Dragon Dictate Tips and Tricks - VocaLinks

Tips and Tricks
- Voice Training: If you experience difficulties, begin the training process
slowly, saying just a few words at a time. Do this for the first panel.
Gradually increase the number of words you say at a time. After a couple
panels you can read a sentence at a time. Don't rush the training and
don't get too far ahead of the text turning green. After Voice Training is
complete, you will be able to speak at your normal pace and in complete
sentences.
- Always avoid mumbling or slurring your words.
- Dragon Dictate creates a Profile that stores your unique vocal
characteristics. The software supports multiple profiles, so others in your
home or office can create their own voice files. The number of profiles you
can create is limited only by your hard drive space.
- You can dictate into virtually any Macintosh application. If a program has
an area into which you would normally type, you will probably be able to
speak and Dragon Dictate will type for you. Please understand that some
applications accept dictation more readily than others. For best results,
dictate into Dragon Dictate's Note Pad. Once your dictation is complete,
copy the text and paste it into your working document.
- Use the Available Commands window to see the list of commands that
can be spoken at any given time (Say: "Show Available Commands
Window").
- Since Dragon Dictate is designed to operate in the background while you
dictate into your favorite applications, it is sometimes easy for it to seem
hidden in the background. You can tell if Dragon Dictate is running if you
see its Status window on your screen. If at any time you want to make
Dragon Dictate the active application, simply click the application icon
button in the Status window or in the Dock or say: "Open Dragon
Dictate".
- Dragon Dictate must have the Enable Access for Assistive Devices
checkbox checked in the Universal Access pane of System Preferences. If
access isn't enable, you will be asked to turn it on when it is launched.
- Dragon Dictate depends on a quality audio stream for high accuracy
rates. Be sure to use a Nuance-approved microphone for Mac for best

esults.
- Select Microphone Setup from the Tools menu whenever you feel you
are getting less accuracy than you should. This procedure can compensate
for many things that can affect the way Dragon Dictate hears your voice.
- Use the cursor movement commands to move around inside a
document: Insert Before/After the Word[s], Go To End or Move to End of
Document, Go To Beginning or Move to Beginning of Document, Select the
Word[s]. If the cursor ends up where you don't expect it to be for some
reason, go to the end of the document using "Go To End" and then use
the appropriate commands to get to the place in the document you want
to go.
- Use the command "Show Recognition Window" to bring up the
recognition window at any time. To edit an entry in the Recognition
window use "Edit 1-10" where "1-10" is the number for that entry. If
you find that you wish to use a different entry than the one you are
currently editing, use "Cancel Edit" to revert it's previous text.
- iChat: Use the new "Send Message" command to send dictated text.
"Send Message" includes a "Purge Cache" command that removes the
sent text from Dragon Dictate's window buffer. "New Line" still works, but
does not include that important step.
- Mail: To move from the "To" text box to the other text boxes use "Next
Field". To Move back to a previous field use "Previous Field".
- If you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro and need to remove your
microphone while the program is running, first close the laptop lid and then
unplug your USB microphone. When you reopen your laptop, you need to
plug the USB microphone back in and then click OK on the alert message
about the absence of your microphone. Once you do you will be able to go
back to dictating normally.