"What did they say?"

How often does this happen to you? You’re flipping through some notes of a meeting that could have been a week or two ago. As you try to interpret the hastily written scratching you try to remember, “What did they say? What was the context of the meeting when I wrote that down?”

Or it could be you’re with a project stakeholder who told you one thing two months ago and they’re now changing their story. “No, that’s not what I said. What I’ve been saying for months is….”

My talented and insightful colleague Payson Hall recently shared one of his favorite new tools with me. It’s called Livescribe. Here’s how it works:

• While you’re in a meeting (or class or any other context where you’re taking notes while someone else is speaking), you use this special pen which has an audio recorder built-in.
• You take your notes on a special notebook that has uniquely identifiable markings encoded every millimeter or so–so small you don’t see the markings. The pen understands where you are writing because of this encoding so it can sync your notes with the audio.
• Later on when you review your notes, just tap on the note and you can hear the accompanying audio. Imagine that project stakeholder’s reaction when you can play back what they said!

Beyond that functionality, you can transfer your notes to your computer, organize them, and even search for words within the notes allowing you to find what you want in seconds. They even have the ability to transform your notes and audio into interactive movies.

The notebook and pen refills are reasonably priced, not to mention the very high cool factor. Looking for a new tool to help you manage your notes and stakeholders? Check out Livescribe on Amazon!