Once Dragon has selected a block of text (in this case, the word 'the'), it overwrites the text with the next thing that I say. It therefore selects an instance of the next word that I speak, which, in the case of the example phrase, would be 'the.' In doing so, I might use a phrase such as, 'Select the Save command from the File menu.' Dragon hears the word 'select' at the beginning of the sentence and interprets it as a command rather than something to be typed. Let's pretend for a moment that I am trying to tell someone how to save a Microsoft Word document.

The most problematic of these commands is the Select command. The reason for this is that there are certain words that Dragon interprets as commands. This is especially true for columns that cover a step-by-step process. In other cases, Dragon's unique nuances prevent me from being able to use it at all for writing certain types of columns. For instance, Dragon might type the word 'datacenter' as two words instead of one ('data center' instead of 'datacenter'). These are small things that are usually related to formatting.įor example, Dragon might spell out a number instead of typing a numerical value, or it might write words in a way that contradicts a publisher's writing guidelines. (Nuance seems to have ironed out the bugs a couple of versions back.) Instead, there are little things that can sometimes get in the way of optimal efficiency.

It's not that the software is buggy or anything like that. Sure, I have taken the time to tune the software in an effort to achieve the best possible accuracy, but my efforts have not been in vein.Īs fantastic as the current version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking may be, however, it isn't perfect. I currently use Version 15, and the software's speed and accuracy is nearly flawless.

I found that its discreet speech requirement and limited vocabulary made me write more slowly than if I had simply typed the assignment.įor most of my writing career, I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking from Nuance.

Unfortunately, at the time ViaVoice wasn't really suitable for professional use. I first started experimenting with dictation back in the mid-1990s, using an IBM application called ViaVoice.

Related: This Blog Post Was Created with Microsoft DictateĪs someone who writes an insane amount each month, I have long relied on dictation software to help me get my assignments done on time.

Nuance ibm viavoice