Nuance DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING User Manual

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking

USER’S GUIDE

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August 1999. Version 4.0.

This publication may not include some last-minute technical changes and/or revisions to the program. Changes are periodically made to the information described here. Future editions of this manual will incorporate these changes. For last-minute changes that are not incorporated in this edition, refer to the Readme file included in your program.

Dragon Systems® may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents. The software is subject to one or more of these U.S. patents: 4,783,803; 4,803,729; 4,805,218; 4,805,219; 4,829,576; 4,829,578; 4,837,831; 4,866,778; 4,903,305; 4,914,703; 5,027,406; 5,202,952; 5,428,707; 5,526,463; 5,680,511; 5,715,367; 5,754,972; 5,765,132; 5,794,189; 5,799,279; 5,809,453; 5,818,423; 5,822,730; 5,850,627; 5,903,864; 5,909,666; 5,915,236; 5,920,836; 5,920,837.

No part of this manual or software may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written consent of Dragon Systems, Inc.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and where Dragon Systems is aware of the trademark, the first occurrence of the designation is printed with a trademark (™) or registered trademark (®) symbol.

Dragon Systems, the Dragon Systems logo, and NaturallySpeaking are registered trademarks and MouseGrid, NaturallyMobile, NaturalWeb, NaturalWord, Select-and-Say, Vocabulary Builder, and Vocabulary Editor are trademarks of Dragon Systems, Inc.

Adobe and Acrobat are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Corel and WordPerfect are registered trademarks of Corel Corporation.

The Dragon Systems, Inc., Text-to-Speech utility uses the Elan Text-to-Speech engine, which is licensed from Elan Informatique.

Lotus and Lotus Notes are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation.

Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks and Outlook is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Netscape and Netscape Navigator are registered trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Voice It and the Voice It logo are registered trademarks and Voice It Link is a trademark of Voice It Worldwide, Inc.

Yahoo! is a registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc.

HarperCollins Publishers.

03-203-40-01

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About This Guide 1

CHAPTER 1 Introducing Dragon NaturallySpeaking 3

What should I expect from Dragon NaturallySpeaking? 4 Do I still need my mouse and keyboard? 5

CHAPTER 2 Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Successfully 7

How Dragon NaturallySpeaking works 7 Seven habits for success with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Positioning your microphone correctly 9 Speaking properly to the computer 10

Speak naturally and continuously, but pronounce each word clearly Avoid leaving out words and making extra sounds (like “um”) Speak at your normal pace—don’t slow down Speak in phrases, rather than one word at a time Speak at your normal volume—don’t whisper or speak too loudly

Correcting recognition mistakes 13

Correcting mistakes Editing in the Correction dialog box Playing back your dictation while you correct

Adding words to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary 21

About the vocabulary Adding words when correcting mistakes Adding words in Vocabulary Editor Using Find New Words

Running Vocabulary Builder 29

Preparing documents Adding words from a list Running Vocabulary Builder Adding words found in documents

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Contents

Training Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize problem words 38

Training words after making corrections Training words when using Find New Words or Vocabulary Builder Training words from Vocabulary Editor Training words from the Tools menu Training a voice command

Running General Training again 43 Creating specialized vocabularies 44

Creating vocabularies Opening vocabularies Renaming vocabularies Deleting vocabularies Importing and exporting vocabularies

CHAPTER 3 More About Dictating 49

Preventing vocal strain 49 Dictating names of people, places, and events 50 Dictating abbreviations and acronyms 51 Dictating hyphenated words 52

Including hyphens as you dictate Adding hyphens later Removing hyphens Preventing hyphens

Dictating compound words 53

Compounding words as you dictate Compounding words later

Dictating words that end with ’s 55

Including ’s as you dictate Adding ’s later

Dictating e-mail and Web addresses 56 Dictating special characters 57

Dictating common special characters Dictating uncommon special characters

Dictating foreign words 60 Dictating numbers 61

Numerals and Zip codes

Dates Times of day Telephone numbers Currency and coin Fractions Roman numerals

Creating dictation shorthands 66

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CHAPTER 4 Editing a Document by Voice 69

Moving around in a document 70

Going to the top or bottom of a page Going to the beginning or end of a line Placing the cursor before or after a specific word Moving up or down a paragraph Moving up or down a line Moving right or left a word Moving right or left a character

Selecting text 73

Select-and-Say Selecting the same text again Unselecting words Selecting a range of words Selecting your whole document Selecting an entire paragraph or line Selecting a word or character

Copying, cutting, and pasting text 77 Capitalizing text 77

Capitalizing the first letter of the next word you dictate Capitalizing consecutive words Dictating the next word in all capital letters Dictating consecutive words in all capital letters Dictating the next word in all lowercase letters Dictating consecutive words in all lowercase letters Capitalizing (or uncapitalizing) text already in your document

Formatting text 80

Adding (or removing) bold, italics, and underlining Changing the font as you dictate Changing the font later Aligning text

Deleting text 83

Deleting the last words you dictated Backing up as you dictate Deleting specific words Deleting the next or previous paragraph Deleting the next or previous word or character

Using text-to-speech 85

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CHAPTER 5 Controlling Your Computer by Voice 87

Starting programs 88

Starting a program from the Start menu Starting a program from the Windows desktop

Opening documents and folders 89

Opening documents and folders from the Start menu Opening documents and folders from the Windows desktop

Switching between open windows 90 Copying text to other programs 91 Opening and closing menus 91 Selecting buttons, tabs, and options 93 Selecting icons on the desktop 93 Resizing and closing windows 94 Scrolling in windows and list boxes 95 Controlling Internet Explorer 96

Going to favorite Web pages Entering a Web address in the Address bar Going back or forward to the previous Web page Following links (words, buttons, and images) Scrolling in a Web page Selecting check boxes and other options Entering text in a text box Troubleshooting

Pressing keyboard keys 103

Pressing letters Capitalizing a letter Pressing numbers Pressing key combinations Pressing function and numeric keypad keys Pressing other keys

Moving the mouse pointer and clicking the mouse 107

Moving the mouse pointer with MouseGrid Moving the pointer with the “Mouse” command Clicking the mouse Marking and dragging objects

103

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105

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109

100

102

105

110

101

106

107

109

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CHAPTER 6 Creating New Users and Managing Users 111

Creating a new user 112 Opening a user 112 Renaming a user 113 Backing up a user 113 Restoring a backup copy of a user 114 Deleting a user 115

APPENDIX A Using Dragon NaturallyMobile 117

APPENDIX B Dragon NaturallySpeaking Commands List 129

INDEX 159

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vii

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About This Guide

elcome to Dragon NaturallySpeaking®, the world’s most widely

acclaimed speech-recognition product. Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you talk to your computer instead of typing. It also lets you use your voice to control your computer in other ways.

This guide provides detailed information that will help you get the most out of using the program. It also explains how to ensure that Dragon NaturallySpeaking will recognize your speech accurately. Before using this guide, we recommend that you read the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Quick Start booklet and view the online Quick Tour.

This guide covers multiple editions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Where information applies to certain editions only, this is clearly noted.

Conventions used in this guide

This user’s guide contains many examples of words and phrases you can say when using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. These examples usually appear in italics with quotation marks, for instance: “Scratch That.”

Some procedures also include sample text for you to dictate. Sample text appears in a different typeface, with punctuation in square brackets. For example:

When talking to a computer [comma] try to say every word clearly without trailing off at the end of a sentence [period]

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About This Guide

Comments?

If you have comments about this user’s guide or any part of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking documentation, we hope you’ll let us know what you think.

You can e-mail comments to: doccomments@dragonsys.com.

Thank you!

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Introducing Dragon NaturallySpeaking

ragon NaturallySpeaking lets you talk to your computer instead of typing. As you talk, your words are transcribed onto your screen and

into your documents or e-mail messages.

Talking to a computer while it types what you say is called dictating. You

can dictate into Microsoft programs, personal information organizers, and virtually any other program in which you normally type.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is good for:

■ Composing letters, memos, and e-mail messages. Just think about

what you want to say, and then say it into the microphone.

■ Writing a report, article, or story. Brainstorm out loud and capture

your thoughts on screen. Then edit your work by voice or mouse and keyboard.

■ “Typing up” notes from a meeting. When you get back to your desk,

simply read your notes into the microphone.

Word, Corel® WordPerfect®, e-mail

You can also use simple voice commands to revise and format text, move around your document, and control your computer. Learn the basics in your Dragon NaturallySpeaking Quick Start booklet.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking isn’t just for typing, however. You can also use your voice to start programs, open menus, and click buttons. If you use Internet Explorer to browse the Web, you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to follow links and go to favorite sites by voice. You can learn how in Chapter 5, “Controlling Your Computer by Voice.”

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If you share your computer with family members, friends, or colleagues, they can also use Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Simply create a new set of “user speech files” for each person who wants to talk to the computer. Find out how in Chapter 6, “Creating New Users and Managing Users.”

After you become comfortable talking to your computer, you may want to take the convenience of dictating a step further by using a portable recorder with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. This option is available if you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred or Professional. We recommend that you buy the Dragon NaturallyMobile™ recorder (a handheld digital recorder offered by Dragon Systems) but you can also use a recorder you already own. For more information, see Appendix A, “Using Dragon NaturallyMobile.”

If you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional, you can expand the power of using speech by creating your own voice commands. Find out how in Chapter 7, “Creating Your Own Dragon NaturallySpeaking Commands” (Professional edition only).

The Professional edition also lets you create and customize additional vocabularies for dictating in different subject areas. For more information, see “Creating specialized vocabularies” on page 44.

What should I expect from Dragon NaturallySpeaking?

One reason to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking is to do your writing more quickly. Another is to reduce the stress associated with keyboarding. Or maybe you just like the idea of being able to lean back in your chair, put your feet up on the desk, and still get work done.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is good for all these reasons, but making it work well requires some effort from you. Dragon NaturallySpeaking actually learns about your voice and pronunciation as you use it. When you use words the program doesn’t know, it will make mistakes, and you’ll have to stop and correct them.

It may take a while before you feel comfortable and productive using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. You can find out more about how to make

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the program work well by reading Chapter 2, “Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Successfully.”

Do I still need my mouse and keyboard?

Although you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to do almost everything on your computer by voice, some things are still easier to do by mouse or keyboard.

If using a mouse and keyboard is an option for you, try experimenting with using your voice and using your hands for different tasks, to see what works best. If using a mouse and keyboard is not an option, read Chapter 5, “Controlling Your Computer by Voice.”

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Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Successfully

f you followed the exercises in your Dragon NaturallySpeaking Quick Start booklet, by now you’ve had a chance to try dictating with

Dragon NaturallySpeaking. So, are you ready to throw away your keyboard? Probably not. Chances are there are more mistakes in your document than you’d like to see.

Why does the program make mistakes, and what can be done so it makes them less often? This chapter provides some background information to help you understand how Dragon NaturallySpeaking works. It then reveals the “Seven habits for success with Dragon NaturallySpeaking,” a list of tips and procedures you can follow to make the program recognize your speech accurately.

How Dragon NaturallySpeaking works

When you talk into the microphone, Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t hear words or phrases. The computer hears your speech as a continuous stream of sounds. From this stream, Dragon NaturallySpeaking picks out common sound patterns, known as phonemes.

To match these sound patterns to words, Dragon NaturallySpeaking relies on two large sources of data: acoustical data and language data.

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses acoustical data about the sound patterns that make up different words to choose the words that most closely match what it heard. Since no two people sound exactly alike, Dragon NaturallySpeaking does a much better job of matching sounds to words when it knows something about your pronunciation. When you first trained the program, you provided acoustical data on top of what Dragon NaturallySpeaking already knows about the sounds of English.

Sometimes it’s not possible for Dragon NaturallySpeaking to choose the correct word based on sound alone. Consider these two phrases: “pizza delivery boy” and “Pete’s a delivery boy.” When spoken, they sound exactly alike. How would Dragon NaturallySpeaking know which to choose? When it’s not clear from sound alone what was said, Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses language data about the frequency with which words in English appear alone and in combination with others to determine which words were most likely spoken. The phrase “pizza delivery boy” is more common than “Pete’s a delivery boy,” so the program would favor this phrase over the other.

Since people write differently, it helps if Dragon NaturallySpeaking knows something about the frequency with which you use different words. When you run Vocabulary Builder™, or make corrections in the Correction dialog box, you’re providing the program with language data about how often you use different words.

Knowing that Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses acoustical data and language data to recognize your speech can help you know what to do to make the program work better.

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Seven habits for success with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

The rest of this chapter describes seven habits you can adopt to make Dragon NaturallySpeaking work well for you. If you make the techniques and procedures in this chapter a habit, and continue to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking regularly, you should be able to make the program recognize your speech accurately 95–98 percent of the time.

Seven habits for success with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Position your microphone correctly

■

Speak properly to the computer

■

Correct recognition mistakes

■

Add words to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary

■

Run Vocabulary Builder

■

Train Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize problem words

■

Run General Training again

■

If you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional, you can also create specialized vocabularies to enhance recognition accuracy. See “Creating specialized vocabularies” on page 44.

Positioning your microphone correctly

You’ve already heard a lot about the importance of your microphone position. If you followed the instructions on the screen when you first started Dragon NaturallySpeaking, your microphone is probably in about the right position. But you should continue to think about your microphone and check its position frequently to make sure it hasn’t moved out of place.

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If you find that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is making too many mistakes, experiment with moving the microphone a little closer to or farther from your mouth.

If extra words, such as “and” and “the,” are often inserted into your document, Dragon NaturallySpeaking may be interpreting the sound of your breath as speech. Try moving the microphone slightly to the side, so it’s not directly in front of your mouth.

Keep in mind that it’s easy for the microphone to move slightly out of the best position. You might not notice if this happens, because Dragon NaturallySpeaking may still get most of your words right. But if the microphone is even slightly out of place, the program may no longer be able to tell the difference between similar-sounding words, such as “our” and “are,” and will begin making subtle mistakes.

Make it a habit to check your microphone position regularly. If accuracy ever seems lower than normal, always start by checking your microphone.

TIP

You can double-check your microphone position at any time by running the Audio Setup Wizard. (On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools menu, click Audio Setup Wizard.) Make sure your audio quality is reported to be “Acceptable.”

Speaking properly to the computer

At times the computer will type something that sounds like what you said but isn’t quite right. People sometimes misunderstand each other in the same way. But the computer is not a person, so it won’t help to:

YELL

t a l k s l o w l y

or. say. only. one. word. at. a. time.

This section provides some guidelines for talking to a computer.

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Speak naturally and continuously, but pronounce each word clearly

When you talk to another person, you can mumble and run your words together and still be understood most of the time. For example, if you say, “Didja eat?,” a person will probably understand that you’re asking, “Did you eat?”

But Dragon NaturallySpeaking has trouble interpreting mumbled or slurred speech. The computer recognizes speech most accurately when it can hear each word distinctly.

To understand what it means to speak both clearly and naturally, listen to the way newscasters read the news. If you copy this style when you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you should see an improvement in how well the program recognizes what you say.

Make it a habit to say each word clearly when you talk to the computer.

Avoid leaving out words and making extra sounds (like “um”)

In conversation with another person, it’s okay if you leave out a word here and there. People are good at filling in the blanks in a sentence. Unfortunately, the computer is not very good at this. If you leave out words, Dragon NaturallySpeaking also leaves them out.

Another thing people do well is ignore all those “ums” and “you knows” that show up in conversation. But the computer has no way of knowing which words are unimportant, so it simply transcribes everything you say.

Make it a habit to avoid leaving out words or making extra sounds. It may help to compose your thoughts before you speak.

Speak at your normal pace—don’t slow down

When another person is having trouble understanding you, speaking more slowly usually helps. So it’s not surprising that people often slow down and begin sounding out each syllable when Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes mistakes.

It doesn’t help to speak at an unnatural pace when you’re talking to a computer, however. This is because the program listens for predictable

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sound patterns when matching sounds to words. If you speak in syllables, Dragon NaturallySpeaking is likely to transcribe each syllable as a separate word.

Make it a habit to speak at your normal pace, so Dragon NaturallySpeaking can learn your normal pronunciation.

Speak in phrases, rather than one word at atime

Along with the tendency to speak slowly, people often begin saying just one or two words at a time when Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes mistakes.

Surprisingly, speaking in very short phrases or individual words can actually lessen accuracy. This is because Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses the context of a phrase to help it decide what you said.

Consider the following phrase: “Dear Mr. Jones.” If you were to dictate this phrase one word at a time (“dear” “mister” “jones”), Dragon NaturallySpeaking might type “Deer” or “Gear,” instead of “Dear.” But if you were to dictate the whole phrase (“dear mister jones”), the program can use context to determine that the word you want is most likely “Dear.”

Make it a habit to dictate in phrases, so Dragon NaturallySpeaking can use context to help determine what you said. It may help to compose your thoughts before you speak.

Speak at your normal volume—don’t whisper or speak too loudly

When you first started Dragon NaturallySpeaking and read the training text aloud, the program adapted to the pitch and volume of your voice, along with learning your pronunciation.

For this reason, you should continue to speak at a normal volume (or slightly louder if this helps). If you shout or whisper, Dragon NaturallySpeaking won’t understand you as well.

Make it a habit to speak at your normal volume, since Dragon NaturallySpeaking has adjusted to this volume.

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Correcting recognition mistakes

When Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the wrong words, you should correct these mistakes by using the Correction dialog box. By correcting mistakes, you actually teach the program not to make the same mistakes again.

Correcting mistakes in the Correction dialog box requires some extra effort, but it saves you time in the long run by making Dragon NaturallySpeaking more accurate.

You’ll probably need to use the Correction dialog box often when you first start using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and then less and less as the program learns from your corrections.

Correcting mistakes

You can correct mistakes as soon as they happen or go back and correct them later. This section describes each approach.

Correcting mistakes as soon as they happen

When you see a mistake in your last word or phrase, you can stop and correct it by saying

“Correct That.”

To correct your last word or phrase:

As soon as you see a mistake, say opens the Correction dialog box.

TIP

You can use a keyboard shortcut to open the Correction dialog box. It’s the minus (-) key on the numeric keypad.

“Correct That.”

Saying

“Correct That”

About “Correct That”

Using

“Correct That”

the phrase is fairly short (fewer than 20 words). A longer phrase may not fit completely in the Correction dialog box, and it’s more difficult to find a correct alternative in the list for a long phrase.

To fix mistakes in a long phrase, you can correct just the specific wrong words. See “Going back and correcting mistakes later” on page 16.

to correct your last phrase is practical only when

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You can resize the Correction dialog box by dragging a corner or side.

Note: The Playback button is only in the Preferred and Professional editions.

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Successfully

Using the Correction dialog box

When the Correction dialog box opens, if the correct word or phrase is in the list of choices, you can simply choose it.

Text box

To choose the correct text:

There are two ways to choose the correct text:

■ Say “Choose” and then the number of the correct alternative. For

example, say “Choose 2” (or “Choose Numeral 2”).

■ Click the correct alternative, and then click OK (or say “Click OK”).

This closes the Correction dialog box and enters the text into your document.

If none of the choices exactly matches what you said, you must enter the correct text.

To enter the correct text:

There are two ways to enter the correct text:

■ Start typing the correct word or phrase into the text box. As you

type, the list shows alternatives that match what you’ve typed so far.

■ Start spelling the correct word or phrase. Say the letters

continuously and quickly, not one at a time.

When you see the correct choice, choose it (by mouse or voice).

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If the correct choice doesn’t appear, finish typing or spelling it and then click OK (or say “Click OK”).

Spelling in the Correction dialog box

To enter text in the Correction dialog box, you can either type it or spell it by voice. You can’t dictate whole words into the Correction dialog box.

When you’re spelling, this is what you can say:

■ letters (a–z)

■ International Communications Alphabet (alpha, bravo, and so

on)

■ numbers (0–9)

■ punctuation

■ “Cap” (to capitalize the next letter)

■ “Double” (to enter the next letter twice, for example,

“Double a”)

■ “Space Bar” or “space” (to insert a space)

■ “Backspace”

■ “apostrophe ess”

■ special characters (such as @, *, £, ©, and é)

For a complete list of special characters, and the International Communications Alphabet, see “Correction dialog box commands” on page 142 of Appendix B.

TIP

When one of the choices in the Correction dialog box is almost correct, you can select it and use it as a starting point without entering the text into your document. Just click it or say “Select” (not “Choose”) and then the number of the choice. For example, say “Select 3” (or “Select Numeral 3”). Then edit the word or phrase.

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Going back and correcting mistakes later

If you’re going back to fix the mistakes in your document, you can correct a word or phrase by saying “Correct”* and then the word or phrase.

Or, you can correct a longer phrase by saying “Correct [text] Through [text].”* For [text], substitute the actual word or words at the beginning and the end of the range of wrong words.

This section describes each approach.

To correct a word or phrase:

1 Correct a word or short phrase in your document by saying “Correct”

followed by the wrong word or words (they must be visible on the screen). Remember not to pause in the middle of the command.

For example, you could correct the underlined words in the following sentence by saying “Correct who will develop a habit.”

With a little practice, who will develop a habit

of dictating in a clear,

steady voice, and the computer will understand you better.

2 In the Correction dialog box, type or spell the correct words (in this

example, “you will develop the habit”).

3 Click OK (or say “Click OK”).

The Correction dialog box closes and the text is entered into your document. The cursor returns to where it was before you made the correction.

NOTE

(next to each other). You can’t use a single command to correct words that are in different parts of your document.

If you’re correcting more than one word, the words must all be in sequence

To correct a longer phrase:

1 Correct a longer phrase in your document by saying “Correct [text]

Through [text].” For [text], substitute the actual word or words at the

* This command works in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but it doesn’t work in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

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beginning and the end of the range of wrong words (they must be visible on the screen).

For example, you could correct the underlined words in the following sentence by saying “Correct who Through unclear” (or “Correct who will Through an unclear”).

With a little practice, who will develop a habit of dictating an unclear steady voice, and the computer will understand you better.

2 In the Correction dialog box, type or spell the correct words (in this

example, “you will develop the habit of dictating in a clear”).

3 When you’re finished, click OK (or say “Click OK”).

NOTE

mouse and keyboard. You can use your mouse to select the wrong words (or simply place your cursor somewhere in the mistake), and then press the minus (-) key on the numeric keypad to open the Correction dialog box.

Some people prefer to correct the mistakes in their documents by using the

Make it a habit to correct mistakes with the Correction dialog box to continue to improve the accuracy of the program. Be sure to save your speech files, when prompted, to preserve the adjustments the program makes.

Editing in the Correction dialog box

When you’re working in the Correction dialog box, you can use your voice to move the cursor and to select and delete words and characters.

Moving around in the Correction dialog box

You can move the cursor right or left by words, characters, or a combination of the two. For example, you can say “Move Right a Word,” “Move Left 4 Characters,” or “Move Left 1 Word and 2 Characters.”

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See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Move Right a Word (or “1 Word”)

(one)

Forward 2 Words Left Back a Character (or “1 Character”)

THEN

(one)

Words

2 Characters

Characters Words and n Characters

(up to 20)

Selecting text in the Correction dialog box

You can select all the text in the text box by saying “Select Line.”

You can also select right or left by words, characters, or a combination of the two. For example, you can say “Select Next Character,” “Select Previous 2 Words,” or “Select Next Word and 1 Character.” See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Select Next Word

(one)

Forward 2 Words Previous Back Character

THEN

(one)

Words

4 Characters

Characters Words and n Characters

(up to 20)

Deleting text in the Correction dialog box

You can delete selected text in the Correction dialog box by saying “Delete Selection.”

You can also delete words, characters, or a combination of the two. For example, you can say “Delete Next Word,” “Delete Previous Character,” or

“Delete Next Word and 1 Character.”

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See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Delete Next Word

(one)

Forward 2 Words Previous Back Character

THEN

Words

4 Characters

Characters Words and n Characters

Playing back your dictation while you correct

Dictation playback is available in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred and Professional editions.

Playback commands work in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, Microsoft Word 97 and 2000, and Corel WordPerfect 8 and 9.

Although Dragon NaturallySpeaking never makes a spelling error, the mistakes it does make can be challenging to find and fix. Sometimes, what the program types looks very different from what you actually said.

To make correcting mistakes easier, Dragon NaturallySpeaking records your voice as you dictate. You can play back your voice whenever you can’t tell by looking at your document what you originally said.

(one)

(up to 20)

NOTE

document, Dragon NaturallySpeaking deletes the recorded dictation for that document.

Playback is available only until you close a document. After you close a

Playing back dictation in the Correction dialog box

When you’re working in the Correction dialog box, click the Play Back button to play the dictation that goes with the words you’re correcting. Then edit the text to match what you said.

You can set up Dragon NaturallySpeaking to play back dictation automatically whenever you open the Correction dialog box. (On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Miscellaneous tab. Select “Automatic playback on correction.”)

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NOTE

back text that wasn’t entered by voice, such as words you typed or pasted into your document. You also can’t play back dictation after closing a document. If dictation is not available, the Play Back button is dimmed (grayed out). When playback is not available, you may find text-to-speech useful for checking your work. See “Using text-to-speech” on page 85.

Sometimes, there’s no dictation to play back. For example, you can’t play

Playing back dictation in a document

To help you check your work for mistakes, you can play back a line, a paragraph, a selection, or the whole document. After playback starts, you can stop it as soon as you notice a mistake and automatically open the Correction dialog box.

To play back dictation:

To play back dictation, do any of the following:

■ Select the text you want to play back and say “Play That Back.”

■ Click the Start Playback button on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking

toolbar.

Start Playback

■ Move the cursor to the text you want to play back and say any of the

following commands:

SAY TO

Play Back Line Play back dictation for the current line. Play Back Paragraph Play back dictation for the current paragraph. Play Back Document Play back dictation for the whole document. Play Back Window Play back dictation for the text in view. Play Back to Here Play back dictation from the top of the document

window to the cursor.

Play Back from Here Play back dictation from the cursor to the bottom

of the document window.

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To stop playback:

To stop playback, do any of the following:

■ Click the Stop Playback button on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking

toolbar.

Stop Playback

■ Click anywhere in the document window.

■ Press the

(It’s not possible to stop playback by voice, because the computer can’t hear speech input when it’s playing back dictation.)

ESC

key

To stop playback and correct a mistake:

To stop playback and correct a mistake, do any of the following:

■ Click the Correct button on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking toolbar.

Correct

■ Press the minus (-) key on the numeric keypad.

This stops playback and simultaneously opens the Correction dialog box. There you can correct the text for the last phrase played back.

NOTE

(60 MB). If you want to be able to store more dictation, you can change the amount of disk space that’s set aside for storing it. (On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Miscellaneous tab. Increase the number in the “Disk space reserved for speech data” box.)

By default, Dragon NaturallySpeaking stores about 45 minutes of dictation

Adding words to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking gets a word wrong, it could be that the word is not in the program’s vocabulary. When this is the case, you need to teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking the new word so that it can recognize it when you say it.

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About the vocabulary

The Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary contains the words the program is capable of recognizing when you say them. The vocabulary contains thousands of words, their common pronunciations, and language data about how frequently words are used alone and in combination with others.

When you first start Dragon NaturallySpeaking, it creates a standard vocabulary on your computer. A vocabulary contains active words (the active vocabulary) and backup words (the backup dictionary).

Active words

The most commonly used vocabulary words are kept active (stored in computer memory). When you dictate these words, Dragon NaturallySpeaking is likely to get them right on the first try (that is, without requiring you to do anything extra such as correcting the words).

For example, all the words in the following sentence are active (including “Pennsauken”), so Dragon NaturallySpeaking should be able to recognize them all correctly on the first try.

Meet me in Pennsauken [comma] New Jersey

Don’t worry that the words you want to say won’t be active. The list of active words is very long and continually changes (as you correct mistakes) to always include words you’re likely to use.

Backup dictionary words

All the vocabulary words that are not currently active are kept in the backup dictionary (stored on disk, not in memory). Dragon NaturallySpeaking can recognize backup dictionary words, but not on the first try.

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking has trouble recognizing a word, it may mean that it’s a backup dictionary word. You can make a word active by correcting it in the Correction dialog box.

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To correct a word and make it active:

1 Dictate the following sentence. The word “Punxsutawney”

(pronounced punks-ah-tawny) is in the backup dictionary, not the active vocabulary, so Dragon NaturallySpeaking won’t recognize it correctly on the first try.

Meet me in Punxsutawney [comma] Pennsylvania

When the program makes a mistake (for example, types “punks and Connie” instead of “Punxsutawney”), select the mistake and say “Correct That.”

2 Type or spell the correction in the Correction dialog box.

Since “Punxsutawney” is in the backup dictionary, it should appear in the list of alternatives before you finish entering it. (The list of alternatives always displays possible endings for the text in the text box.)

Text b ox

3 Click OK (or say “Click OK”).

The Correction dialog box closes and “Punxsutawney” becomes an active word.

The next time you dictate “Punxsutawney,” Dragon NaturallySpeaking should get it right.

New words

When Dragon NaturallySpeaking gets a word wrong, often it’s because the word is not in the vocabulary at all. This is likely if the word is an uncommon name or specialized term. You must teach Dragon

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NaturallySpeaking these new words, so it can recognize them when you say them.

You can teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking new words in any of the following ways:

■ Add words when correcting mistakes

■ Add words in Vocabulary Editor™

■ Use Find New Words

■ Run Vocabulary Builder

The following sections describe these approaches.

Adding words when correcting mistakes

When you type or spell a new word in the Correction dialog box, Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically adds the word to the vocabulary and makes it active.

For example, if Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t recognize “Ellen Rusinow,” you can add the name to the vocabulary by correcting the mistake in the Correction dialog box.

Adding words in Vocabulary Editor

Vocabulary Editor shows you all the active words (the most commonly used words) in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary. You can open Vocabulary Editor to find out whether a word is in the active vocabulary. If it’s not there, you can add it.

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To add a word to the vocabulary:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools menu, click Vocabulary Editor.

▲

Vocabulary Editor lists all the active words in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary.

A word’s written form is what Dragon NaturallySpeaking types when you say the word. The spoken form is how you say the word. For example, the spoken form for “Sgt.” is “Sergeant.”

Words you have added are marked with a colored star (not including any words that were previously in the backup dictionary). To see only the words you have added, click “Show custom words only.”

2 Type the new word or phrase into the Written form box. Leave the

Spoken form box empty, unless the word or phrase is not pronounced the way it’s spelled (as in the example pictured).

NOTE

Spoken form box. You can learn about dictation shorthands in Chapter 3, “More About Dictating.”

If you’re creating a dictation shorthand, you do need to enter text in the

3 Click Add.

NOTE

form. These words are built into Dragon NaturallySpeaking. You can’t add your own words with a blank written form.

Some special words (for example, “New Paragraph“) have a blank written

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To delete a word from the vocabulary:

Normally, you don’t need to delete words from the vocabulary. But if a word is regularly confused with another one that you never use, you might want to delete the one you don’t use.

To delete a word, select it and click Delete. (You can select multiple words by holding down the words (like “the”) can’t be deleted, since Dragon NaturallySpeaking wouldn’t understand you very well without them.

To edit a word in the vocabulary:

To edit a word in the vocabulary, select it, make the change in the Written form box, and then click Add. This adds the word again with your changes. Then delete the original word, if necessary.

Using Find New Words

In the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, you can use Find New Words to add any new words in the current document to the vocabulary. For example, if you have an online address book or a list of employee names, you can open the file in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window and use Find New Words to quickly identify all the words that aren’t in the vocabulary.

CTRL

key while you click.) Some common

TIP

You can also find the new words in a document by running Vocabulary Builder, but Find New Words is quicker when you have a single document that’s in the correct format (.txt or .rtf).

To use Find New Words:

1 Switch to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window.

Find New Words works only in this window, but you can paste text from other documents here or open documents saved in .txt or .rtf format.

2 Open a document that has new words in it, or paste the text into the

Dragon NaturallySpeaking window. (You can also type the words.)

3 On the Tools menu, click Find New Words.

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Click to select words to add to the vocabulary

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The Find New Words dialog box opens.

▲

The Find New Words dialog box displays all the words in the current document that aren’t in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary (neither the active vocabulary nor the backup dictionary).

NOTE

add is misspelled, you can edit it from this dialog box.

Any misspellings or typos appear in the new word list. If a word you want to

4 Click to select the words you want to add to the vocabulary.

■ Add only words you think you’ll use frequently, not ones you’re

unlikely to need.

■ Don’t add capitalized words unless you plan to dictate the

capitalized form of the word often (for example, a pet’s name “Fluffy”).

5 Use the Filter and Display options if you want to show or hide words in

the list.

■ Select “Show unknown words” to view words found that aren’t in

the vocabulary in any form (for example, “Hoepner”). This option filters out words such as “Fluffy,” where the lowercase form of the word (“fluffy”) is already in the vocabulary.

■ Select “Show known words with capitalizations that do not exist in

the vocabulary” to view words that are in the vocabulary but were

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found with unusual capitalization (for example, “Fluffy” and “joan”).

NOTE

as “War and Peace”) don’t appear in the list.

■ Clear the “Include words added in this session” box if you want the

Any capitalized words found at the beginning of a sentence or in a title (such

words you add (by clicking “Add Checked Words to Vocabulary”) to then disappear from the list.

6 If a word you want to add contains a spelling or capitalization error, select

the word and click Edit (or double-click the word).

TIP

There’s no need to edit a misspelled word and add it to the vocabulary if it’s

already in the vocabulary with correct spelling.

In the Edit Word dialog box, correct the written form of the word. Leave the Spoken form box empty unless the word is not pronounced the way it’s spelled. To remove capital letters automatically, click Lowercase.

▲

Use the Edit Word dialog box to fix spelling and capitalization errors before adding words to the vocabulary.

When you have finished editing, click OK to return to the Find New Words dialog box.

7 After selecting and editing words you want to add, click Add Checked

Words to Vocabulary.

8 When you’re prompted to train the selected words, choose “Yes” if you

want to teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking how you pronounce them. For

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instructions, see “Training Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize problem words” on page 38.

NOTE

pronounced the way it’s spelled, Dragon NaturallySpeaking should be able to recognize it without training.

When you’re finished training, the new words are added to the active vocabulary (and marked with a colored star in the Find New Words dialog box).

9 Click Close to close the Find New Words dialog box.

Make it a habit to teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking new words to continue to improve the accuracy of the program. Be sure to save your speech files, when prompted, to preserve these changes to your vocabulary.

Training new words is a good idea, but it’s not required. If a word is

Running Vocabulary Builder

Running Vocabulary Builder teaches Dragon NaturallySpeaking about your vocabulary and writing style. If Dragon NaturallySpeaking knows what words you use in your writing, and how you put them together in sentences, it can do a better job of recognizing what you say when you dictate.

Vocabulary Builder works by “reading” documents you’ve already written on the computer. It uses these documents to gather language data about the frequency of words you use and the order in which they typically appear. For example, if Vocabulary Builder were analyzing this guide, it would learn that the word “Dragon” is used frequently and the words “by voice” often appear together. Dragon NaturallySpeaking would then know to favor these words over similar-sounding words.

Vocabulary Builder also identifies any new words in your documents, so you can add them to the vocabulary.

You may have already run Vocabulary Builder when you first started Dragon NaturallySpeaking. You can run it again if Dragon NaturallySpeaking is still making many mistakes, or if you now have more documents you’d like to analyze. You can run Vocabulary Builder

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as often as you like without overwriting language data gathered previously.

To run Vocabulary Builder, you need to complete the following steps:

■ Prepare documents

■ Add words from a list (optional)

■ Run Vocabulary Builder

■ Add words found in documents

The following sections describe these steps.

Preparing documents

Start by finding documents on your computer that are good examples of the kind of text you’ll be dictating when you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

For example, if you plan to dictate memos and e-mail messages, find some correspondence you’ve already written. Your e-mail outbox is a good source of text. Any documents you’re working on currently are also good ones to use. The more documents you can find, the better.

NOTE

style to your own writing (for example, a report written by a colleague in the same profession).

It’s okay to process documents you didn’t write, but only if they are similar in

To prepare documents:

1 Make sure documents are in the following formats:

■ .TXT (Text)

■ .RTF (Rich Text Format)

■ .DOC (Microsoft Word version 6.0 or later)

■ .WPD (Corel WordPerfect version 8 or 9)

■ .HTM or .HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

■ .SHTM or .SHTML (Server-side include Hypertext Markup

Language)

TIP

Vocabulary Builder can process .txt (text) files faster than other formats. Consider

using text files whenever possible.

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking can process Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect files only if you have the corresponding word processor installed on your computer. If it’s not installed, convert the documents to another format, such as RTF.

If you want to process your e-mail messages (a good idea if you’ll be using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to write e-mail), you’ll need to either export the text into one of the formats listed above or copy and paste messages into a new document.

NOTE

If Vocabulary Builder can’t process your e information from the file.

2 Use a spelling checker to correct any spelling mistakes in the

documents. This will prevent misspelled words from being identified as new words to be added to the vocabulary.

Adding words from a list

If you’re new to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you can skip this step. You may want to use this feature after you become familiar with Vocabulary Builder.

When Vocabulary Builder analyzes your documents, it starts by displaying a list of all the new words found, so you can select the ones you want to add to the vocabulary. If the list is very long, selecting and editing words can be time-consuming. Therefore, Vocabulary Builder also gives you the option of adding a list of words directly to the vocabulary before processing documents.

Adding words from a list saves you time and also offers other advantages. You can include frequently used phrases in your list to improve recognition of these phrases. For example, if Dragon NaturallySpeaking has trouble recognizing the name “Ellen Cohen,” even though both “Ellen” and “Cohen” are in the vocabulary, you can add the phrase “Ellen Cohen” to the vocabulary.

E-mail headers may contain characters that Vocabulary Builder can’t process.

mail text, try deleting all the header

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Each line is added to the vocabulary as a single item. In this example, the phrases “Ellen Cohen,” “Fluffy the Cat,” and so on, will be added.

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Successfully

To create a list of words:

Create a text (.txt) file and enter each word or phrase you want to add to the vocabulary on a separate line. Make sure words are spelled correctly.

TIP

To include a spoken form, type a backslash (\) and then the spoken form. The spoken form will appear in the Spoken form box in Vocabulary Editor after the word is added.

Following is an example of a correctly formatted list:

▲

You can use the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window to create your text file.

Running Vocabulary Builder

After preparing documents and creating a list of words to add (optional), you’re ready to run Vocabulary Builder.

To run Vocabulary Builder:

1 Open the vocabulary you want to personalize, if it’s not already open (on

the Vocabulary menu, click Open).

NOTE

only one vocabulary for each user.

2 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools menu, click Vocabulary

Builder.

If you’re using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred or Standard, you have

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3 Follow the instructions on the screen.

4 (Optional) On the Add Words from a List page, specify a file containing

words you want to add to the vocabulary. (See “Adding words from a list” on page 31 for more information about this step.)

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5 If you specify a file, click Add Words from List, and then click Next to

continue.

To skip this step, just click Next.

6 On the Analyze Documents page, click Add.

▲

Vocabulary Builder uses documents you’ve written to teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking

how you write.

7 In the Add Documents dialog box, find and select the documents you

want to process* and then click Open.

NOTE

while you click. To add documents from a different folder, click Add again.

* Although there’s no limit on the size or number of documents, Vocabulary Builder analyzes only the first 500,000 words each time you run it.

You can select multiple documents in one folder by holding down the CTRL key

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Documents you select are added to the Analyze Documents page. If you need to remove a document, select it and click Remove.

8 To start processing the documents, click Analyze Documents.

NOTE

more of your files is not in the correct format (see the list of acceptable formats on page 30) or that the program used to create one of your files is not installed on your computer.

If Vocabulary Builder displays an error message, it may mean that one or

After a document is processed, the word “Yes” appears in the Analyzed column.

9 When you’re finished processing documents, click Next.

Adding words found in documents

After Vocabulary Builder analyzes documents, it displays the Add New Words dialog box with a list of the new words found.

If there are words on the list that you use frequently, you can add them to the vocabulary to improve accuracy, but this step is not required. The most important reason to run Vocabulary Builder is to teach Dragon

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NaturallySpeaking how frequently you use different words and in what order. Vocabulary Builder does this whether or not you add new words.

▲

The Add New Words dialog box displays all the words found that aren’t in the Dragon

NaturallySpeaking vocabulary (neither the active vocabulary nor the backup dictionary).

To add new words:

1 Click to select the words you want to add to the vocabulary, and then

click Add Checked Words to Vocabulary.

For further instructions, see steps 4–9 beginning on page 27.

2 Click Next to continue.

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The Adapt to Document Style page opens.

3 Make your selections and click Next to continue.

For the first option, select “Yes” to have Vocabulary Builder modify your speech files based on the language data gathered in analyzing your documents. If you select “No,” the data won’t be used. You could select “No” if you were using Vocabulary Builder only to find new words (for example, if you were processing documents you didn’t write but which contain words you use).

For the second option, select “Yes” to preserve previously gathered language data. If you select “No,” this data will be lost. You could select “No” if you wanted to overwrite data gathered previously (for example, if you processed the wrong documents the last time you ran Vocabulary Builder).

4 On the final page of Vocabulary Builder, review the summary

information and click Finish to save your changes.

NOTE

Vocabulary Builder, you can restore a backup copy of your user. See “Restoring a backup copy of a user” on page 114.

If you ever make unwanted changes to your speech files when running

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Training Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize problem words

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking continues to get the same word or phrase wrong, it probably doesn’t recognize the way you pronounce it. When this happens, you should teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking how you say it. This is known as

You can also train any voice command that Dragon NaturallySpeaking consistently misunderstands.

You can train Dragon NaturallySpeaking in any of the following ways:

Train words after making corrections

■

Train words when using Find New Words or Vocabulary Builder

■

Train words from Vocabulary Editor

■

Train words from the Tools menu

■

Train a voice command

■

training

the word or phrase.

Training words after making corrections

Typically, correcting a word is all you need to do for Dragon NaturallySpeaking to get it right the next time. But if you find yourself correcting the same word or phrase over and over, you need to train Dragon NaturallySpeaking to understand it. Training is the most effective way to teach the program your pronunciation.

To train a word after correcting it:

1 After entering correct text in the Correction dialog box, click Train.

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The Train Words dialog box opens.

Text b o x

▲

Train Words helps you teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking your pronunciation for a word or

phrase it continues to get wrong.

2 Click Record.

The word or phrase to train appears in the text box.

3 Pronounce the word or phrase.

The text disappears, and if Dragon NaturallySpeaking successfully recognized the word, the dot lights up. (You may be prompted to say the word more than once.)

NOTE

prompted to say both the correct and incorrect word. This helps Dragon NaturallySpeaking learn the difference. If both words are pronounced exactly the same (for example, “write” and “right”), there’s no need to train either one.

When you train a word after correcting it in the Correction dialog box, you’re

4 If you want to train the word or phrase again (if you misspoke, for

example), click the Record button again and repeat; otherwise, click Done.

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Training words when using Find New Words or Vocabulary Builder

When you use Find New Words or run Vocabulary Builder, you’re prompted to train any new words you select for adding to the vocabulary.

Training new words is a good idea, but it’s not required. If a word is pronounced the way it’s spelled, Dragon NaturallySpeaking should be able to recognize it without training. If after adding a word, you find that Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t recognize it, you can train the word from Vocabulary Editor or from the Tools menu (see the following sections).

Training words from Vocabulary Editor

You can look up a word in Vocabulary Editor and then train Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize it.

To train a word from Vocabulary Editor:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools menu, click Vocabulary Editor.

2 Locate the word you want to train in the list (by typing the first few

letters in the Written form box).

NOTE

the word isn’t in the active vocabulary. You need to add it to the active vocabular y before you can train it. (See “Adding words in Vocabulary Editor” on page 24.)

3 Select the word. (You can select more than one word to train by holding

down the

4 Click Train.

For further instructions, see steps 2–4 beginning on page 39.

If the word you want to train doesn’t appear in Vocabulary Editor, it means

CTRL

key while you click.)

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Training words from the Tools menu

You can also train words by opening the Train Words dialog box from the Tools menu.

To train a word from the Tools menu:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools menu, click Train Words.

2 In the Training dialog box, type the word or phrase you want to train,

and then click OK.

For further instructions, see steps 2–4 beginning on page 39.

Training a voice command

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking often gets a specific voice command wrong (for example, it hears “Correct That” as recognize your pronunciation for the command.

Before you spend time training a command, make sure the phrase you’re saying is a real command. Check your Quick Reference card or Appendix B of this guide.

“Correct the”), you can train it to

If the command you want to train appears in the following list, you can train it from Vocabulary Editor (these commands are stored as words in the vocabulary):

■ New-Line

■ New-Paragraph

■ Cap

■ Caps-On

■ Caps-Off

■ All-Caps

■ All-Caps-On

■ All-Caps-Off

■ No-Caps

■ No-Caps-On

■ No-Caps-Off

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■ No-Space

■ No-Space-On

■ No-Space-Off

To train a command in the previous list:

1 On the Tools menu, click Vocabulary Editor.

2 Scroll to the top of the list where the commands are listed. (To get there

quickly, use the scroll box rather than the scroll arrows.)

3 Click the command you want to train (it won’t become highlighted, but

the space next to it in the Written form column will), and then click Tr a i n .

For further instructions, see steps 2–4 beginning on page 39.

TIP

You can select multiple commands to train by holding down the CTRL key while you click. It’s a good idea to train any similar-sounding commands at the same time. For example, if you’re training “New Paragraph,” also train “New Line.”

To train a command that doesn’t appear in the previous list, follow the procedure below.

To train other commands:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools menu, click Train Words.

2 In the Training dialog box, type the command you want to train.

Enter the command with the exact capitalization shown on your Quick Reference card or in Appendix B of this guide. For example, to train “Go to Sleep,” capitalize the words exactly as shown pictured.

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3 Click OK.

For further instructions, follow steps 2–4 beginning on page 39.

Make it a habit to train any words or voice commands Dragon NaturallySpeaking consistently misunderstands, so the program learns your pronunciation. Be sure to save your speech files, when prompted, to preserve the adjustments the program makes.

Running General Training again

If you’ve been following the procedures in this chapter, but Dragon NaturallySpeaking continues to make a lot of mistakes, you may need to spend some more time teaching the program how you pronounce words. You can do this by running General Training again and reading another training text aloud.

Doing more General Training can also help if your speaking style has changed since your first experience with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. If you spend some more time training the program, and make an effort to speak the way you do when you dictate, you should see an improvement in accuracy.

There’s usually no time requirement when you do additional training, but 10 to 15 minutes is a good guideline. If your initial training session was short (only a few minutes), you may be required to read for up to 30 minutes the first time you run General Training again.

TIP

Even if you’re getting good recognition accuracy, consider running General Training again after you’ve been dictating long enough to have a dictation style (a few weeks). Doing more training can further improve accuracy if your speaking style has changed at all since your first experience. Running General Training again is also a good idea if you move to a noisier environment or change your microphone or sound card.

To run General Training:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools menu, click General Training.

2 Select the text you want to read (you can select a different text than the

one you read the first time) and click Train Now.

3 Follow the instructions on the screen.

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There’s usually no time requirement, but the more you read, the more it can help Dragon NaturallySpeaking learn your pronunciation.

TIP

As you read, speak clearly, as if you were dictating the text into a document. This will allow the program to learn how you sound when you dictate.

4 When you’ve read as much as you want, click Finish.

Creating specialized vocabularies

If you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional, you have the option of creating additional vocabularies.

An additional vocabulary can improve recognition accuracy if you have different and distinct writing styles, and if the writing you do requires a large vocabulary of specialized terms. For example, a health care professional who uses Dragon NaturallySpeaking for dictating medical reports and also for sending e-mail to friends and family may be able to enhance recognition accuracy by having two different vocabularies: a vocabulary for professional writing and one for informal correspondence.

Whether or not you need an additional vocabulary depends on how many words you would need to add to your current vocabulary to make it effective for all the writing you do. Unless this number is greater than 10,000 words (as it might be for a health care professional), you should be able to add all the specialized terms you use to your current vocabulary without compromising the recognition accuracy of other words.

Keep in mind that a single vocabulary is easier to maintain. If you have different vocabularies, you may have to add and delete words in multiple places.

Language data gathered when you run Vocabulary Builder is specific to a single vocabulary. But acoustical data—information about how you pronounce different words—applies across vocabularies. When you correct a word in the Correction dialog box or train it in the Train Words dialog box, Dragon NaturallySpeaking adjusts the acoustical data for that word and all other words with similar sound patterns.

The one case in which acoustical data isn’t shared across vocabularies is when a spoken form is added for a word. This pronunciation information

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is stored in the vocabulary along with the word, so it’s specific to a single vocabulary.

Creating vocabularies

These procedures apply only to Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional.

To create a vocabulary:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Vocabulary menu, choose New.

2 Enter a name for the new vocabulary and select a vocabulary on which to

base it.

You can base the new vocabulary on one of the standard Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabularies (beginning with the word “Base”) or on one of your current vocabularies.

3 Click OK to create the vocabulary.

4 To start using the new vocabulary, you need to open it first. See the

following section, “Opening vocabularies.”

5 Run Vocabulary Builder to customize the new vocabulary. See “Running

Vocabulary Builder” on page 29.

NOTE

vocabulary, it’s available only to the current user. However, you can import a vocabulary from a different user. See “Importing and exporting vocabularies” on page 47.

Vocabularies are associated with specific users. If you create an additional

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Opening vocabularies

These procedures apply only to Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional.

To open a vocabulary:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Vocabulary menu, click Open.

2 Select a vocabulary and click Open.

TIP

the Vocabulary menu.

Renaming vocabularies

To rename a vocabulary:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Vocabulary menu, click Open.

2 Select a vocabulary and click Rename.

You can also open a vocabulary that was open recently by selecting its name from

3 In the Rename Vocabulary dialog box, type a new name for the

vocabulary and click OK.

4 Click Cancel to close the Open Vocabulary dialog box.

Deleting vocabularies

These procedures apply only to Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional.

To delete a vocabulary:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Vocabulary menu, click Open.

2 Select the vocabulary you want to delete and click Delete.

If you want to delete the open vocabulary, you must close it first by opening a different one.

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There must be at least one vocabulary on the computer, so if you’ve got only one, you can’t delete it.

NOTE

from the NatSpeak\…\Users folder on your hard disk. Using the Delete button is the only way to properly remove all information about a vocabulary from your computer.

Always use the Delete button to delete vocabularies; don’t remove folders

Importing and exporting vocabularies

These procedures apply only to Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional.

Vocabularies are associated with specific users. However, you can copy vocabularies between users by importing and exporting them. For example, if you create another user for use with a portable recorder, you may want to copy your current vocabulary to the new user. You can do this by exporting the vocabulary from your current first user and then importing it to the new user. The following sections provide instructions.

To export a vocabulary:

1 (Optional) Create a folder in which to store the exported vocabulary

files. (The folder can be anywhere on your hard disk.)

2 Open the user that has the vocabulary you want to export. (On the User

menu, click Open.)

3 On the Vocabulary menu, click Open.

4 Select the vocabulary you want to export and click Export. (You may be

prompted to save changes to your speech files.)

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5 Open the folder you created for storing the exported vocabulary files.

6 Click Save.

The exported vocabulary is saved as five files, all with the same name but with different extensions (.TOP, .TO1, TO2, and so on). These five files must remain in the same folder. When you later import the vocabulary, the file with the extension .TOP (for topic) is the one to select.

7 Click Cancel in the Open Vocabulary dialog box to close it.

To import a vocabulary:

1 Open the user to which you want to import the vocabulary. (On the User

menu, click Open.)

2 On the Vocabulary menu, click Open.

3 Click Import and then open the folder that contains the exported

vocabulary files. (You can import only vocabularies that were exported.)

4 Select the vocabulary you want to import by selecting the file with the

extension .TOP, and then click Open.

5 In the Import Vocabulary dialog box, enter a name for the imported

vocabulary.

6 Click OK to save the vocabulary.

7 Click Cancel to close the Open Vocabulary dialog box.

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our Dragon NaturallySpeaking Quick Start booklet explains the basics of dictating.

This chapter describes how to dictate:

■ Names of people, places, and events

■ Abbreviations and acronyms

■ Hyphenated and compound words

■ Words that end with ’s

■ E-mail and Web addresses

■ Special characters (such as @, ©, é, and ¥)

■ Foreign words

■ Numbers (including telephone numbers and dates)

You’ll also learn how to create a dictation shorthand for quickly inserting frequently used text into your document.

But first, this chapter provides some information about how to prevent vocal strain when using Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Preventing vocal strain

When you’re dictating for long periods, you should think about protecting your voice.

Here are some tips for preventing vocal strain:

■ Sit up straight or stand in front of your computer.

■ Don’t speak in a loud voice or in any way that is stressful for you.

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■ Breathe deeply from your abdomen and not from the top of your

chest.

■ Loosen up and relax: stretch your arms, shoulders, neck, and jaw

muscles.

■ Take occasional breaks: get up, move around, and stretch.

■ Keep your vocal cords moist: take sips of water and use a straw so

you don’t have to move the microphone out of place.

Dictating names of people, places, and events

Many names of people, places, and events are already in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary. For example, you can dictate “Michael Jordan,” “Newton, Massachusetts,” and “Disneyland.” Your first step should always be to try dictating the name.

To dictate names:

Dictate your name and your hometown. For example, say “My name is Louise O’Toole [period] My hometown is Newton [comma] Massachusetts [period]”

Say the words as clearly as possible. (Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically capitalizes the names it knows, so you don’t have to say “Cap.”)

Did Dragon NaturallySpeaking get your name and hometown correct? If not, it may mean that your name, hometown, or both aren’t in the vocabulary. Not all proper names are in the vocabulary, but you can easily add them by using the Correction dialog box (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13).

NOTE

automatically “guesses” its pronunciation based on how it’s spelled. If the word is not recognized when you say it, you should train Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize it (as described in “Training Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize problem words” on page 38).

When you dictate a name that can be spelled more than one way (for example, “John” or “Jon”), Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the most

When you add a word to the vocabulary, Dragon NaturallySpeaking

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common spelling. If this isn’t the spelling you want, just correct the word (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13). The Correction dialog box displays any alternative spellings that are already in the vocabulary. If none of the choices are what you want, type or spell the name the way you want it to appear.

If the name is a popular one, Dragon NaturallySpeaking may continue to use the more common spelling. If this is a problem, you can create a dictation shorthand for entering the spelling you want (see “Creating dictation shorthands” on page 66). Or, if you never use a particular spelling, you can delete it from the vocabulary (see “Adding words in Vocabulary Editor” on page 24).

Dictating abbreviations and acronyms

Dragon NaturallySpeaking knows many common abbreviations (such as NYC) and acronyms (such as NATO). To dictate an abbreviation or acronym, just say it as you normally would.

TO E N T E R SAY

Dr. Doctor UK U K RSVP R S V P HTML H T M L 8 cm eight centimeters pp. 27-33 pages 27 [hyphen] 33 NATO NATO NASDAQ NASDAQ

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the full word instead of the abbreviation or acronym, or enters the wrong word, just correct it (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13). The Correction dialog box should display the abbreviation or acronym on the list of alternatives. If none of the choices are correct, type it or spell it by voice.

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(say as one word)

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If you want to include periods in an abbreviation (for example, U. K. instead of UK), just correct it. When the Correction dialog box opens, you may see a version that includes periods. If not, edit the corrected text to include them.

NOTE

acronym, it may not be in the vocabulary. If you use it often, you should add it to the vocabulary (as described in “Adding words to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary” on page 21).

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking continues to misrecognize an abbreviation or

Dictating hyphenated words

Many hyphenated words and phrases are already in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary. To dictate a word or phrase that’s hyphenated based on standard usage, just say it as you normally would.

TO E N T E R SAY

long-lasting long lasting up-to-date schedule up to date schedule Tokyo-based company Tokyo based company nine-year-old boy nine year old boy

Including hyphens as you dictate

To hyphenate words that Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t hyphenate automatically, just say “hyphen” wherever you want a hyphen.

TO E N T E R SAY

speech-recognition software speech [hyphen] recognition software power-sharing agreement power [hyphen] sharing agreement Elizabeth Walker-Smith Elizabeth Walker [hyphen] Smith

Adding hyphens later

You can hyphenate the last words you said or hyphenate selected words by saying “Hyphenate That.”*

* This command works in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but it doesn’t work in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

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1 Select the words you want to hyphenate.

2 Say “Hyphenate That.”

Removing hyphens

1 Say “Select hyphen.”

More About Dictating

To add a hyphen:

For example, if you want to hyphenate “speech recognition” in the following sentence, say “Select speech recognition.”

I’m using speech recognition software

This command adds a hyphen between the selected words. To move your cursor back to the end of the line, you can say “Go to End of Line.”

You can remove a hyphen by selecting it and replacing it with a space.

To remove a hyphen:

2 Say “Space Bar.”

Preventing hyphens

You can prevent Dragon NaturallySpeaking from entering a hyphen by pausing where the hyphen would normally be.

For example, to type “long lasting” (normally hyphenated) say “long,” then pause for a moment, and then say “lasting.”

Dictating compound words

Dragon NaturallySpeaking joins compound words (such as “notebook”) automatically based on standard usage. To dictate a compound word, just say it as you normally would.

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Compounding words as you dictate

To compound words that Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t join automatically, just say “No Space” between the words.

TO E N T E R SAY

dragonsystems [No Caps] dragon [No Space] systems WebTV [Cap] web [No Space] tv

You can also dictate consecutive words without spaces by turning “no spaces” on and then turning them off when you’re finished.

To dictate consecutive words without spaces:

1 Say “No Space On” to turn no spaces on.

2 Dictate the words you want to appear without spaces.

3 Say “No Space Off” to turn no spaces off.

Compounding words later

You can compound the last words you said or compound selected words by saying “Compound That.”*

To compound words:

1 Select the text you want to join. For example, if you want to join the

words “Web TV,” say “Select Web TV.”

2 Say “Compound That.”

This command removes all spaces between selected words. (Any tabs or line breaks are also removed.)

TIP

If the command doesn’t work (for example, if the words “compound at” are typed into your document), you may need to say the command more clearly. Say “Undo That” (or press Ctrl+Z) to undo the last action, and then tr y the command again.

* This command works in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but it doesn’t work in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

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Dictating words that end with ’s

When you dictate a word that should end with ’s, Dragon NaturallySpeaking adds it if it can hear the “ess” sound and the ending makes sense in the context.

To dictate a word ending with ’s, just say it as you normally would. (For some words, you may need to emphasize the “ess” sound.)

TO E N T E R SAY

We took Mary’s car We took Mary’s car that’s enough that’s enough it’s time to go it’s time to go

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t include the ’s, you can add it.

Including ’s as you dictate

When you want to make sure that Dragon NaturallySpeaking types a word with ’s, just say already end in s) after saying the word.

“apostrophe ess”

(or

“apostrophe”

for words that

TO E N T E R SAY

We took my brother’s car We took my brother [apostrophe ess] car I met my friends’ children I met my friends [apostrophe] children Lois’s car Lois [apostrophe ess] car

Adding ’s later

You can add ’s to a word by selecting it and then saying it again with

“apostrophe ess.”

To add ’s later:

1 Select the text to which you want to add ’s. For example, say

brothers.”

2 Say the word followed by

apostrophe ess”

This changes “brothers” to “brother’s.”

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“apostrophe ess”

(for example, say

“Select

“brother

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Dictating e-mail and Web addresses

You can dictate e-mail and Web addresses as you would normally say them. Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically formats them for you.

TO E N T E R SAY

Virginia39@aol.com [Cap] virginia thirty nine at a o l dot

doccomments@dragonsys.com [No Caps On] doc comments at

http://www.dragonsystems.com [No Caps On] h t t p w w w dot

com

dragon sys dot com [No Caps Off]

dragon systems dot com [No Caps Off]

NOTE

you must keep the “Format Web and E-mail addresses automatically” the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Options dialog box (Dictation tab).

To be able to dictate e-mail and Web addresses as described in this section,

option selected in

Here are some guidelines for dictating e-mail and Web addresses:

When you say

■

“http,” “w w w,”

“web,”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking knows to format the next words you say as a Web address.

Say the following abbreviations by pronouncing them as words:

■

“com,” “gov,” “mil,” “net,” “org,”

Say the following abbreviations by saying each letter:

■

and

■

“c o,”

Use the

“u k.”

“No Caps On”

and

“sys.”

“No Caps Off”

“e d u,” “c a,”

commands to enter an e-mail or Web address in all lowercase letters. (For more information about controlling capitalization, see “Dictating consecutive words in all lowercase letters” on page 79.)

If the address you’re dictating contains an unusual word (for example, “tiac” or “juno”), Dragon NaturallySpeaking will make mistakes. You should correct the mistake (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13) and train the program to recognize the address (as

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described in “Training Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize problem words” on page 38).

TIP

You can create dictation shorthands for e-mail and Web addresses you use often.

(See “Creating dictation shorthands” on page 66.)

Dictating special characters

Dictating common special characters

The following special characters are in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary. To dictate these characters, just say their names.

TO E NT E R SAY

@at sign $ dollar sign % percent sign + plus sign

-minus sign ^carat &ampersand * asterisk :-) smiley face :-( frowny face

For a more complete list of special characters, see “Entering punctuation and special characters” on page 151 of Appendix B or your Quick Reference card.

Dictating uncommon special characters

If you use uncommon special characters in your writing (for example, ©, é, or ¥), you can also enter them by voice; you must, however, use the Correction dialog box the first time you dictate them.

After you enter an uncommon special character by using the Correction dialog box, Dragon NaturallySpeaking adds it to the vocabulary. For example, if you want to enter a copyright sign (©) into your document,

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you could dictate “copyright sign” and then correct the result to be the special character instead of the words “copyright sign.” The next time you say “copyright sign,” Dragon NaturallySpeaking should enter the symbol, not the words.

You may also want to enter special characters when you’re dictating words with accent marks, such as “André.” Dragon NaturallySpeaking includes the accent mark automatically for some words (for example, “façade”), but not for all. If the program types the word without the accent mark, you can correct the result to include the accented character.

For the complete list of special characters you can enter by using the Correction dialog box, see the following sections in Appendix B:

■ “Publishing symbols” on page 143

■ “Currency symbols” on page 144

■ “Accented and international characters” on page 145

■ “Mathematical symbols” on page 147

NOTE

be using a vocabulary created with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 4.0. If your speech files are from an earlier product, you must create a new vocabulary (Professional edition only—see “Creating specialized vocabularies” on page 44) or a new set of user speech files (see “Creating a new user” on page 112) to use this feature.

To enter uncommon special characters as described in this section, you must

To dictate an uncommon special character:

1 In a document, dictate the phrase you want to use to enter the special

character (for example, say “copyright sign”). (Make a note of the phrase you use.)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking enters the words into your document. (In this example, it would enter “(c) sign” or “copyright sign.”)

2 Say “Correct That” to open the Correction dialog box.

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3 Say the name of the special character (for example, say “copyright sign” to

enter ©).

For the complete list of special characters, see pages 143–147 in Appendix B.

4 Click OK (or say “Click OK”).

Dragon NaturallySpeaking enters the special character (for example, ©) and also adds it to the vocabulary. Now when you dictate the phrase (in this example, “copyright sign”), Dragon NaturallySpeaking should enter the special character, not the words. If the program enters words instead, just correct the mistake (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13). The Correction dialog box should display the special character on the list of alternatives.

To dictate a word with an accented character:

1 In a document, dictate the word (for example, say “André”).

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking enters the word without the accent (for example, types “Andre”), say “Correct That.”

2 Select the character that needs to be replaced (in this example, the

letter “e”).

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3 Dictate the accented character. (In this example, you would say “e acute”

or “e accent acute” to enter “é.”)

For the complete list of special characters, see pages 143–147 in Appendix B.

4 Click OK (or say “Click OK”).

Dragon NaturallySpeaking enters the word into your document and also adds it to the vocabulary. Now when you dictate the word, Dragon NaturallySpeaking should enter it with the accent mark. If the program leaves out the accent mark, just correct the mistake (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13). The Correction dialog box should display the correct version on the list of alternatives.

Dictating foreign words

Some foreign words that are regularly used in English (such as “laissez-faire”) are in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary.

If you dictate a foreign word, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t recognize it, try correcting it. The Correction dialog box may display the word you want on the list of alternatives.

If the foreign word contains an accented character, see also “Dictating uncommon special characters” on page 57.

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Dictating numbers

You can dictate most numbers as you would normally say them. For example, you can enter $250.95 by saying

ninety five cents,”

If you ever have trouble getting Dragon NaturallySpeaking to type a numeral rather than a word (for example, “4” instead of “four”), just say “numeral” before saying the number. For example, say This forces the program to enter the number as a numeral.

“two hundred fifty dollars and

and you can enter 4:05 PM by saying

“four oh five p m.”

“numeral four.”

NOTE

keep the “Format numbers, telephone numbers, currency, and times automatically” option selected in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Options dialog box (Dictation tab).

Numerals and Zip codes

You can dictate most numbers, including Zip codes, as you would normally say them.

TO E N T E R SAY

1one (or “numeral one”) 5five (or “numeral five”) 17 seventeen 23 twenty three 179 one hundred seventy nine (or “one hundred and seventy

5423 five thousand four hundred twenty three 5,423 five [comma] four twenty three 12,537 twelve thousand five hundred thirty seven 142,015 one hundred forty two thousand and fifteen

35.23 thirty five [point] two three

0.03 zero [point] oh three

43.28% forty three [point] twenty eight [percent sign] 02460 oh two four six zero 02460-1458 oh two four six zero [hyphen] one four five eight

To be able to dictate numbers as described in the following sections, you must

nine”)

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically includes a numeric comma (a comma without a trailing space) in numbers with five or more digits (for example, 12,537). To include a comma in a four-digit number, you must say “comma.”

NOTE

the digit grouping symbol specified in your Windows settings. (See Regional Settings in the Windows Control Panel.)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses the decimal separator (comma or period) and

Changing the format of a number

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking enters a number in a format you don’t want, you can use voice commands to convert it to a numeral or to spell it out.

For example, you can change “seven dollars” to “$7” by saying “Format

That Number.” And you can change “$7” to “seven dollars” by saying “Format That Spelled Out.” These commands change the last number

dictated or a selected number.*

SAY TO C H A N G E

Format That Number “one” to “1”

“first” to “1st” “seven dollars” to “$7” “twenty-fifth” to “25th” “5 million” to “5,000,000” “five million” to “5,000,000” “50 cents” to “$.50”

Format That Spelled Out “4th” to “fourth”

“27” to “twenty-seven” “5,000,000” to “five million”

NOTE

for numerals and currency, but not for dates, times of day, telephone numbers, and most fractions.

* These commands work for selected text in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but not in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

The “Format That Number” and “Format That Spelled Out” commands work

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Dates

Times of day

More About Dictating

You can dictate most dates the way you would normally say them. Say “oh” or “zero” to enter 0.

TO E N T E R SAY

January 22, 1999 January twenty two [comma] nineteen ninety nine April 9, 2001 April nine [comma] two thousand and one 07/14/85 oh seven [slash] fourteen [slash] eighty five April 1st April first March 22nd March twenty second The 1980s The nineteen eighties

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the date in the wrong format, just correct it (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13). When the Correction dialog box opens, the format you want may be on the list of alternatives.

Usually, you can dictate the time of day the way you would normally say it. Say “o’clock” to enter :00. Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically types the colon (:) if you say “a m,” “p m,” or “o’clock” when dictating the time. Otherwise, you must say “colon.”

TO E N T E R SAY

8:30 eight [colon] thirty 4:45 AM four forty five a m 10:22 PM ten twenty two p m 3:00 three o’clock 5:00 PM five o’clock p m

If you want AM or PM entered in a different format (such as “a.m.”), you can correct the time after you dictate it (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13) or change the time symbol specified in your Windows Settings (see Regional Settings in the Windows Control Panel).

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Telephone numbers

More About Dictating

You can say U.S. phone numbers naturally (by pausing briefly between each group of numbers). You don’t need to dictate hyphens between groups of numbers.

TO E N T E R SAY

617-965-5200 six one seven nine six five fifty two hundred 1-800-555-1212 one eight hundred five five five one two one two (617) 965-5200 [open paren] six one seven [close paren] nine

six five five two hundred

1-212-555-1212 one two one two five five five one two one two

Currency and coin

NOTE

say all the punctuation, including the hyphens. This also applies to eight-digit numbers starting with 0 or 1 (for example, 1-965-5200).

To dictate other phone numbers, including European phone numbers, you must

You can dictate U.S. currency as you would normally say it.

TO E N T E R SAY

$45 forty five dollars $99.50 ninety nine dollars and fifty cents $1.75 one dollar and seventy five cents $5 million five million dollars $3.9 billion three point nine billion dollars

NOTE

specified in your Windows settings. (See Regional Settings in the Windows Control Panel.)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses the currency symbol ($, £, and so on)

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Fractions

More About Dictating

You can dictate most fractions the way you would normally say them. To dictate 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/7, 1/8, 1/9, 1/10, and 1/16, or a multiple of these fractions, just say the fraction normally.

TO E N T E R SAY

1/2 one half 1/4 one fourth (or “one quarter”) 15/16 fifteen sixteenths (or “fifteen over sixteen”) 3 7/8 three and seven eighths (or “three and seven over eight”)

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the fraction as a word (for example, “one-third”), you can correct it (as described in “Correcting recognition mistakes” on page 13).

If the denominator is greater than 10, you can enter the fraction by saying “slash” or “over” between the two numbers.

Roman numerals

TO E N T E R SAY

9/12 nine [slash] twelve (or “nine over twelve”) 5 3/56 five [space bar] three [slash] fifty six 130/70 one thirty over seventy

For information about dictating fraction characters (¼, ½, ¾), see “Dictating uncommon special characters” on page 57.

You can dictate Roman numerals by saying “Roman” and the number. For large numbers, say the number in small combinations (as in the last three examples).

TO E N T E R SAY

I Roman one IV Roman four V Roman five X Roman ten L Roman fifty C Roman one hundred

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continued

TO E N T E R SAY

D Roman five hundred M Roman one thousand XXIV Roman twenty Roman four XXXI Roman thirty Roman one MCMXCVII Roman one thousand

Roman nine hundred Roman ninety Roman seven

TIP

Don’t pause when you’re dictating Roman numerals. If you pause, Dragon

NaturallySpeaking may enter “Roman three” instead of “III” (for example).

Creating dictation shorthands

dictation shorthand

is a quick way to insert frequently used text into your document. You can create dictation shorthands for text that you use often or text that’s complicated to dictate.

For example, you could create a shorthand that types “Michael D. Bowman” whenever you say

“my signature.”

(In this example, the written form for the dictation shorthand is “Michael D. Bowman,” and the spoken form is “my signature.”)

WRITT EN FO RM SPOKEN FORM

Michael D. Bowman my signature mdbowman@company.com my e-mail address Robert F. Kennedy R. F. K. Waldron, Lichtin & Foust Waldron Lichtin and Foust (617) 965-5200 my phone number This message was dictated with

Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

my e-mail signature

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To create a dictation shorthand:

1 On the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools menu, click Vocabulary Editor.

2 In the Written form box, type the text you want typed into your

document.

3 In the Spoken form box, type the phrase you want to say to insert the

written form text.

Here are some guidelines for selecting a spoken form:

■ Try to use unique phrases—don’t use a phrase you might want to

use in your writing.

■ Make the spoken form something easy for you to remember.

■ Use real words; otherwise, Dragon NaturallySpeaking may not know

how they are pronounced and will prompt you to train them.

■ If you use letters, put a space between them and a period after each

one (for example, J. V. O.).

NOTE

can enter spaces, but you can’t enter backslashes, nonprinting characters (for example, by pressing the TAB or ENTER key), or formatted characters (bold, italics, and so on).

The written and spoken forms can’t be more than 128 characters long. You

4 Click Add.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking adds the dictation shorthand to the vocabulary. When you dictate the spoken form, the program now enters the written form into your document.

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking has trouble recognizing the dictation shorthand, you can train the phrase from Vocabulary Editor (select it and click Train).

TIP

You can create a dictation shorthand for a word you’re having trouble getting Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize (for example, if the program often types “Lara” when you say “Laura” and correcting and training the word doesn’t help). In this

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example, the written form for the shorthand would be “Laura,” and the spoken form should be a unique phrase, such as “Laura my office mate.”

With Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional, you can also create your own voice commands for inserting frequently used text. A voice command can enter multiple lines of text, such as a full mailing address. See Chapter 7, “Creating Your Own Dragon NaturallySpeaking Commands” (Professional edition only).

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Editing a Document by Voice

f you followed the exercises in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Quick Start booklet, you learned a few useful commands for editing a

document by voice.

You learned how to Select-and-Say™ to revise text, move to the top and bottom of your document, capitalize a word, and apply bold, italics, and underlining.

This chapter describes other ways to edit your document by voice. It explains how to:

■ Move around in a document

■ Select text

■ Copy, cut, and paste text

■ Capitalize text

■ Format text

■ Delete text

The last section describes how to use text-to-speech. (Text-to-speech is available if you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred or Professional.) Using text-to-speech can be helpful when you’re editing your work.

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Editing a Document by Voice

Moving around in a document

When you’re editing a document, you can move your cursor around the page by voice. After you move the cursor where you want it, you can dictate more text, select text, copy and paste, or apply formatting.

Going to the top or bottom of a page

You can move the cursor to the top or bottom of your document by saying

“Go to Top”

You can also use any equivalent command from the list below:

“Go to Bottom.”

SAY THEN

Go to Top of Document Move to Beginning of Document

(one)

Start of Document Bottom of Document End of Document

Going to the beginning or end of a line

You can move the cursor to the beginning or end of the current line by saying

“Go to Beginning of Line”

You can also use any equivalent command from the list below:

SAY THEN

Go to Beginning of Line Move to Start of Line

((oonnee))

End of Line

Placing the cursor before or after a specific word

You can place the cursor before a specific word by saying and then the word or words. You can place the cursor after a word by saying

“Insert After”

and then the word or words.

“Go to End of Line.”

“Insert Before”

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After you move the cursor where you want it, you can dictate more text, paste text, add punctuation, and so on.

To place the cursor before a specific word:

To move the cursor before the word “lets” in the sentence below, say “Insert Before lets” (or “Insert Before lets me talk”). Remember not to pause between any of the words.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets me talk instead of type.

To place the cursor after a specific word:

To move the cursor after the word “talk” in the sentence below, say “Insert After talk” (or “Insert After lets me talk”).

Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets me talk instead of type.

Moving up or down a paragraph

You can move the cursor up or down a paragraph by saying “Move Up a Paragraph” or “Move Down a Paragraph.”

You can also move up and down a number of paragraphs (up to 20). For example, you can say “Move Up 3 Paragraphs.” See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Move Up a Paragraph (or “1 Paragraph”)

(one)

Back 2 Paragraphs Down 3 Paragraphs Forward

THEN

(one)

Paragraphs

(up to 20)

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Moving up or down a line

You can move the cursor up or down a line by saying “Move Up a Line” or “Move Down a Line.”

You can also move up and down a number of lines (up to 20). For example, you can say “Move Down 3 Lines.” See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Move Up a Line (or “1 Line”)

Moving right or left a word

You can move the cursor right or left a word by saying “Move Right a Wor d” or “Move Left a Word.”

You can also move right or left a number of words (up to 20). For example, you can say “Move Right 3 Words.” See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Move Right a Word (or “1 Word”)

(one)

Back 2 Lines Down 3 Lines Forward

(one)

Forward 2 Words Left 4 Words Back

THEN

Lines

THEN

Words

(one)

(up to 20)

(one)

(up to 20)

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Moving right or left a character

You can move the cursor to the next or previous character by saying “Move Right a Character” or “Move Left a Character.”

You can also move forward and backward a number of characters (up to

20). For example, you can say “Move Left 4 Characters.” See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Move Right a Character (or “1 Character”)

Selecting text

Select-and-Say

One way to revise what you have dictated is to select the text using the “Select”* command and then say new words to replace the selected text.

To Select-and-Say:

1 Dictate the sentence below:

Let’s meet for lunch on Tuesday [period]

2 Say “Select lunch on Tuesday.”

The words “lunch on Tuesday” should be highlighted on the screen.

(one)

Forward 2 Characters Left 4 Characters Back

THEN

(one)

Characters

(up to 20)

3 Say “dinner on Wednesday.”

These words should replace “lunch on Tuesday.”

You can also select punctuation marks.

* This command works in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but it doesn’t work in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

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4 Say “Select period.” (If there’s more than one period, you can say “Select

Again” to select a different one.)

5 To replace the period with an exclamation point, say “exclamation point.”

TIP

It’s often easier to select phrases than to select individual words. Selecting more words makes it easier for Dragon NaturallySpeaking to find the matching text. If you select some words that are already correct, just say them again along with the ones you want to change.

About Select-and-Say

Select-and-Say is an easy way to revise words when you change your mind or realize you weren’t dictating clearly, but it’s not a good way to correct speech-recognition errors. Only by using the Correction dialog box can you teach Dragon NaturallySpeaking not to make the same mistakes again.

Selecting the same text again

Unselecting words

If the words you’re trying to select appear more than once on the screen, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking selects the wrong ones, just say “Select Again.”

The program then looks for another instance of the same word or words. It always searches backward from where you are. (If you want the program to always search forward, you can change this setting. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Miscellaneous tab. Clear the “Select searches backward” check box.)

You can also say “Select Again” if Dragon NaturallySpeaking selects a word that sounds like but is not the word you want (for example, “two” instead of “too”).

You can “unselect” words by moving your cursor (by mouse or voice) to another part of your document. For example, say “Go to End of Line” or click somewhere else in your document.

Another way to unselect words is to use the “Select” command to select different text.

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Selecting a range of words

You can select a range of words (for example, a sentence) with the “Select [text] Through [text]”* command. For [text], substitute the actual word(s)

at the beginning and the end of the range you want to select. Remember not to pause between any of the words.

For example, to select the sentence below, you could say “Select You can

Through the sentence.”

You can select a whole sentence by specifying the first and last words in the sentence.

Important!

When text is selected, be careful not to breathe loudly, clear your throat, or make other sounds. Dragon NaturallySpeaking may interpret such noises as speech and replace the selection with new text. If this happens, say “Undo That” right away to reverse the action.

Selecting your whole document

You can select all the text in your document by saying “Select Document.” This command is useful when you want to change the font or the way text is aligned.

When you want to copy all the text in a document to another window, the easiest way to do it is with the “Copy All to Clipboard” command. (See “Copying text to other programs” on page 91.)

NOTE

prevents you from accidentally deleting a large part of your document.) To remove a large selection, you can say “Delete That” instead.

* This command works in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but it doesn’t work in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

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Selecting an entire paragraph or line

You can select the current paragraph by saying “Select Paragraph.” To select the current line, say “Select Line.”

You can also select a number of paragraphs (up to 20). For example, you can say “Select Previous 5 Paragraphs.” See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Select Next Paragraph

Forward 2 Paragraphs Previous Back

Selecting a word or character

You can select the current word by saying “Select Word.” To select a character, say “Select Next Character” or “Select Previous Character.”

You can also select a number of words or characters (up to 20). For example, say “Select Previous 2 Words.”

SAY THEN

Select Next Word

(one)

Forward Character Previous 2 Words Back 4 Characters

THEN

(one)

Paragraphs

See the complete list below:

THEN

(one)

Words Characters

(up to 20)

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Copying, cutting, and pasting text

You can move text from one place to another by using the

“Cut That,”

and

“Paste That”

commands.

To copy, cut, or paste text:

1 Select the text you want to copy or cut.

2 Say

3 Move the cursor to where you want to paste the text.

4 Say

“Copy That”

“Paste That.”

NOTE

Clipboard.” This is useful when you want to copy text to another window. (See “Copying text to other programs” on page 91.)

You can copy your entire document to the Clipboard by saying “Copy All to

“Cut That.”

Capitalizing text

Capitalizing the first letter of the next word you dictate

Dragon NaturallySpeaking capitalizes many words automatically. It capitalizes the first word in a sentence, and it capitalizes proper names (these words are already in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary in capitalized form).

“Copy That,”

When you’re dictating, you can capitalize words that aren’t automatically capitalized by saying

to get “Fluffy.”

fluffy”

* This command works in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but it doesn’t work in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

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and then the word. For example, say

“Cap”

“Cap

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If you need to dictate the word “cap” in a sentence (as in, “Don’t forget your baseball cap and glove”), just pause after saying “cap.”

NOTE

the first word you say; however, it should capitalize correctly whenever you’re dictating in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window or any of the programs listed on page 129 of Appendix B.

In certain programs, Dragon NaturallySpeaking may not always capitalize

Capitalizing consecutive words

When you want to capitalize consecutive words (for example, if you’re dictating a book title), you can turn capitals on and then turn them off when you’re finished. This is usually easier than saying “Cap” before each word.

To capitalize consecutive words:

1 Say “Caps On” to turn capitals on.

NOTE

This means it capitalizes all words except for articles and prepositions (such as “to” and “the”).

2 Dictate the words you want capitalized. For example, say “success is a

journey [colon] seven steps to achieving success in the business of life” (a book

title).

Dragon NaturallySpeaking types: “Success Is a Journey: Seven Steps to Achieving Success in the Business of Life.”

When “Caps On” is active, Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses title capitalization.

3 Say “Caps Off” to turn capitals off.

Dictating the next word in all capital letters

When you’re dictating, you can enter a word in all capital letters by saying “All Caps” and then the word.

For example, say “All Caps please” to get “PLEASE.”

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Dictating consecutive words in all capital letters

When you want to dictate consecutive words in all capitals, you can turn all capitals on and then turn them off when you’re finished.

To dictate consecutive words in all capitals:

1 Say “All Caps On” to turn all capitals on (like pressing the

key).

2 Dictate the words you want to appear in all caps.

3 Say “All Caps Off” to turn all capitals off.

Dictating the next word in all lowercase letters

When you’re dictating, you can enter a word in all lowercase letters by saying “No Caps” and then the word.

For example, say “No Caps jack” to get “jack.” (Dragon NaturallySpeaking normally capitalizes this and other proper names.)

CAPS LOCK

Dictating consecutive words in all lowercase letters

When you want to dictate consecutive words in lowercase letters (for example, names of computer files), you can turn the no capitals feature on and then turn it off when you’re finished. This is usually easier than saying “No Caps” before each word.

To dictate consecutive words in all lowercase letters:

1 Say “No Caps On” to turn no capitals on.

2 Dictate the words you want to appear in all lowercase.

3 Say “No Caps Off” to turn no capitals off.

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Capitalizing (or uncapitalizing) text already in your document

You can change the capitalization of text already in your document by selecting it and then saying “Cap That,” “All Caps That,” or “No Caps That.”*

To capitalize or uncapitalize text:

1 Select the text you want to change.

2 Say “Cap That,” “All Caps That,” or “No Caps That.”

Formatting text

Adding (or removing) bold, italics, and underlining

You can apply formatting to text in your document by selecting it and then saying “Bold That,”* “Italicize That,”* or “Underline That.”*

To add bold, italics, and underlining:

1 Select the text you want to change.

2 Say “Bold That,” “Italicize That,” or “Underline That.”

To remove formatting:

1 Select the text you want to change.

2 Say “Restore That” to remove formatting.

Changing the font as you dictate

When you’re dictating, you can change the font face, size, and style by saying “Set Font” followed by the font attributes you want.

* This command works in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but it doesn’t work in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

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For example, you can say “Set Font Times” or “Set Font Arial 12 Bold.” When you continue dictating, the new text appears with the font attributes you set.

Changing font face

SAY THEN

Set Font Times

(one)

Times New Roman Arial Courier Courier New

Changing font size

Say “Set Size” and then a size from 4 to 120 points. For example, say “Set Size 18.” Then, continue dictating.

Changing font style

SAY THEN

Set Font Bold

(one)

Italics Underline Plain (or “Plain Text” or “Regular”)

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Changing a combination of font face, size, and style

Say “Set Font” or “Format That” and then the attributes you want (listed in the previous sections). You can specify any combination of face, size, and style, but you must specify these attributes in that order (face, then size, then style). See the list of examples below:

■ “Set Font Arial”

■ “Set Font Arial 12” or “Set Font Arial 12 Point”

■ “Set Font Arial 12 Bold”

■ “Set Font Arial Bold”

■ “Set Font Bold”

NOTE

commands, not the “Set Font” command.

Changing the font later

You can go back and change the font face, size, or style of text by selecting it and then using the “Set Font” or “Format That”

To change the font:

1 Select the text you want to change.

2 Say “Set Font”

apply (as described in the previous section).

Aligning text

You can change how text is aligned by placing your cursor in the text and saying “Center That,”* “Left Align That,”

To align text:

1 Move the cursor to the text you want to align.

2 Say “Center That,” “Left Align That,” or “Right Align That.”

You can also use the following equivalent commands: “Format That Centered,” “Format That Left Aligned,” and “Format That Right Aligned.”

If you’re changing only the font size, use the “Set Size” or “Format That Size”

commands.

or “Format That” and then the font attributes you want to

or “Right Align That.”

* This command works in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but it doesn’t work in all programs. See “Which commands work in which programs?” on page 129 of Appendix B.

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Deleting text

Deleting the last words you dictated

You can erase the last words you dictated by saying you say typed into your document. This may be a full sentence, a phrase, or just one word, if that’s all you said before pausing.

You can say last few things you said. If you repeat the command, you must pause before saying it again.

“Scratch That,”

Backing up as you dictate

When you’re dictating, sometimes you may hesitate or think of a better way to say something right after you’ve said it. When this happens, you can use the before the mistake.

Just say want to back up to. Then, continue dictating.

NOTE

middle. Say “Resume With” and then immediately say the words you want to back up to. These words must be in the last phrase you said; you can’t use “Resume With” to back up to an earlier part of your document.

To back up as you dictate:

1 Suppose you dictate this sentence:

meet for lunch… um… er… next Wednesday.”

“Scratch That.”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking erases the last thing it

“Scratch That”

“Resume With”

When using the “Resume With” command, remember not to pause in the

more than once (up to ten times) to delete the

command to back up to where you were

immediately followed by the word or words you

“I have a deadline this week, but we could

When

2 To fix the sentence, back up to the last correct words you remember

dictating. For example, say to pause in the middle.)

3 Then, dictate the rest of the sentence. For example, say

at noon.”

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“Resume With meet for lunch.”

(Remember not

“next Wednesday

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Deleting specific words

You can delete text by selecting it and saying “Delete That.”

To delete text:

1 Select the text you want to delete.

2 Say “Delete That.”

You can also say “Scratch That” to do the same thing.

NOTE

can remove it by saying “Delete Previous Character” or “Delete Next Character.”

When you delete text, there may be an extra space left in your document. You

Deleting the next or previous paragraph

You can delete the next or previous paragraph by saying “Delete Next Paragraph” or “Delete Previous Paragraph.”

You can also delete a number of paragraphs (up to 20). For example, you can say “Delete Previous 5 Paragraphs.” See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Delete Next Paragraph

(one)

Forward 2 Paragraphs Previous Back

THEN

Paragraphs

Deleting the next or previous word or character

You can delete the next or previous word by saying “Delete Next Word” or “Delete Previous Word.”

You can delete the next or previous character by saying “Delete Next Character”

or “Delete Previous Character.”

(one)

(up to 20)

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You can also delete a number of words or characters (up to 20). For example, you can say “Delete Previous 5 Words.” See the complete list below:

SAY THEN

Delete Next Word

Forward Character Previous 2 Words Back 4 Characters

NOTE

equivalent to pressing the BACKSPACE key. You can press it multiple times (up to 20). For example, say “Backspace 5.”

Another way to delete the previous character is by saying “Backspace.” This is

Using text-to-speech

Text-to-speech is available in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred and Professional editions.

You can use text-to-speech to have text on your screen read aloud in a computer voice. For example, you can have a document you dictated read back while you listen for mistakes and sections you may want to revise.

(one)

THEN

(one)

Words

Characters

(up to 20)

Text-to-speech is available only in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, but you can copy text from other programs into this window and then use text-to-speech.

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To start text-to-speech:

To start text-to-speech, do any of the following:

■ Select the text you want to hear (a line, a paragraph, and so on), and

then say “Read That.”

■ Select the text you want to hear, and then select Read That from the

Tools menu (or right-click in your document and select Read That from the pop-up menu).

■ Move the cursor to the text you want to hear and say any of the

following commands:

SAY TO

Read Line Read back the current line. Read Paragraph Read back the current paragraph. Read Document Read back the whole document. Read Window Read back the text in view. Read to Here Read back from the top of the document window to the

cursor.

Read from Here Read back from the cursor to the bottom of the

document window.

To stop text-to-speech:

To stop text-to-speech, do any of the following:

■ Click the Stop Playback button on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking

toolbar.

Stop Playback

■ Press the

NOTE

(On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Text-to-speech tab.)

ESC

key.

You can control the speed, pitch, volume, and other text-to-speech settings.

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Controlling Your Computer by Voice

n the previous chapters, you learned how to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to enter text.

You can also use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to control your computer. For example, you can start programs, open menus, and click buttons by using your voice rather than the mouse and keyboard.

If you use Internet Explorer to browse the Web, you can also use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to follow links and go to your favorite sites.

This chapter describes how to:

■ Start programs

■ Open documents and folders

■ Switch between open windows

■ Copy text to other programs

■ Open and close menus

■ Select buttons, tabs, and options

■ Select icons on the desktop

■ Resize and close windows

■ Scroll in windows and list boxes

■ Control Internet Explorer

■ Press keyboard keys

■ Move the mouse pointer and click the mouse

You can start and control most programs by voice. (If you can’t control a particular program, it’s probably not designed for voice control.)

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To be able to control Microsoft Office 97 and Office 2000 programs, Windows Explorer, and Internet Explorer, you must keep the “Use Active Accessibility for menu and dialog control” option selected in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Options dialog box (Miscellaneous tab).

If you’re using Windows NT voice commands described in this chapter.

Starting programs

You can use voice commands to start a program that appears anywhere on your Windows Start menu or desktop. (You can’t start Dragon NaturallySpeaking by voice, because the program has to be running before it can hear you.)

Starting a program from the Start menu

To start a program from the Start menu, say “Start” and then the name of the program exactly as it appears on the menu (it can appear at any level of the Start menu). For example, to start Internet Explorer, say “Start Internet Explorer.”

, you may not be able to use some of the

To start a program:

1 Make sure Dragon NaturallySpeaking is running and the microphone is

on.

2 Say “Start” and then the name of the program. For example, say “Start

WordPad.”

NOTE

(see “Opening and closing menus” on page 91). These utilities are Shut Down, Log Off, Help, Run, Favorites, Find, and Settings.

To start certain Windows utilities, you must open and navigate the Start menu

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Starting a program from the Windows desktop

To start a program on your Windows desktop, just say “Start” and then the name below the icon. For example, to start Internet Explorer again, say “Start Internet Explorer.”

Say “Start Internet Explorer”

TIP

You can also open other desktop items with the “Start” command. For example, you can say “Start My Computer.”

Opening documents and folders

You can use voice commands to open a document or folder that appears on your Windows Start menu or desktop.

Opening documents and folders from the Start menu

To open a document or folder from the Start menu, say “Start” and then the name of the document or folder exactly as it appears on the menu.

For example, to open a document named SALES.DOC, you could say “Start Sales dot doc.” To open a document named JOURNAL.WPD, you could say “Start journal dot w p d.”

If the document doesn’t open, but the Results box shows that your command was recognized correctly, make sure the file you’re trying to open is still on your computer.

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Opening documents and folders from the Windows desktop

To open a document or folder from your Windows desktop, just say “Start” and then the name below the icon. For example, to open a folder named “Projects,” say “Start Projects.”

Say “Start Projects”

Switching between open windows

You can switch between the windows you have open by saying “Switch to” and then say the name of the program or document window exactly as it appears in the title bar.

Say “Switch to Lotus Notes”

For example, if Lotus® Notes® is running, you can switch to it by saying “Switch to Lotus Notes.”

You can also switch between open windows by saying “Switch to Previous

Window ”

as pressing

(same as pressing

ALT+SHIFT+TAB

ALT+TAB

) and “Switch to Next Window” (same

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You can switch to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window by saying “Switch to NaturallySpeaking.”

Copying text to other programs

When you’ve finished dictating, you can copy your text to another window. For example, if you dictate a message in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, you can then copy it to your e-mail program.

To copy text to another program:

1 Say “Copy All to Clipboard” to copy your entire document.

2 Switch to another program, such as your e-mail program (as described in

the previous section, “Switching between open windows”).

3 Say “Paste That.”

4 To return to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking window, say “Switch to

NaturallySpeaking.”

Opening and closing menus

When Dragon NaturallySpeaking is running, you can say the name of any menu or button you see to activate it.

You can open a menu by saying “Click” and then the name of the menu. For example, you can say “Click File.” When the menu opens, you can

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Say “Click File”

Say “Save”

Controlling Your Computer by Voice

select any menu item on it by saying its name (for example, by saying “Save”).

To open a menu:

1 Open a program window (for example, the Dragon NaturallySpeaking

window) and make it active.

2 Say “Click” and then the name of the menu you want to open (for

example, say “Click File”).

In this example, the File menu should open. If the command doesn’t work (for example, if the word “click” is typed into your document), you may have paused in the middle of the command.

3 Say the name of a menu item to activate it (for example, say “Save”).

If the menu item you want to select has a special character in its name, such as a slash (/), you must say it.

TIP

To open the Start menu, say “Click Start.”

To close a menu:

Say “Cancel” or press the

ESC

key.

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Selecting buttons, tabs, and options

When Dragon NaturallySpeaking is running, you can select any button, check box, text box, or other dialog box option you see by saying and then its name.

“Click”

For example, to select a check box labeled “Toolbar,” say

Toolbar.”

Say “Click Wrap to Window”

You can select tabs by saying dialog box pictured, you could say tab. You can also move between tabs by saying

to Previous Tab.”

NOTE

their names. If this happens, you can try selecting the items by saying “Tab Key.”

To clear the check box (unselect it), say its name again.

and then the name of the tab. In the

“Click”

“Click Options”

In some programs, you may not be able to select dialog box items by saying

Selecting icons on the desktop

“Click

Say “Click Toolbar”

to select the Options

“Go to Next Tab”

and

“Go

You can use voice commands to select icons on the Windows desktop.

To select an icon on the desktop:

1 Switch to the Windows desktop.

2 Say

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“Mouse Click”

My Computer).

to make one of the desktop icons active (for example,

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Say “Move Down 2” to select Recycle Bin

Controlling Your Computer by Voice

3 Say “Move” and then the direction (up, down, left, right) and number of

icons (up to 20).

For example, say “Move Right 1,” “Move Down 2,” or “Move Up 3.”

Say “Move Right 1” to select My Briefcase

After you select an icon, you can click it by voice. Just say “Mouse Click,” “Mouse Double-Click,” “Mouse Left-Click,” or “Mouse Right-Click.”

You can also use voice commands to drag the selected object. See “Marking and dragging objects” on page 110.

Resizing and closing windows

To resize and close windows, say “Click” and then a window command, such as “Maximize.” (The commands you can say appear on the window’s Control menu, but you don’t need to open this menu to say them.)

To maximize a window:

1 Make the window you want to resize active.

2 Say “Click Maximize.”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Nuance DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

About This Guide

Introducing Dragon NaturallySpeaking

What should I expect from Dragon NaturallySpeaking?

Do I still need my mouse and keyboard?

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Successfully

How Dragon NaturallySpeaking works

Seven habits for success with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Positioning your microphone correctly

Speaking properly to the computer

Correcting recognition mistakes

Adding words to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary

Running Vocabulary Builder

Training Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize problem words

Running General Training again

Creating specialized vocabularies

More About Dictating

Preventing vocal strain

Dictating names of people, places, and events

Dictating abbreviations and acronyms

Dictating hyphenated words

Dictating compound words

Dictating special characters

Dictating foreign words

Dictating numbers

Creating dictation shorthands

Editing a Document by Voice

Moving around in a document

Selecting text

Capitalizing text

Formatting text

Deleting text

Using text-to-speech

Controlling Your Computer by Voice

Starting programs

Opening documents and folders

Switching between open windows

Copying text to other programs

Opening and closing menus

Selecting buttons, tabs, and options

Selecting icons on the desktop

Resizing and closing windows