As you might imagine, rapid technological advancement requires that controllers do a lot of reading to keep up with, and execute, procedural changes in their work.

As such, the first fifteen minutes of every shift was set aside to review new material in the 'Read and Initial' file, posted since your last day of work.

In addition to operational changes, the 'Read and Initial' contained administrative news on local, regional and national levels.

Some reviews would be easy. I'd read one short memo about an upcoming retirement party and then I'd be off to the coffee pot.

However, there were other days when an hour wouldn't have been enough time to properly digest everything. But you were stuck with only fifteen minutes.

So, how did I make sure I fully understood all the information before sitting down to work on those 'information overload' days?

Well, fortunately for me, I had the best crew partner on the planet.

After quickly skimming the notes, he'd tell me all the nitty gritty details.

In the telling, we'd both learn and understand the changes better.

I often learned more from hearing him explain what he understood, than if I had read the company's legalese a hundred times.

Why is that?

Because I learn best by first hearing information, THEN reading about it.

Knowing that, it surprises me that it took me so darned long to appreciate my friend Shaun's suggestion that I put audio on my site.

Months after he told me how audio had boosted his conversions and how simple it was to do, I finally took half an hour to prepare a recording.

Incredible!

My sales skyrocketed by 33% overnight.

I've heard of conversion rate improvements of over 400 percent, simply by adding an audio snippet.

It makes sense.

Most of us are inherently lazy. Why read when you can listen instead?

Too, printed text isn't capable of capturing and holding attention like a human voice.

Adding your picture and an 'About Us' section to your site goes a long way to fostering trust and credibility, but your voice will take it home.

In addition to increasing your conversion rate, audio may also help reduce your email and overall workload.

If you've been looking for an easy way to drammatically increase your site's conversion rate, I highly recommend talking to your visitors.