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Learn some quick and easy tricks to using Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is such a comprehensive, robust product that many users barely scratch the surface of Dragon’s complete capabilities. You can use Dragon to do almost everything on your computer by voice. Here you’ll find some helpful hints to improve Dragon’s usability and utility so that you can make the most of your investment in speech recognition. To get started, download the Dragon Quick Reference Command sheet.

Getting started

  • For best results, position the microphone carefully and consistently every time you use it. If you notice your recognition getting worse, it might be because the microphone has moved out of position.
  • Keep the headset microphone at the corner of your mouth and not directly in front of it. Make sure the microphone is about a thumb’s width away from the corner of your mouth. If the microphone is too far away, your recognition accuracy may deteriorate noticeably.
  • You can get help at any time by saying “give me help.”
  • You can press the plus (+) key on the numeric keypad to turn the microphone on and off. You can also turn the microphone on and off by clicking its icon on the DragonBar. You can change the hotkeys that control the microphone button and other features on the Hot Keys tab of the Options dialog box. For example, if you use a laptop computer you can set the options to use more convenient keys.
  • Saving your spoken dictation with a document that contains the transcription of that dictation takes a significant hard disk space. To save disk space, delete the dictation that you no longer need.
  • To stop a recognition in progress (and turn the microphone off), click the small red button inside the Results box.
  • Dragon NaturallySpeaking can automatically add periods and commas for you when you dictate. To turn on this feature, click Options on the Tools menu of the DragonBar and select the “automatically add commas and periods” option on the Formatting tab.

Formatting and corrections

  • You can change the font properties of your text by saying, for example, “Set font Arial,” “Set font Times 12 points,” or “Set font Arial 14 points bold.” Changes are applied to the selected text or text you dictate from then on.
  • You can change the very last phrase you spoke by saying “bold that,” “cap that,” “correct that,” and so on; you do not have to select the text first.
  • To remove a trailing space after a word, you can say, “delete previous character.”
  • To clear (deselect) your last selection, say “unselect that.”
  • To make correcting mistakes easier, Dragon NaturallySpeaking records your speech as you dictate. You can play back a particular line, paragraph, or selection, or the whole document if you want to hear what you said. Select “Play That Back” from the Sound menu of the DragonBar. You can choose to always play back recorded speech in the Corrections menu. Set this option on the Correction tab of the Options dialog box.
  • If the wrong instance of a word or phrase is selected while you are trying to select text by voice, say “select again” until the right one is selected.
  • You can correct a misrecognized word or phrase by selecting it and saying “spell that” followed by several or all the letters of the correct word. This will open the Spell dialog box.
  • You can insert any unknown word into your document by spelling it. Say “spell” followed by the letters of the word or phrase you want to insert. You do not need to pause between saying “spell” and the letters. Dragon NaturallySpeaking actually understands you better if you spell naturally and continuously, rather than one letter at a time.
  • When you use “spell that” to spell a word or when you spell in the Spell dialog box, you can say all the characters of the standard Windows character set without pausing.
  • To spell multiple words in the Spell dialog box, spell each of them separately and say “spacebar” to insert a word break.
  • When spelling, you can capitalize a letter by saying “cap” before you say the letter.
  • If you select a misrecognized word and the correct word is not on the Correction menu, you can say “spell that” to open the Spell dialog box and then spell the word.
  • In the Spell dialog box, you can edit a choice that is almost correct. Say “select 3,” for example, then edit the text using the Spell dialog box commands or the keyboard.
  • You can press the minus (-) key on the numeric keypad to open the Correction menu. Pressing this key is the same as saying “Correct that.”
  • While the Correction menu is open, you can press the Right Arrow key to select the next word or phrase to correct.
  • You can select punctuation by voice. For example, you can say “Select Dear Mom comma.”
  • Select the Show Extras checkbox on the View tab of the Options dialog box to display the Extras tools on the DragonBar when you first start Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Voice commands

  • To erase the last thing you said, say “scratch that.”
  • You can repeat “scratch that” to undo a sequence of phrases. If you know how many previous phrases you want to undo, you can say “scratch that [x] times,” where [x] is the number of phrases.
  • To undo the effects of a command, say “undo that.”
  • To insert a tab in your document, you can say “Tab Key.” To insert a space, say “Spacebar.”
  • To switch between open windows, say “switch to previous window,” and “switch to next window,” or “switch to [window name]” (e.g., “Switch to Internet Explorer”).
  • Want to find a command? Use the Command Browser. Say “open Command Browser” or click Command Browser on the DragonBar Tools menu. You can search for any command in Dragon NaturallySpeaking, even custom commands that you have created.
  • When you say a command, the border of the Results box turns blue to indicate that Dragon NaturallySpeaking understands what you said as a command and not dictation. The exceptions to this are commands such as “new line,” “new paragraph,” or “all caps,” which you normally say in the process of dictating, without pausing.
  • Say “what can I say?” to see a list of sample commands you can say in the current application you are using.
  • You can copy dictated text to another program by saying “copy all to clipboard” and then switching applications and saying “paste that.”
  • You can control the menus, buttons, and actions of most Windows applications by voice. Just say, for example “File,” “Save,” “OK,” and so on. You could also say “Click File,” “Click Save,” “Click OK.”

Improving accuracy

  • The Accuracy Center provides “one-stop shopping” for all the tools you can use to improve your accuracy and add words to your vocabulary. Say “display Accuracy Center” or click Accuracy Center on the DragonBar Tools menu.
  • If you are not sure which of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking tools you need to use, let the Accuracy Center help you. With the Accuracy Center open, click or say “which tool should I use?” to start the Accuracy Assistant.
  • The best way to improve recognition accuracy is to speak clearly and enunciate each word. You do not have to speak loudly or slowly, just avoid mumbling or slurring your words.
  • You can optimize recognition accuracy by speaking in long, well-enunciated phrases or sentences. Speaking slowly and deliberately, in short phrases or single words, can actually result in more recognition errors. Longer phrases provide more context, which helps Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognize individual words.
  • If a particular word is regularly misrecognized or you want to give the word an alternate pronunciation, use the Training dialog box to train it. To open the Training dialog box say “train words” or click Train on the DragonBar Words menu.
  • If you change audio hardware or move to another location, you should run the Audio Setup Wizard again. You do not have to create a new user. To open the Audio Setup Wizard, open the Accuracy Center and either click or say “check your audio settings.”
  • Use the Increase Accuracy from Email tool to add the names of your email contacts and to teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking about your personal writing style and vocabulary by analyzing your sent email messages. This can significantly improve recognition accuracy. This tool is in the Accuracy Center. Say “display Accuracy Center” and then say “increase accuracy from email.”
  • A good way to find out whether or not a word is in the active vocabulary is to type it in the Vocabulary Editor. (Say “Open Vocabulary Editor” or click View/Edit on the DragonBar Words menu.) If the word appears in the list, it is already in vocabulary; if it does not appear, you can click the Add button to add it.
  • You can view only the words you added to the vocabulary by saying “Open Vocabulary Editor” or clicking View/Edit it on the DragonBar Words menu and then selecting Show Custom Words Only from the Display list in the Vocabulary Editor.
  • When you correct a misrecognized word, the program is less likely to misrecognize that word in the future.
  • You can improve recognition accuracy by adding multiple-word phrases with unusual capitalization (e.g., “The Mayberry Tribune”) to your vocabulary. Say “add new word” or click New on the DragonBar Words menu.
  • You can see a list of the last few recognition results. Say “view Recognition History” or click View Recognition History on the DragonBar Words menu.
  • Run a spelling check on your documents before processing them in the “Add Words from Your Documents” dialog box. This prevents misspelled words from being added to your vocabulary.
  • You can create a Spoken Form for words you prefer not to say aloud. For example, you can create a text command that types “781-555-1212” whenever you say “my phone number.”
  • It is normal for words in the Results box to change sometimes while you are dictating. Dragon NaturallySpeaking may better recognize what you said after you complete a phrase or sentence.