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CHAPTER 2
Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Successfully
Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide
14
sound patterns when matching sounds to words. If you speak in
syllables, Dragon NaturallySpeaking is likely to transcribe each syllable
as a separate word.
Make it a habit to speak at your normal pace, so Dragon
NaturallySpeaking can learn your normal pronunciation.
Speak in phrases, rather than one word at
atime
Along with the tendency to speak slowly, people often begin saying just
one or two words at a time when Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes
mistakes.
Surprisingly, speaking in very short phrases or individual words can
actually lessen accuracy. This is because Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses
the context of a phrase to help it decide what you said.
Consider the following phrase: “Dear Mr. Jones.” If you were to dictate
this phrase one word at a time (“dear” “mister” “jones”), Dragon
NaturallySpeaking might type “Deer” or “Gear” instead of “Dear.” But
if you were to dictate the whole phrase (“dear mister jones”), the program
can use context to determine that the word you want is most likely
“Dear.”
Make it a habit to dictate in phrases, so Dragon NaturallySpeaking can
use context to help determine what you said. It may help to compose
your thoughts before you speak.
Speak at your normal volume—don’t whisper
or speak too loudly
When you first started Dragon NaturallySpeaking and read the training
text aloud, the program adapted to the pitch and volume of your voice,
along with learning your pronunciation.
For this reason, you should continue to speak at a normal volume (or
slightly louder if this helps). If you shout or whisper, Dragon
NaturallySpeaking won’t understand you as well.
Make it a habit to speak at your normal volume, since Dragon
NaturallySpeaking has adjusted to this volume.
UG5.bk Page 14 Friday, August 4, 2000 2:26 PM