Dragon Naturally Speaking is a speech-to-text software program for people who have difficulty using a keyboard. The first time a person uses the software, he must set up a personal profile so that the program will recognize his commands when used again. The software is located on the computer in the back room since a quiet environment is necessary for Dragon to hear the person's voice. The next time a person wants to use the program, he enters his profile name and all of his saved settings are now available including the corrections mentioned below. It is highly suggested that you print out this tip sheet before you start familiarizing yourself with the program.
*Note:The "Naturally Speaking" icon is the main key for looking at your current options. When you first get in, choose "Open User" and then "New". The training process takes approximately fifteen minutes. If the computer wants you to select a microphone during set-up, choose the Sound Max. If the program says your microphone is off, you must click on "Naturally Speaking" then on the microphone icon.
When you are ready to close the program, click on "Naturally Speaking" again, and you will see the "Exit" icon.
Here is some general information provided by the makers of Dragon.
"That’s Not What I Said!"
Sometimes, the program will type something that sounds like what you said but isn’t quite right. But the computer is not a person, so it won’t help to: YELL, talk slowly, or. say. only. one. word. at. a. time. In fact, Dragon NaturallySpeaking®8 software does better when you say full sentences and speak in your “natural” voice. In order to avoid the same recognition mistakes in the future, you should correct them when they occur, as described below.
Correcting Recognition Errors
You can correct mistakes in your text by using the “Select <word or words>” command. For example, if you say: “Let’s meet to discuss the Conzelmann contract.” And the program types: You can say: “Select Councilman” You will see the Correction menu. You can say “Choose1” to select the correct choice. You can also click on the correct choice with the mouse. Dragon NaturallySpeaking®8 software will then correct the text in your document and will learn from your correction.
Correction Tips
Here are some more tips on how to increase accuracy and correct recognition errors. If you need more information, see the Dragon NaturallySpeaking®8 User’s Guide, or find what you’re looking for in the online Help. You can also get the Correction menu to appear by selecting text with the mouse or keyboard and pressing the correction hot key (by default, the minus [-] key on your numeric keypad). If what you really said does not appear in the list, you can say “Spell That” or just type in the correct text. If the text you are trying to select appears in your document more than once and the computer selects the wrong one, you can say “Select Again” and it will select a different occurrence. If you find yourself frequently correcting small common words, it is often more effective to select more than one word. For example, say “Select going to” instead of “Select to” even if “going” is the correct text. If you play back the text by selecting text and using the “Play That Back”command, you can press the Correction hot key at any time to correct the text that is currently being played back. Once you choose an item from the choice list, the correction will be made and playback will resume. (Playback is available only in Preferred Edition and Professional editions) If you want to go through your document and make a series of corrections, you can bring up the Correction menu, use the down arrow key to select a choice, then use the right or left arrow key to make the correction and navigate to the next correction. For more information on how to improve recognition accuracy, from the Tools menu, click Accuracy Center.
Dictation Tips
Pronounce each word clearly and distinctly and say all punctuation, but speak with your natural inflection, not in a monotone voice. Say commands without pausing between the command words (for example, say “New Paragraph”) BUT—do pause before and after a command ( for example, say “Select last 3 words” [pause] “Bold That ” ). This lets the program separate commands from words to be typed. Be sure that your microphone is in the correct position and check it every once in a while.
Quick Reference Guide
SAY . . . TO . . .
Navigating / New Line, Paragraph
“New Line” Press the Enter key once
“New Paragraph” Press the Enter key twice
“Space Bar” Press the Space key
“Tab Key” Press the Tab key
“Go to Bottom” Move the insertion point to the end of your document
“Insert Before. . .” or Move the insertion point
“Insert After before or after certain text <word or words>” to insert text there
Selecting Text
“Select <word Select a particular or words>” word or words to replace, correct, or format. Example: “Select Mary had a little lamb”
“Select Again” Select the same word or words again but in a different place
Formatting
“Bold That” Apply bold to selected text
“Italicize That” Apply italics to selected text
“Underline That” Apply underlining to selected text
“Restore That” Remove formatting from selected text
“Cap <word>” or Start the next word with a capital.
“Cap Next <word>” Example: “Cap hot Cap dog” = Hot Dog
“All Caps <word>” Type the next word in all capitals. Example: “All Caps yikes” = YIKES
SAY . . . TO . . .
Cutting / Pasting / Deleting Text
“Copy That” Copy selected text
“Cut That” Cut selected text
“Paste That” Paste cut or copied text
“Scratch That” Delete the last thing you said
Inserting Basic Punctuation
“Period” or “Full stop” .
“Comma” ,
“Question mark” ?
“Exclamation mark” !
“Colon” :
“Semicolon” ;
“Hyphen” -
“Dash” —
“Open quote” “
“Close quote” ”
“Open parenthesis” (
“Close parenthesis” )
For more punctuation, see the online Help or the User’s Guide.
Accessing Sample Commands
“What Can I Say?” Bring up a partial list of available commands that work in the active application
For more commands, from the Tools menu, click Command Browser.
Updated September, 2009 by Cassy Polen, Region 3 Navigator.