#Best voice recognition software windows 8.1 software#

#Best voice recognition software windows 8.1 software#

And learning to dictate is a skill, I found вЂ“ one that improves with practice.вЂќДЄs Diane implies, you shouldnвЂ™t worry if you donвЂ™t feel comfortable using the software straight away. вЂњOne thing IвЂ™d mention is that the speech recognition software I use is very much a вЂњdictationвЂќ software, meaning that you canвЂ™t simply talk into it. Yes, it makes mistakes, but so did every secretary I ever had and so do I! I also use the built-in speech recognition software to dictate on my iPhone, too. IвЂ™m a very fast typist, but Dragon is faster. вЂњI love Dragon and IвЂ™ve been using it for years. Once youвЂ™ve mastered speech recognition software, you can use it to speed up many other tasks besides your creative writing вЂ“ business letters, emails, even social media updates, as novelist Diane Capri advises: What a great way to check whether your dialogue sounds realistic! Not Just for Writing Books Just close your eyes and imagine people speaking.вЂќ I literally move back and forth as if IвЂ™m one person or the other. ItвЂ™s also a boon for dyslexics вЂ“ and there are even creative benefits, judging from thriller writer C J BoothвЂ™s experience:

Now it is superb, even straight out of the box it has a pretty good rate of accuracy but it has lessons for you to read an excerpt from a book on the screen and it matches each word with your speech until it gets it right. Then Dragon bought out its competitors and concentrated on improving it. I used to work as a social worker for social services and it was a little more basic at one time. вЂњI love Dragon! I have physical problems with my hands and have used Dragon & its predecessors for years. the phrase вЂњfalse startвЂќ caused my computer to open a game of Hearts, and it interpreted the name вЂњOrna RossвЂќ as вЂњOrder rocksвЂќ! But asВ historical novelist Richard Denning reports, вЂњit will certainly help you get down your first draft faster than any other methodвЂќ.ДЇor those who are not fast typists or have physical difficulties in using a keyboard, whether with hands or eyesight, voice recognition software is a godsend.

Of course, I then had to fine-tune and correct it, but IвЂ™d have had to do exactly the same with a conventionally typeed first draft too.ДЄdmittedly, early on there were a few comical incidents e.g. Even after a relatively short period of use, I was able me to rattle away and create a satisfactory first draft. acclimatizing it to the idiosyncrasies of my voice (softly spoken with aВ south-east London accent), I was pleasantly surprised at how accurate and how fastВ itВ was. Yet once IвЂ™d started вЂњtraining my DragonвЂќ i.e. I was slightly sceptical of how helpful it might be, having often chuckled at inaccurate subtitles on news programmes. Although IвЂ™m a very fast touch-typist, the prospect of being able to churn out copious copy without moving my hands was appealing. I had a specific reason to try it: I have rheumatoid arthritis, which occasionally makes my hands swollen and painful. It can manage my Irish accent so I reckon can manage most! ItвЂ™s definitely my very, very best writing friend.вЂќДЄs a relatively recent convert to using voice recognition software, IвЂ™ve had a positive experience so far, using NuanceвЂ™s Dragon (Windows version) and the Google system that was included with my new tablet. Non-fiction, emails and other less literary writing, I just talk in direct. I like to write fiction and poetry by hand, pen and paper, and then transcribe using Dragon. IвЂ™m using it to вЂњwriteвЂќ this comment and almost all the writing I do each day (a few thousand words on average, between one thing and another). вЂњI can definitely say that I would achieve about one third of what I do without it. I was first persuaded to use voice recognition software by ALLi director Orna Ross, who reports: Even if you have been deterred by disappointing experiences with earlier packages, itвЂ™s worth trying the latest software to see whether it can help you improve your productivity. The latest generation of voice recognition software can be an invaluable tool for indie authors, whether you are writing full-time or trying to make the most of limited time available.