and accurately.

Along with the better known celebrations such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day there are a whole load of National Awareness Days that can be used to promote your business or to build fundraising activities around.

On a food theme:

24-30 Jan                     Farmhouse Breakfast Week

7-14 Feb                      National Bramley Apple Week

15-21 Feb                    National Chip Week

March                          Veggie Month

8-15 May                     National Doughnut Week

16-23 May                   British Sandwich Week

3-17 Sept                     National Organic Fortnight

18 Sep – 3 Oct             British Food Fortnight

21 Oct                         Apple Day

21-27 Nov                   National Curry Week

Ideal for restaurants, pubs, cafes etc. Take a look at the websites for inspiration.

Many more awareness days can be found on an interesting little website from Woodlands Junior School.

There’s also an excellent article on the Human Resources website on ‘Which awareness days and weeks should HR departments get involved?”.

And of course if you need an extra pair of hands to help you with the extra admin promotional activity creates, a Virtual Assistant is just what you need!