Nuance ScanSoft Dragon NaturallySpeaking - 11.5 End-User Workbook

Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Version 11.5

End-User Workbook

Please see the card that comes in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking box. It includes important notes about installing Dragon, as well as reference tables for punctuation and other special characters, numeric data, and commands.

End-User Workbook revision 3, April 2012

for Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 11.5

Most of the material in this workbook applies to all editions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5. Unless indicated otherwise, the screenshots are from the Professional Edition. For details about the different editions, please see the feature matrix on the Nuance website.

We welcome comments or questions about this workbook and all aspects of the Help system (including User Guide, DragonBar’s Help menu, Tutorial, Tip of the Day, Sidebar, Accuracy Center and Performance Assistant). Please use the Dragon feedback form online (www.nuance.com/dragon/feature-request).

This workbook reflects the information available at the time of publishing.

The Knowledge Base at nuance.com contains the latest information written by Technical Support for the current and previous versions of the software.

The Support area of the website also includes printable documentation and listings of microphones, recorders, and other hardware tested by Nuance for use with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

The Nuance website offers many other resources including tips, videos, Frequently Asked Questions, Customer Service information, and a feature

matrix of Dragon’s editions.

The website also lists Value-Added Resellers who provide training and customization services (in person or remotely). These Nuance partners can address your environment, equipment, goals and needs. This is particularly efficient for very busy people, for people new to computers, for children, and in case of issues with hearing, vision, mobility and dyslexia.

No part of this document 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 Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance, the Nuance logos, the Dragon logos, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, NaturallySpeaking, DragonBar and Select-and-Say are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names and product names referenced herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Part number: 50-K61A-15040 ******

iii

Goals and Prerequisites

Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you speak naturally to perform actions such as creating or editing documents, using e-mail, searching your computer, finding maps, news, images, and more. By reducing keyboard and mouse usage, you can gain productivity AND avoid physical strain (on wrists, shoulders, neck, eyes…)

This workbook aims to efficiently present what an end-user should know — not every aspect of Dragon (the resources in Dragon’s Help menu and on www.nuance.com contain many details). This includes how to:

“Type by voice” naturally and efficiently, which includes:

Dictating anything: prices, dates, URLs, punctuation, part numbers, acronyms, Roman numerals, etc.

Personalizing the Vocabulary with custom words and phrases, pronunciations, capitalization properties and more, so that Dragon can transcribe exactly what you want even if what you said could be written in different ways.

Correcting Dragon’s errors so that it can learn from them.

Formatting, editing, and revising text (whether or not the text was created by voice).

Creating custom commands to insert boilerplate text and/or graphics (in editions Premium and higher).

“Command and control” your personal computer by voice, which includes:

Saying commands to use the Internet and e-mail, search your computer, open programs, click menus and buttons, close or minimize windows, switch between windows, etc.

“Voice-pressing” a key (or key combination) on your keyboard.

Efficiency and Hands-Free Usage

We strongly recommend going through this workbook in order. (But if you used Dragon in the past, you may wish to read the What’s New section first.)

When a lesson directs you to click an item (button, menu…), feel free to instead use your voice, or keyboard shortcuts (underlined letters, Tab, spacebar…).

If hands-free usage is important to you, start by reading the lesson Controlling the Operating System and Applications and see the Help about Dragon’s MouseGrid and commands for moving, clicking, and dragging the mouse.

IMPORTANT: Starting the Microphone Check or the Tutorial automatically turns off Dragon’s

microphone, which means a manual action is then needed to resume using Dragon. If this is a concern for you,

we recommend having someone present when you create a profile or use the Tutorial.

To perform the exercises in this workbook, you should have basic familiarity with:

 Using Microsoft® Windows® to start or exit applications, open or save files, maximize windows, close

dialog boxes, copy or move items, browse to folders, cut and paste, etc.

 Simple word-processing concepts such as bullets, font size and font style, bolding and italicizing, right-

aligning and centering.

Table of Contents

Goals and Prerequisites ......................................................................................................................................................... iii

Efficiency and Hands-Free Usage ........................................................................................................................... iii

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................................................... iv

Creating a User Profile ............................................................................................................................................................. 1

Connecting and positioning your microphone ........................................................................................................ 2

Creating your Profile .................................................................................................................................................. 3

About audio sources, including smartphones and recorders ............................................................................... 5

A first opportunity to adapt your profile’s vocabulary ........................................................................................ 8

Scheduling Dragon's periodic tasks .......................................................................................................................... 8

Before your profile opens — caution with desktop icons ..................................................................................... 9

Important options: Natural Language Commands and Speed vs. Accuracy .................................................... 10

Learning More and Getting Help................................................................ ................................................................ ........... 12

The Dragon User's Guide .......................................................................................................................................... 15

The Tutorial ............................................................................................................................................................... 15

The Accuracy Center and Accuracy Assistant ................................................................................................ ...... 12

The Help and the Performance Assistant ............................................................................................................. 12

The Dragon Sidebar: “What Can I Say” ................................................................................................................. 13

Why Personalizing the Vocabulary is Important ................................................................................................................ 17

Customizing the Vocabulary—Using the Vocabulary Editor ............................................................................................. 18

Adding Vocabulary Entries: Words, Phrases, Acronyms… .................................................................................. 18

The importance of Spoken Forms .......................................................................................................................... 19

Deleting “Words” and Modifying Word Properties .............................................................................................. 22

Importing Lists of Vocabulary Entries .................................................................................................................................. 25

Customizing the Vocabulary from Existing Documents .................................................................................................... 27

Customizing the Vocabulary from Your E-Mail ................................................................................................................... 30

Starting to Dictate: Controlling the Microphone ............................................................................................................... 32

The DragonBar and the Microphone Icon ................................................................................................ .............. 32

The Microphone’s Commands and Sleep State .................................................................................................... 34

The Importance of Hot Keys, including Microphone On/Off ............................................................................. 35

Starting to Dictate: Your First Dictation ............................................................................................................................. 36

Dictating Text and Punctuation Marks .................................................................................................................. 36

New Line and New Paragraph ................................................................................................................................. 36

The Results Display and its Options ....................................................................................................................... 37

Dictating Special Text: Numbers, Dates, Addresses, Units… ........................................................................................... 40

Automatic Text Formatting During Normal Dictation ......................................................................................... 40

Numbers Mode -- Dictating Numbers Exclusively ................................ ................................ ................................ 41

Spell Mode -- Dictating Letters, Digits, and Other Characters ......................................................................... 42

The Spell Command -- Dictating characters within Normal Mode .................................................................... 42

Correcting Dragon’s Errors in Your Dictated Text ............................................................................................................. 44

Handling multiple matches in your text ............................................................................................................... 44

The Correction Menu: the default interface ........................................................................................................ 45

Correcting in the Spelling Window ........................................................................................................................ 45

Using Playback to Aid Correction ........................................................................................................................... 47

Deferred Correction (editions Professional and above) ................................................................................................... 50

Saving the Recorded Dictation (.DRA file) ........................................................................................................... 50

Making Corrections to Someone Else's Dictation ................................................................................................. 51

Editing Text by Voice ............................................................................................................................................................. 53

Navigation and Selection Commands .................................................................................................................... 53

Handling multiple matches in text ........................................................................................................................ 54

Full Text Control, “unknown” text fields and the Dictation Box ..................................................................... 55

Replacing and Inserting Words ............................................................................................................................... 57

Formatting Text by Voice ...................................................................................................................................................... 59

The "X that" Convention .......................................................................................................................................... 59

The "Format That" Commands ................................................................................................................................ 60

Controlling the Operating System and Applications ......................................................................................................... 62

Keyword-Searching the Computer ......................................................................................................................... 62

Opening and Closing Programs and Windows ....................................................................................................... 63

Resizing Windows and Switching Between Them ................................................................ ................................ 63

“Clicking” Menus and Controls ............................................................................................................................... 64

“Natural Language Commands” and the Command Browser ............................................................................ 66

“Voice-Pressing” Keys .............................................................................................................................................. 67

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking with the Internet ........................................................................................................... 69

The Web Search Shortcuts ...................................................................................................................................... 69

The Shortcut Commands for Social Media ............................................................................................................ 70

Navigating to and within a Web page ................................................................................................................... 70

Accessing a specific item on a Web page ............................................................................................................. 71

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking for E-mail ........................................................................................................................ 73

Voice Shortcut Commands....................................................................................................................................... 73

Commands for within the email program ............................................................................................................. 74

Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Microsoft Word .................................................................................................................. 77

Special note for Windows XP: turning off CTFMON ............................................................................................. 77

“Voice Notations” in Microsoft Word documents ................................................................................................ 77

Commands specific to Microsoft Word .................................................................................................................. 77

Microsoft Word 2007 and the Ribbon .................................................................................................................... 78

Dragon 11 and Microsoft Word 2010 ...................................................................................................................... 80

Dictating and editing in Microsoft Excel ............................................................................................................................. 81

Boosting Productivity with Custom Commands .................................................................................................................. 84

Creating Boilerplate Commands (“Text-and-Graphics” Type) .......................................................................... 84

“Cloning” Commands and Adding Name Editor Variables.................................................................................. 86

“DragonTemplates”: Boilerplate Commands with [Fields] ................................................................................ 86

Managing Custom Commands .................................................................................................................................. 87

Finding commands via the Command Browser’s Keyword Filter ...................................................................... 88

Performing Audio Checks and Acoustic Training ............................................................................................................... 90

The Microphone Check ................................................................ ................................................................ ............. 90

Training Individual Words ........................................................................................................................................ 90

Reading Text to Train Dragon ................................................................................................................................. 91

Using Multiple Vocabularies (editions Professional and up) ............................................................................................ 93

Opening a Particular Vocabulary (and Audio Source) ......................................................................................... 94

Acoustic and Language Model Optimization ....................................................................................................................... 96

Launching the Acoustic and/or Language Model Optimization ................................................................ ......... 96

Scheduling the Optimizations and Data Collection ............................................................................................. 97

Copying or Transferring a User Profile .............................................................................................................................. 100

Practice Exercise: Creating a Memo by Voice .................................................................................................................. 101

What’s New in Version 11.5? ............................................................................................................................................... 102

What’s New in Version 11.0? ............................................................................................................................................... 103

Index ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 107

About upgrading:

Dragon 11 can upgrade profiles from Version 9 or 10. Its Upgrade Wizard can automatically detect such existing profiles. (It is available any time from the Windows Start menu, under Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools.)

The Upgrade Wizard will list all available profiles. Use its Remove button as needed so that only the desired one(s) appear, then click Next.

IMPORTANT: After the upgrade completes, run Accuracy

Tuning to ensure that your profile can benefit from all your

previous acoustic data. (See Help for details).

Getting Started and Creating a User Profile

This workbook assumes that Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 is now installed on your computer. Note:

 If you want to test your microphone independently of Dragon, you can use Sound Recorder, a Windows

accessory accessible from the Start menu. You may also wish to check the Sound section under Control

Panel.

 If you use a microphone that connects through a USB port on your computer, we suggest you plug it in

before starting Dragon. (This applies also to the USB dongle required to use a Bluetooth wireless

microphone.)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is speaker-dependent software. It relies on information specific to you, including

what words and phrases you use often, how you sound, what audio device you use, and what software settings you have. It stores this data in a set of files, referred to collectively as your “user profile,” or

“profile” for short.

Your profile is very important. The more personalized it is, the better your experience will be. To have the best possible start, it’s worth creating your profile carefully (or upgrading it from a previous version of Dragon), as described in this lesson. As you will see later, there are many ways for your profile to be refined over time.

The profile creation process includes indicating your microphone’s type and verifying your sound system, as well as an optional step where you read aloud for a few minutes so that Dragon can start adapting its acoustic model to the unique way you sound.

To help you get started optimally, please note:

 For editions Premium and higher: If you already have a Dragon 11 profile and just want to use another

type of audio input device, add a source to your profile instead of creating a separate profile. (Open

the DragonBar’s Profile menu and choose “Add source to current User Profile.” Details below.)

 Consistency matters! For best results, create your profile in your “normal” environment, with the same

background noise and equipment as you will usually have when you use Dragon.

 If you want to test your microphone independently of Dragon, you can use Sound Recorder, a Windows

accessory accessible from the Start menu (usually at the bottom left of your computer screen).

 You may also wish to check the audio settings at the level of

Windows: see the “Recording devices” section of the Control Panel. This is accessible by right-clicking the loudspeaker icon on the System Tray.

Note: In the example illustrated here, both a USB and a Bluetooth (Plantronics BT300) are available, and so is the laptop’s built-in array microphone – but use of built-in microphones with Dragon is not recommended because their quality varies.

Connecting and positioning your microphone

If you physically connect to the computer, be sure to push all the way into the jack or port.

If using a headset, adjust it so that it feels stable and comfortable on your head (it should not press your temple or your glasses). The microphone’s listening side must face the side of your mouth (not the front). It must not touch facial hair or catch breathing sounds. (On standard headsets, bend the “boom” if needed.)

You might experiment a bit to find what works best for you. Then, whenever you use Dragon, aim for consistency in your microphone position.

IMPORTANT:

 Noise-canceling microphones only listen on one side. The listening side is

often marked by a dot or the word TALK, which may not be visible unless you lift the foam cover slightly. Check that this side is parallel to your face, not

tilted.

 If your microphone model has a mute switch, make sure it is in the ON

position!

 If you want to bypass your computer’s sound system, you can use a USB

microphone, or plug your regular microphone into a USB adapter.

 For Bluetooth wireless headsets, see the Help and the manufacturer’s documentation. Be sure to

familiarize yourself with how to charge your Bluetooth microphone, turn it on, and ensured it is paired

to its USB dongle. And remember to plug the dongle into the PC before you start Dragon.

 Some computers, after you connect a microphone, automatically

bring up a small window associated with this “audio system event”. (The window may be hidden behind other windows.) Before closing this window, verify that what is highlighted on it is the Microphone item (and not the Line In item).

 Some computers offer several places to plug in your microphone,

for instance, on the back and on the front. If you get poor results with one, consider the other(s).

Creating your Profile

Before you start Dragon, connect your microphone (see above) and, if you wish, test it by making a sample recording in Windows Sound Recorder.

Step 1: Launch Dragon (you can double-click its desktop icon or pick it from the Windows Start menu). If

Dragon has never been used before on this computer, the Profile Creation Wizard will then open

automatically. Otherwise, choose New User Profile in the DragonBar’s Profile menu, then click New.

Step 2: Answer the questions presented by the wizard’s screens. This includes giving your profile a name. (No

need to overthink this. You may want the name to reflect the date of creation, for instance MJones-

Oct2011). Answering the age question is optional but we recommend it since it may help obtain higher

accuracy. Dragon 11 contains an acoustic model for “young voices” (pre-puberty, typically up to the

age of 13).

The wizard will ask you to specify the “region” where you live. Dragon will use that information to

choose your profile’s underlying Auto-Formatting and vocabulary. This will affect, for instance,

whether Dragon uses the spelling “colour” instead of “color”, as well as how it writes currencies or

units such as lbs, $, USD, AUD (ISO currency codes). Note that, once your profile is created, you will be

free to customize it, including modifying Auto-Formatting Options and Word Properties, as described

further in this workbook and in the Help. For example, Canadian users may wish to give the word

“color” the alternate written form “colour”. (Dragon has no special Vocabulary for Canada. Picking

“Canada” here results in the same spellings as picking “United States.”)

The next screen gives you an opportunity to choose from a number of broad accents. If unsure which accent to pick, see the Help. Note: Dragon will later adapt to the sound of your voice, as you dictate more and more and run the Accuracy Tuning process.

Step 3: On the next screen, indicate which type of Audio Source you are about to use. (Note: The lower

editions of Dragon do not support all the source types, and do not support having multiple sources in

one profile.)

The default source type is a microphone plugged into the Mic-In jack. If you use a USB adapter on a

standard headset, be sure to pick USB in the list.

(Information on audio hardware, including USB adapters, is available on the Nuance website.)

About audio sources, including smartphones and recorders

The Help and the Nuance website contain details on using special audio sources such as a Bluetooth wireless microphone or a smartphone used as a wireless microphone over Wi-Fi. (Note: wireless use is a feature of editions Premium and higher).

The Hardware Compatibility List on the Nuance website contains specifics from Nuance’s testing, such as the recommended settings by model.

Digital recorders can be particularly useful to capture notes you dictate after a meeting, class, or field

inspection. Please see our website for illustrations and details, including Nuance’s Dragon Recorder

application for smartphones and related devices.

TIP: If your recording was very “rough”, or if it contained voices other than yours, consider the

practice of “echoing” or “re-speaking”: while listening to the recording and pausing it as needed, you

dictate to Dragon what you hear. (Among other advantages, this gives you the opportunity to improve

upon the original words, or add to them, including adding punctuation that had not been spoken).

Remember: Dragon works with one voice at a time, so it cannot transcribe interviews or meetings

directly.

Before recording files for Dragon to transcribe, note:

 We recommend first using Dragon for real-time transcription because this gives you a chance

to practice dictating (and punctuating!) your thoughts. You get feedback on how clearly you are dictating from what you see Dragon transcribe as you dictate. It also gives you the opportunity to refine your profile, for instance by noticing jargon or phrases you should add to the vocabulary. (In addition, be sure to designate to Dragon representative text documents so it can learn what words and phrases you often use.) As explained further in this workbook, vocabulary personalization prevents many recognition errors!

 Learn your recorder’s essential operations (starting and stopping recordings, for instance) and

verify that the recorder is set to the correct time and date as well as optimal settings for speech recognition (see details on individual models tested by Nuance at

http://support.nuance.com/compatibility).

Step 4: Next, Dragon checks your audio system and

adjusts its volume setting. Click “Start Volume Check” (at bottom left) and read the boxed text in a clear but natural voice. Punctuation is not required here, but feel free to say it to get into the habit.

When Dragon lets you know it has heard enough, click Next. The next screen is similar; click its start button and read aloud.

TIP: If you cannot read the text in the gray box, feel free to speak some sentences of your choice until you hear a beep.

 Some digital recording devices come with special software to manage recordings (including

transferring them to a computer and converting their format if necessary). Check your device’s documentation and take the steps required to set up your device, including installing the software it may require.

IMPORTANT: In editions Premium and higher, if you already have a Dragon profile and want to use

another type of audio input device, add a source to your profile instead of creating a separate profile:

open the DragonBar’s Profile menu and choose “Add source to current User Profile.” (This opens the

New Dictation Source dialog box.)

Having multiple sources within a profile enables the same Vocabulary to be used — and refined — each

time you use Dragon, no matter which audio input device you use. As you will learn, personalizing the

Vocabulary is one of the keys to getting Dragon’s full benefits!

To switch between sources once you start using Dragon, use Open User Profile or Open Recent User

Profile in the DragonBar’s Profile menu.

Dragon then verifies that your sound system is acceptable for speech recognition. (For details, see Help and, if needed, the Technotes at support.nuance.com.)

Please note:

 If you chose as source the Dragon Remote Mic Application, Dragon 11.5’s wizard will present a

screen to help ensure that your Wi-Fi-enabled device “finds” your computer. Also, instead of the volume and audio quality screens, it will present a short sentence to read aloud for calibration.

 Some computers offer several places for you to plug in your microphone, for instance, on the back

and on the front. If you get poor results with one, consider the other(s). If you use a docking station, you may get better results if you connect the microphone to the port on your laptop itself, not on the station. Once you’ve identified which port works best, aim to always use that port for your microphone. (You may wish to mark it with a small piece of tape.)

Take your time. Try to read naturally but precisely what is on the screen. If Dragon needs to hear you re-read something, a yellow arrow will show you where to resume.

The Redo button lets you move the arrow back, which you may want to do if you realize you just misread something.

If for any reason you have trouble with a particular word, use the Skip button.

If you need to take a break, cough or sneeze, click the Pause button. That button will then be labeled Go; click it when ready to resume.

Step 5: If you did not choose to skip the initial training reading, Dragon then presents a short prompt; click Go,

then read it aloud. When the “Select Text” box appears, choose one of the texts and click OK. (If later

you wish to read another text to further train Dragon, you can do so from the DragonBar’s Audio menu,

or from the Accuracy Center.)

The following describes the default “General Training” process, which presents the text one prompt at a time. (The Help contains details on the “without prompting” alternative, which presents the text as one whole document for you to read at your own pace, from the screen or from a printed page; this can be more convenient for those who have a strong accent, speech impediment, or some difficulty with reading from the screen.)

Click the Go button (at bottom left) and read each prompt exactly as it is displayed. (Once you finish reading a prompt, Dragon will automatically present the next one.) The words will turn gray once Dragon has “heard” them, but there is no need to wait for this to happen: just speak at your normal pace, clearly and naturally.

TIP: During acoustic training, Dragon learns how you sound when you dictate, therefore you should aim to use

the same tone, pace and volume you are likely to use day-to-day. This will help Dragon recognize your future dictations most accurately. Saying punctuation isn’t required during this reading, but it’s a good idea to say at least the periods, to get into the habit. (Later, you will learn to dictate all punctuation marks and symbols.)

Note: If the thin colored bar under the prompt turns red, the volume is too high. Verify your microphone’s

position.

Once Dragon has heard enough, it takes a moment to process the acoustic information you just provided. Profile creation is now almost complete!

A first opportunity to adapt your profile’s vocabulary

Dragon will then offer to start adapting its Vocabulary. This step is just a basic initial customization which analyzes texts in your My Documents folder as well as e-mails sent from your installed email program, if any. (Later, you will be able to designate specific documents for analysis. You do NOT need to copy documents

into your My Documents folder in order to have Dragon analyze them!)

Feel free to skip this basic step. We recommend that, as soon as possible after your profile is created, you take advantage of the powerful customization tools described in the following lessons. (For example, you can have Dragon learn from specific documents located in various folders, and you can import lists of words with spoken forms as warranted. Remember that, to obtain high accuracy, it’s important to give Dragon a chance to analyze documents containing your words “in context” as opposed to just adding words and phrases to the vocabulary.)

IMPORTANT: If some of your documents and sent emails are in a different language or in a radically

different style, skip this automatic step and, once your profile is created, have Dragon learn from specific

documents.

Scheduling Dragon's periodic tasks

The next screen will give you the opportunity to schedule Dragon’s Accuracy Tuning, a process which, after you start using Dragon, can refine your profile automatically based on what you have already dictated. You will be free to launch this process manually at any time, from the DragonBar. (Some customers do this shortly after they turn on their computer, or right before they take a break from their computer to go to a meeting, to make a call, to have food…)

IMPORTANT: For Dragon’s scheduled tasks to run automatically, you must choose a time when your

computer will be on (not asleep, not hibernating) but Dragon is not running (this includes Dragon being in

QuickStart—see the Help for more information).

To schedule Accuracy Tuning, click the Change Schedule button. Dragon then presents the dialog box Select Time and Frequency. Be sure to also click this dialog’s Language Model tab, so you can pick a suitable time for the Language Model Optimization. (Note: Language Model Optimization is typically much faster than Acoustic Optimization. We recommend running it daily.)

Before your profile opens — caution with desktop icons

The last screen of the Profile Creation Wizard contains a link to the Help article about changes between this and previous versions (condensed in the What’s New section of this workbook).

IMPORTANT: By default, the Dragon Sidebar (a thin resizable window that presents commands and tips)

is set to open automatically, docked to the right, when a user profile opens. If you typically keep desktop items on the right side of your screen, the Sidebar may move them, like other Windows sidebars would. For this reason, you may wish to rearrange your desktop items before the Sidebar opens, or set your desktop to Autoarrange. (See the Sidebar’s Help. Its right-click menu includes Floating and Auto-Hide.) The automatic opening of the Sidebar can be disabled from the Miscellaneous tab of Dragon’s Options dialog (screenshot below).

Now that your profile is created, we encourage you to explore Dragon’s options so you can choose the settings that suit your needs and preferences, including setting Dragon’s hotkeys to keys other than the numeric keypad. As you progress through this workbook’s lessons, you will be introduced to the options that most users should consider, in order to use Dragon as conveniently and efficiently as possible. Below are two of them: the

Natural Language Commands built in for specific applications (depending on the edition), and the Speedversus-Accuracy slider.

Important options: Natural Language Commands and Speed vs. Accuracy

After you create your profile, the program may present you with a special message if it determined that your computer’s characteristics wouldn’t allow optimal performance. This message informs you that Dragon has adjusted the defaults for two of its options as follows:

 The Speed versus Accuracy slider was moved toward speed.  The Natural Language Commands for Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Corel WordPerfect

were disabled. (The lesson “Controlling your Desktop and Applications” addresses these large sets of

flexible commands. Note: not all editions and languages of Dragon contain these commands.)

Later, you can easily reverse these changes through Dragon’s Options dialog, depending on your particular needs: you can enable or disable the Natural Language Commands for any of these four applications individually, and you can experiment with various settings of the Speed-versus-Accuracy slider (seen in the picture below).

The Help provides more details, and its Performance Assistant offers many suggestions for optimizing Dragon’s speed on your computer.

Now that your user profile is created, you could start dictating. Before you do, however, we strongly recommend that you take a look at the Tutorial and, if you have used a previous version of Dragon, the

What’s New.

Also, it’s a good idea to begin personalizing the Vocabulary as soon as possible, since this plays a crucial role

in accuracy and efficiency—this workbook will cover its most important aspects.

Key points about getting started with Dragon 11.5

 Each person who wants to dictate with Dragon needs to have his or her own User profile. Creating one

is a short process guided by a series of screens. Profiles from versions 11, 10 and 9 can be upgraded to

version 11.5 thanks to the Upgrade Wizard. (After upgrading such a profile, we recommend running

Accuracy Tuning),

 Make sure your microphone is properly connected and positioned, and the appropriate audio source is

selected. See our website for details on special sources like recorders and wireless microphones, as

well as the use of smartphone apps with Dragon.

 In the higher editions, you can add a dictation source to an existing profile (for instance, if after

using Dragon with your USB microphone you wish to also dictate using your iPhone as a wireless

microphone, or to have Dragon transcribe what you dictated into a digital recorder). Whatever source

is used, you will access the same vocabulary customizations (special words and phrases,

pronunciations, etc.) Starting out with a microphone source as opposed to a recorder source is

recommended.

 When reading a training text, speak clearly but naturally using the same volume, pitch and pace you

are likely to use day-to-day. Try to read what is prompted as if you were dictating your own words to

the computer. Use the Redo and Skip buttons as needed, as use the Pause button if you need to clear

your throat or speak to someone. (When its microphone is on, Dragon listens to every sound coming

from the microphone’s listening side!)

 During profile creation, Dragon offers to perform a basic adaptation of your profile’s vocabulary based

on text it finds in your Documents folder as well as on sent e-mails. Feel free to skip that step but be

sure to use Dragon’s powerful tools as soon as possible after profile creation finishes.

 Dragon's scheduled tasks are designed to help improve accuracy over time. Be sure to schedule them

for a time when your computer will be on but Dragon will not be running (this includes Dragon’s

QuickStart). Please see the Help for more information.

 By default, the Sidebar opens automatically, docked to the right, when a user profile opens. If you

typically keep desktop items on the right side of your screen, the Sidebar may move them. For this

reason, you may wish to rearrange your desktop items before the Sidebar opens, or set your desktop to

Auto-arrange. (See the Sidebar’s Help. Its right-click menu includes Floating.)

Learning More and Getting Help

Dragon NaturallySpeaking offers so many tools, commands, and features that it would be impossible to cover them all in detail in this workbook. This lesson presents several ways to find more information as you start using the software—be sure to take advantage of the available resources!

Note that we welcome comments about this user workbook and all aspects of Dragon’s documentation and user interface (User Guide, Tutorial, Tip of the Day, Help menu, Performance Assistant, Sidebar...). Please use the

Feedback/Feature Request form at www.nuance.com/dragon/feature-request.

IMPORTANT: By default, the Dragon Sidebar is set to open automatically, docked to the right, when your

user profile opens. If you typically keep many desktop items on the right side of your screen, know that the Sidebar may move them (like other Windows sidebars would). Before the Sidebar opens, you may wish to rearrange your desktop items, or set your desktop to Auto-arrange.

The Accuracy Center and Accuracy Assistant

The most important features and tools of Dragon are accessible directly from the DragonBar's menus. The Accuracy Center offers a central location to access many of them and get guidance on which one to use when.

Step 1: Say Open Accuracy Center. You can also click the DragonBar’s Help menu (or say Switch to DragonBar then Click Help) then Improve my Accuracy.

Step 2: Click the link that interests you. You can also say its name immediately preceded by the word "click”. ("Require 'click' for HTML" is an option enabled by default in new Dragon 11 profiles. Enabling it helps prevent unintended recognitions. See the Commands tab of the Options dialog.)

TIP You can activate links without saying their whole name: for instance, instead of “click add a list of

words to your vocabulary”, you could say just “click add a list”.

The link “Which tool to use first?” opens the Accuracy Assistant, which presents a set of questions to help

determine what you can do to increase accuracy in a given situation.

The Help and the Performance Assistant

The DragonBar’s Help menu gives you access to the on-screen Help topics (articles) and the Performance Assistant (a collection of suggestions for what you can do to increase Dragon’s speed).

You can also open the Help at any time by saying commands such as give me help.

You can use the Help window’s Table of Contents, Index, and Search tabs. For instance, entering the word

“punctuation” in the Search field brings up topics including “Dictating punctuation and symbols” and “Selecting characters and words.” Note: like in search engines, you can indicate phrases by putting quotation marks

around them.

From the Help window, you can also print articles of your choice or mark them as favorites.

TIP: To launch a Help search at any time, you can use the shortcut command “search Dragon Help for…”

naming the word(s) you wish to search for in the Help. For instance, you could say “search Dragon Help for Firefox”. Note that the search keywords you name in this command will be considered individually unless you put them in quotes: for instance, “Search Dragon Help for open-quote Dictation box close-quote.”

Dragon also provides contextual help: from its dialog boxes, the Help button or links take you directly to the relevant article in the Help.

The Dragon Sidebar: “What Can I Say”

At any time, you can ask Dragon to display its Sidebar, a resizable vertical window meant to help users discover and remember important tips and commands. (In version 11.5, it can be made very thin.)

If a major application such as Microsoft Word is active, the Sidebar’s first tab will show commands for that application. Otherwise, it will show a list of commands that are not specific to one application.

The Sidebar also contains a hideable tab for mouse commands (dragging, clicking, etc.), as well as a tab for custom-created commands (a feature of the higher editions). In addition, in its top right corner are icons to open important resources: the Command Browser, Vocabulary Editor, Options dialog, and Help.

CAUTION: By default, the Dragon Sidebar is set to open automatically when your user profile opens, and is

docked to the right. If you typically keep many desktop items on the right side of your screen, the Sidebar may move them, as other Windows sidebars would. You may wish to rearrange those desktop items before the Sidebar opens, or set your desktop to Auto-arrange.

The illustrations in this chapter show the Sidebar in various widths, its right-click menu (including the monitor switch for those who have two monitors) and its Mouse tab alongside one of its linked Help articles.

Step 1: Open the Dragon Sidebar. Voice commands for this include open Dragon Sidebar, show Dragon

Sidebar, and what can I say. You can also use the DragonBar’s Help menu.

Step 2: Explore the Sidebar and adjust it to suit your preferences. You can make it very thin (doing so may hide

some of its content, such as the top-right icons). If you don’t need to use mouse commands, we suggest

hiding its Mouse tab.

Note: One way to access details about the Sidebar is to use its question mark icon (in the top right

corner). You can also say a search-keyword command such as search Dragon Help for Sidebar

commands.

Step 3: Practice activating the Sidebar’s links and tabs by hand or by voice. To access the tabs by voice, you

can say Dragon Sidebar Home, Dragon Sidebar Global, and Dragon Sidebar MyCommands.

TIP To see commands beyond those presented in the Sidebar, you can access the Help: use the command

“search Dragon Help for…” or the speakable links in the Sidebar itself. You can also use the Command

Browser, accessible from its icon on the Sidebar and with commands such as open Command Browser. Below is

a Command Browser screenshot showing commands for the Sidebar.

Step 4: Right-click the Dragon Sidebar. This opens its menu. Note what is available there, including hiding the

Mouse tab, hiding the Tips pane, setting the Sidebar to be Floating rather than Docked, activating

Auto-Hide, and printing the content.

TIP When a Sidebar pane has the focus, a thick blue line surrounds it.

The illustration below shows the Mouse tab and one of the Help articles related to mouse usage.

The Tutorial

The Tutorial is available from the DragonBar’s Help menu. You can go through it from start to finish, using the Next link, or you can jump directly to the sections that interest you most.

Note: When the Tutorial opens, Dragon automatically turns off its microphone.

The Dragon User's Guide

The latest User's Guide is available as a PDF on the Nuance website alongside other resources. (When viewing the PDF file, you can click chapter headings to jump to specific topics, and you can print out sections as well as the entire file.)

Key points about learning more and getting help

 This workbook is meant to get you started efficiently and cover essential concepts and tips. Other

resources include the Help, the Sidebar, the Accuracy Center and its Accuracy Assistant, the

Performance Assistant, as well as the Nuance website, which includes tips, FAQs, video demonstrations

and the Knowledge Base of “TechNotes” (questions and answers written by Technical Support).

 You can open the Help at any time with generic commands (give me help…) or “shortcut” commands

that include the word(s) to search for, such as search Dragon Help for Roman numerals.

 The Sidebar is a thin, adjustable vertical window which displays many commands and tips. You can

open it by voice commands or through the Help menu. You may use mouse or voice to access its panes,

tabs, links and icon buttons. Its right-click menu gives access to options to change the Sidebar’s

behavior and appearance (including making it Floating rather than docked, hiding the tips, hiding the

Mouse tab, and auto-hide) as well as print its content. To see all its commands, use the Command

Browser.

Beyond these resources, consulting an experienced Dragon trainer for specific guidance and customizations can be particularly efficient for users who have special environments, workflows, equipment, or challenges (for instance, challenges related to motion, vision, or speech fluency.)

Now that you know how to access many resources, let’s learn the most important aspects of using Dragon, starting with an often-overlooked but crucial one: personalizing your profile’s Vocabulary.

Why Personalizing the Vocabulary is Important

Transcribing a person’s speech presents acoustic challenges, such as accent and ambient noise. There is also a lexical challenge: for the transcription to be precisely accurate, familiarity with the terms used is necessary. For instance, even an experienced medical secretary would have trouble transcribing for an attorney’s office! And a newly-hired transcriptionist would have to not only get used to the voices of the various dictators, but also to learn what spellings and formatting they want, including acronyms, abbreviations, special phrases, names of people, places, products, etc.

An unusual name may seem commonplace to you because you use it frequently, but a person who hears it for the first time may not be able to spell it: that name is not yet a part of this person’s vocabulary. Similarly, if a word or phrase is not in Dragon’s active vocabulary, the software cannot transcribe it correctly without a little instruction.

When you created your User profile, you provided information which Dragon incorporated into its acoustic model. To get optimal accuracy, you should also help the software adapt its language model and Vocabulary. Lexical customization ensures that what you dictate is transcribed with the desired spelling, spacing, and even capitalization; Dragon provides many powerful tools for it, so this important investment need not take much time. The Help contains much information about personalizing the Vocabulary—including how you can even benefit from the customizations done by others.

Key points about Vocabulary customization

 As soon as you have created a User profile, you can start dictating, but note that taking a moment to

start customizing the Vocabulary for you is a good investment to make right away, since it helps Dragon

“get it right the first time” (including spelling, capitalization, and spacing) and it needn’t take much of

your time. Personalizing the Vocabulary early and often is strongly recommended. The following

pages will show you how.

 Dragon offers many simple and powerful Vocabulary tools to allow you to make your dictations faster

and more convenient.

Customizing the Vocabulary—Using the Vocabulary Editor

Dragon’s Vocabulary Editor lets you view what can be transcribed from the computer’s active memory; it also allows you to add new entries, as well as edit existing entries—including their Spoken Forms and Properties.

Let’s take a look inside the Vocabulary and discover the Vocabulary Editor’s interface:

Step 1: Say Edit Vocabulary (you can also use the DragonBar’s Vocabulary menu or the Accuracy Center). The

Vocabulary Editor opens; its scrollable window lists the entries currently in Dragon’s active Vocabulary.

Take a moment to scroll through the list. You will see names of people, places, institutions and

products, as well as common words, phrases, and abbreviations. Most entries only have a Written Form

(left column), but some also have at least one Spoken form — an important feature, as you will see.

Step 2: Open the Display drop-down list (located at the bottom) and choose Words Containing Spaces. Other

Vocabulary displays include Words Containing Digits, Words Containing Capitalization, and Words with Special Properties. By browsing these, you can learn more about what the software uses to transcribe your dictation. You also get ideas about what entries you might add or edit.

Adding Vocabulary Entries: Words, Phrases, Acronyms…

You can quickly search for a particular Vocabulary entry by entering it in the Written Form field. If it appears in the scrollable list, it is already in the active layer of the Vocabulary. If not, say or click Add to bring it in.

CAUTION When adding an entry to the Vocabulary, be sure to spell and capitalize it correctly! Otherwise, it

will appear misspelled in your documents every time you dictate it.

Some of the "words" in the Vocabulary Editor aren't single words. Of course is listed. So is as well as. There are also names of people, places, products, and institutions: Mother Teresa, Madison Square Garden, KitchenAid,

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Marine Corps, Library of Congress, Babe Ruth, Accounts Payable, George Washington, Johnson & Johnson, Division I, LAN Server…

These help the software resolve spelling and capitalization ambiguities: if the Vocabulary didn’t contain the phrase Mother Teresa, dictating it would probably produce the transcription "mother Theresa"—because the word mother is usually not capitalized, and because Theresa is the more common spelling of the name. Having the phrase in its Vocabulary helps Dragon know that the words “Mother” and “Teresa” are likely to occur together, and hence helps Dragon choose the desired capitalization and spelling.

Also, recognizing long sounds is easier than very short sounds. A and the are acoustically very similar, as are in and an. Longer words, like “chrysanthemum”, contain more acoustic information.

We strongly recommend adding personal “multi-words”; this will later save you time since you will not have to adjust their spelling and capitalization after transcription.

Exercise 1: In the Vocabulary Editor, search for a few familiar names such as your own first and last names,

your town, company, colleagues or relatives; if necessary, add them using the Add button.

TIP When adding names of people, consider nicknames and diminutives as well as formal names, particularly

for names that are very short or that can be spelled different ways: for instance, one might add Liz Hansen, Elizabeth McGee Hansen, Jennifer B. Addams, Jennifer Addams, Jenny Addams, Jenn Addams, Judge Addams, Scooter Addams…

This idea applies to more than just names. Whenever you add an item to the Vocabulary, think of its possible

variations: singular/plural for nouns, present/past/gerund for verbs… Remember, if something is not in the Vocabulary, the software cannot recognize it, so don’t hesitate to add items even if you think you will not

dictate them very often!

Exercise 2: Open a word processor (such as DragonPad, available from the DragonBar’s Tools menu or from the

command “open DragonPad”) and start a list of Vocabulary entries relevant to you; some suggestions

are below. (Soon you will learn how to import these entries all at once.)

 jargon and phrases specific to your profession (such as distro, site visit and non-State)  names of places, facilities or organizations (such as Building 52, or County Adoption Center)  names of products (such as MicroPore tape or Latex Exterior Semi-Gloss)  acronyms, part numbers, codes (such as FICA, 501c(3) or RX-70y)  names of people (coworkers, clients, friends, relatives…) including full combinations for names

that could be spelled differently (Kristin, Gene, Steven, McGregor, Wolfe…) or are very short (Kip, Kit, Dee…) since this helps Dragon resolve acoustic ambiguities.

TIP If you are using Dragon for work, your employer may be able to give you some lists that could save you

time, particularly if they are already in electronic form: lists of staff or clients, departments, units or divisions, products, trademarks, building names, as well as glossaries of terms and acronyms. Starting from such lists doesn’t just save time; it may also help add these items with their official, correct spelling!

The importance of Spoken Forms

Radio programs often tell their listeners “let us know how to pronounce your name” because some names could be pronounced in several ways and some are not pronounced “the way they are written” (due to silent letters, for instance). This is true for more than just names. Acronyms are often pronounced letter by letter, but not

always: ASAP is pronounced "ay sap" by many people. These facts are addressed by an important Dragon feature: the Spoken Form.

From the Display drop-down list of the Vocabulary Editor, choose “Words with spoken forms only.” Take a moment to scroll through and look at existing spoken forms; you will get ideas for what kinds of entries warrant them and how they can be written.

TIP Vocabulary entries may have more than one spoken form. You may add spoken forms to custom entries as

well as to existing entries, in order to be able to dictate them as comes naturally to you: for example, to enter the symbol ©, you might like to say “circle see” instead of the existing spoken form “copyright sign.”

TIP Entries containing symbols, digits, or unusual spacing are particularly likely to warrant a Spoken Form. If

the written form of a word contains any punctuation, consider providing a spoken form so that there is no doubt as to how the item will be pronounced.

If you add e-mail addresses to the Vocabulary, giving them a Spoken Form can make them quicker to dictate: for instance, “Amy and John at yahoo dot com” or even just “Amy and John at yahoo” for

AmyT&JohnB@yahoo.com.

Note: Spoken forms must not include punctuation, abbreviations, or symbols. Below are a few examples.

Written Form: The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Spoken Form: the man from uncle

Written Form: St. Clement's Hospital

Spoken Form: Saint Clements Hospital

Written Form: Soddy-Daisy, TN.

Spoken Form: Soddy Daisy Tennessee

Written Form: Trenton-Mercer Airport

Spoken Form: Trenton Mercer Airport

Adding Spoken Forms allows you to dictate in the way that is most natural, but also quickest for you. In addition to indicating pronunciation, Spoken Forms can be used for “vocal shorthand” and automatic substitution: you say something short and easy, and Dragon types something longer or “trickier” to say (or to remember). This capability can be used to give consistency and clarity to your writings; groups can take advantage of it to help everyone easily comply with recommendations like avoiding abbreviations and potentially confusable items.

To add a Spoken Form in the Vocabulary Editor:

Step 1: First, decide what you want to say, and what Dragon should transcribe when you say it.

For example, suppose Central Lexington United High School is often called CLUHS or "cluss". Do you

want Dragon to type CLUHS or Central Lexington United High School?

Step 2: In the Written Form field, type what you want Dragon to write. Be careful with its capitalization,

spacing, and spelling — including symbols or punctuation marks if needed, as in E*TRADE.

Step 3: In the Spoken Form field, type what you will actually say. In some cases (as in our “cluss” example),

you will enter one or more “made-up words” to represent the desired sound.

Step 4: Say Add or press Enter. (If you entered a “made-up word” in the Spoken Form field, Dragon brings up a

dialog box to tell you that it doesn’t know that word and will therefore guess its pronunciation — this

gives you a chance to catch any typo you may have made in the Spoken Form.)

Illustrated below are examples of custom words and their spoken forms, seen in the Vocabulary Editor:

Deleting “Words” and Modifying Word Properties

If you encounter a word or phrase that Dragon does not transcribe as you would like, remember that it might warrant a spoken form or longer entry in the Vocabulary and Dragon may need to learn about how and how frequently you use it therefore you want to have Dragon analyze relevant text and run Accuracy Tuning (see the Accuracy Center). Also, particularly if the pronunciation contains non-English sounds, you may want to provide some acoustic “training”—see "Training Words".

You may also run into cases where a word you need is consistently transcribed as another word. If that other word is not important to you, deleting it from your profile’s active Vocabulary will solve the conflict by removing your desired word’s “competition.” For instance: the names Schaeffer, Shaefer, Schaefer and Shafer all sound alike, so if you want Dragon to write “Schaefer” but it typically writes “Shafer” even though you have already corrected the error, you may want to delete “Shafer” from the Vocabulary.

You can do this by finding and deleting the word in the Vocabulary Editor, or you can do it by bringing up the Correction menu over the undesired word after Dragon transcribed it.

Note: Dragon’s active Vocabulary comes with literally thousands of entries. As you browse the Vocabulary Editor, you will see many you are very unlikely to ever dictate, but don’t spend time deleting them unless they actually cause a conflict!

There’s more you can do in the Vocabulary Editor! For instance, by clicking its Properties button, you open the Word Properties dialog, where you can view or change the capitalization, spacing and numeral properties of an entry.

IMPORTANT Use the Word Properties dialog to modify the Dictation Command “new line” if you want it to

trigger capitalization of the following word. (See the lesson Starting to Dictate.) Similarly, you can set the ellipsis (dot dot dot) to NOT trigger capitalization of the next word.

In the Word Properties dialog box, you can also choose one or even two alternate written forms.

For example, you may want:

the spelling “colour” instead of “color”,

the spelling “email” instead of the

hyphenated “e-mail”,

the abbreviation “fig.” instead of

the word “figure” just before numbers, as in “fig. 3”,

the title Professor instead of its abbreviation.

The Help contains more details. In particular, take a look at the Help topics “The Vocabulary Editor Dialog Box,” “Deleting words,” and “The Word Properties dialog box.”

Another example of alternate written form is illustrated below: pre-employment instead of preemployment.

Key points about the Vocabulary Editor and Properties

 You can access the Vocabulary Editor with a command like edit vocabulary, through the Accuracy

Center, or through the Vocabulary menu of the DragonBar.

 In the Vocabulary Editor, custom-added entries are marked with a red plus sign; choosing Custom

Words Only from the Display drop-down list allows you to see just the custom entries.

 You can locate an item by entering it in the Written Form field. By using the Display drop-down list,

you can also browse subsets like “Custom words only” and “Words containing punctuation.”

 Spoken Forms are an efficient way to help Dragon transcribe “special words.” You can view many

examples of Spoken Forms in the Vocabulary Editor. In addition to clarifying pronunciation (particularly

useful for items that contain digits, symbols, or silent letters), Spoken Forms can be used to allow the

speaker to say something quite different, and much shorter and easier, than their associated written

form: you say just “E O B stat”, for instance, and Dragon types “Explanation of Benefit (EOB)

statement.”

 A Vocabulary entry can have several spoken forms, and can have one or two alternate written forms.  If a Vocabulary entry you don’t need “competes” for recognition with something you do need to

dictate, you can delete that entry from the Vocabulary Editor (for instance, Cassidy and Cassity). To

see the words that have been deleted from the vocabulary, you can choose “Deleted words only” from

the Display drop-down list.

 You can view or change the special Properties of Vocabulary entries, including spacing and

capitalization. For instance, you may wish to change whether Dragon uses the spelling “travelled” or

“traveled”, whether the ellipsis (…) and the “new line” dictation command trigger capitalization of the

next word…

 In the Vocabulary Editor, entries whose properties were modified are marked with the letter P in a

blue square.

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