of 6— Create your Otter.ai account

What you'll accomplish

By the end of this guide, you'll be able to dictate your session observations out loud immediately after a patient visit — Otter.ai transcribes everything in real time, and you'll have clean, editable text ready to paste into your EMR or feed into ChatGPT for note formatting. Most OTs who adopt this workflow eliminate 20–30 minutes of typing per day.

What you'll need

A smartphone (iPhone or Android) or computer with a microphone
A free Otter.ai account (otter.ai — free plan gives 300 transcription minutes/month)
Time needed: 15 minutes to set up; 2–3 days to build the habit
Cost: Free (300 min/month), or $17/month for unlimited

How-To Guide: Voice-to-Text Documentation with Otter.ai

Step 1: Create your Otter.ai account

Go to otter.ai on your phone or computer
Click Sign Up Free and create an account with your email
Download the Otter.ai app from the App Store or Google Play — the mobile app is faster and more convenient for post-session dictation

What you should see: The Otter app home screen with a large blue microphone button in the center.

Troubleshooting: If you don't receive the confirmation email, check your spam folder. Use a personal email rather than a work email if your organization's email system blocks new account notifications.