The fact that I can speak my point and record the screen, rather than type it out and attach images, saves me countless hours. One pointer: I often include this message with my screencast links: “This message contains an informational screencast meant for the person to whom it is addressed only, please do not share it with others, forward it, or upload to any other online location.” I also use it, occassionally, to record the virtual meetings I’m involved with as reference and to supplement my note taking (I, of course, ask for the consent of others involved before recording).

If something is unclear, needs to be shared with others, or if the viewer wants to hear the presentation any number of times, it is readily available.

Second, Snagit provides me with a record of, and documentation for, what I’ve shared and when I shared it. What’s the value? First, with Snagit, I can explain things with a minimum of written documentation-it’s a near-perfect venue for show and tell. Snagit also includes a set of tools for capturing still images and marking them up with words, numbers, and various icons and pointers. One click and Snagit saves a link to the recording to my clipboard and I paste the link into an email or text message for my client. Once recorded, it takes just the time necessary to upload the file to effortlessly publish it to the Screencast host.

With Snagit, I record my screen (or a portion of it) complete with a voice-over. Of all the productivity tools I’ve tried over the years, it is the system I use most consistently and have found most useful. Snagit is a real-time screen/voice recording and still-screen capture app and Screencast is a platform for sharing the resulting recordings with your clients. If you haven’t run across them before, TechSmith’s Snagit and Screencast are worth a look.

Techsmith screencast