Not one finger touched the keyboard in the making of this post. Instead, I dictated the post using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. This is not the first time I have used the software. I first tried Dragon NaturallySpeaking back in the early 1990s. I was writing a dissertation and I wanted to save myself some time and trouble by dictating it. It wasn’t that successful. The software did not recognise my speech very easily, it took weeks to train and I spent so much time making corrections that it would have been easier just to type it out. So I was intrigued to see what would happen this time around.
Installation and setup
It only took a couple of minutes to install the files, set up my microphone and do a couple of other housekeeping tasks. Then I started the training process. To my surprise, it was extremely quick. It took no more than 5 to 10 minutes to read through the training file, which also gave some handy tips on how to use the software. Once it had saved my voice files, I was ready to start using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I decided to put it to the test initially by dictating a paragraph or so see how accurate it was. I was pleasantly surprised by how easily Dragon recognised my voice, coped with my UK turns of phrase and generally got it right. There were very few errors. Once I had finished dictating, I closed down the program and it saved my updated voice files. This process enables Dragon NaturallySpeaking to learn and to improve accuracy over time.
Putting Dragon to the test
Then I decided to give it a real test by dictating this post. To get started I clicked on the microphone and the Dragon bar, opened Windows live writer and began to dictate. You can see the results for yourself. While there were a couple of minor errors, I didn’t spend any more time correcting those than I would have done had I typed out the entire post. I would say that I had to make no more than five corrections in this post of more than 800 words.
Mastering voice commands
One area that can be tricky to master is the use of voice commands. These can be used to handle standard program functions, though the standard version of the software does not allow commands for all programs. For example, when I dictate text into Microsoft Word not only is it easy for me to create new lines and new paragraphs, but I can also save documents, format text, create bulleted lists and more. When dictating in Windows live writer however telling the program to save did not work.
Old issues resolved
When I originally bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking, one of the things that annoyed me was how long it took to start the software and how slow it made my computer. Neither of these issues applies now. Another issue that has been sorted out is that the program no longer interprets every breath as a potential word. That means I can take time to think without having to turn the microphone off. That said, the microphone is very sensitive so if you fumble your words by dictating everything that it thinks you have said will appear.
Useful features for writers
There are far too many features in this program for me to list them all in this review, so I have tried to focus on the ones that writers will find most useful. For example, you can import documents so that the program becomes familiar with the phrases you usually write. You can change the program mode to allow you to focus on numbers or spelling. You can correct certain words to help the program understand your local accent.
Health benefits for writers
There is also a lot of additional functionality in other versions of the program, such as the ability to run your whole computer without having to type anything. Even with the standard version that I am running I can see the possibility of reducing the amount of typing that I do — and this is one way in which I see the software being particularly useful for writers. If you are suffering from the occupational hazards of wrist strain, tendinitis or RSI, using Dragon NaturallySpeaking means that you will be able to keep working — or writing — without impairing your health. (Of course, you may find that you drink a lot more. I don’t know about you, but I don’t spend a lot of time talking when in my home office.)
The verdict
If you are the kind of writer who thinks faster than you can type, Dragon NaturallySpeaking will certainly be useful. It is worth learning the voice commands that work with each program as this will make you even more efficient. But even without those you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking effectively. My verdict, one day of use, is overwhelmingly positive (which is why I’ve signed up for their affiliate program). If this is what you get after only five minutes of training then I am looking forward to seeing how the program improves after days and months of use.
If you have ever used Dragon NaturallySpeaking or other speech recognition software, then please share your experience in the comments. And if you have specific questions that I haven’t covered in this review, please feel free to ask.
Article by Sharon Hurley Hall
Sharon Hurley Hall has been mentoring writers here at Get Paid To Write Online since 2005 to help them improve and build sustainable and successful writing careers. Check me out on sharonhh.com. Feel free to connect with me online on Google+.
Sharon has written 653 awesome articles for us at Get Paid to Write Online
Twitter: @SHurleyHall | Facebook | Google+ | Blog → Writing Portfolio
{ 10 comments }
Thanks for this! Do you have any information about the Mac version? I’m seriously thinking about getting it as finishing my book with my injured ( and slow healing) right arm is too challenging.
I hope some of your readers have tried the Mac version. We have a PC laptop too, but I much prefer to work on my macbook.
We work often in tight quarters with a bouncing & loud kid around, so wondering how other sounds affect things or how hard it will be for others if I’m speaking everything?
When one of us is on a skype call, it’s pretty hard for the others to concentrate. Will it be the same?
Is there any place to demo this product online. I’m in Spain, so not like it’s easy to send back if it’s not the right product for us.
Thanks!
.-= soultravelers3´s last blog ..Happy New Year, Nochevieja from Spain! =-.
Twitter: shurleyhall
January 3, 2010 at 18:40
Hi Jeanne
It doesn’t look like they do a Mac version, so you might have to go for MacSpeech Dictate, which I’m told uses the Dragon engine and is pretty similar in functionality.
I think the trick is to train it in the conditions you’ll be using it in. I tend to get background noise from the wind blowing, but so far that hasn’t affected recognition as I made sure to keep the window open when training the software.
Twitter: JamesSchipper
January 3, 2010 at 19:59
Thanks for this review, Sharon. I also tried it fairly unsuccessfully in the 90′s. It worked well enough, but not for what I needed it to do. I think much faster than I can type, but before I was not writing anything of substance and trying to use it to run my whole computer.
A friend gave me a new copy of the program and headset a few months back, and I had been thinking of trying it out for writing.
.-= James NomadRip´s last blog ..Crush It! Work Your Face Off with Gary Vaynerchuk =-.
Twitter: shurleyhall
January 4, 2010 at 07:49
I’ve been very impressed, James. I’ll know more about how robust it is when I’ve done a week’s work using it (that’s this week’s test), but out of the box it’s a much improved product.
Twitter: GeorgeAngus
January 3, 2010 at 21:50
Hi Sharon,
I had read reviews last year that were less than stellar about this. I am intrigued though. It sounds like something for me to put on my wish list in the new year.
You actually did this whole post using it? Pretty cool!
George
.-= George Angus´s last blog ..Okay, I’ve Written A Life List =-.
Twitter: shurleyhall
January 4, 2010 at 07:51
I think there are a lot of factors that can affect your experience of Dragon, George (background noise, whether you can speak quickly and clearly, your audio setup), but compared with the version I tried ten years ago, this one made it easy to create the post. I’ll be testing it more thoroughly this week.
Thanks for the update, Sharon. It’s been at least a decade since I’ve tried Dragon. It sounds like it may be time to give it another spin. Even in the mid-90′s it was usable, but at that point it was generally too finicky unless you had carpal tunnel and HAD to use it. If I remember right, at that time it also had (trained) about a 5% error rate, which would have been 40 errors in your 800 word post. So it sounds like it’s come a long way.
I remember one of my clients loving it back then though. He worked for a (Canadian) Federal government department that shall best remain unnamed. He used to use Dragon for creating funding requests, which were generally granted according to word volume – nobody ever actually read them except for the summary page. He adored this software, even then!
.-= Karilee´s last blog ..Three Words For The New Year =-.
Twitter: shurleyhall
January 8, 2010 at 09:17
Dragon’s definitely come a long way, Karilee. I can see myself using it more and more in the weeks to come. I will need to train it on stuff like company names I refer to often and then it will be pretty near perfect.
Thanks for the review. You covered many things, I hope the MAC version works just as well as the PC will give it a test run.
Twitter: shurleyhall
March 30, 2011 at 12:01
Glad you found it useful, Jacqueline.