Getting Started with Dictation Software

Dictation software has been around as long as Windows, and while I've used it off and on, I've never really gotten into it. It's expensive, time-consuming to learn, and typically requires lengthy training periods to master.  But dictation software has come a long way in the last decade or so I thought I'd give it a try once again.

Yesterday as I installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9, the latest version of this venerable dictation software product.  While I'm just getting started with product, I thought it would be interesting to do a series of posts on my experiences with it. So far, I've run through the demos and tutorials, and I've done some basic training. Although Dragon says the software doesn't require voice training, and that it can achieve 99% accuracy with no training at all, I know from experience that training can't hurt, so that's where I started.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking includes not only the software, but also a microphone headset in the box. It's now on sale for under $100, which is a very good value. (In the old days, dictation software used to cost hundreds of dollars; still does if you want a special version that can handle legal or medical terms.)

You'll need a fairly fast computer, lots of RAM, and lots of patience to get started with dictation software, but so far I'm finding it pretty easy going. Sure, there are lots of quirks: The software likes to put double spaces after periods (ah, found the option to change that!), it sometimes doesn't capitalize the first letter of a sentence, and other problems, but I'm getting used to it. Slowly. Then there's the accuracy issue. I don't have much of a problem with misspelled words. Rather, my issue is with the wrong word showing up where I meant something entirely different. And doing complicated formatting like bold or italics, is often easier to do by using the keyboard and mouse. I'm nowhere near 99 percent accuracy, but I'm going to stick it out and see what happens.

This blog post is the first thing I've written (almost) entirely using voice dictation software. How does it look? I'll be weighing in on this topic from time to time over the next month or so, so if you have specific questions about dictation software, post them here or email me.