1.2

20 MacSpeech DictateChapter 5 — Dictation
Figure 5-2
2.Onceaproleisloaded,switchtotheapplication
into which you want to dictate, or use MacSpeech
Dictate’s built-in Note Pad.
3. If necessary, create a new document, or open an
existing document to which you will add text.
4. Click the microphone button in the Status
window, or press the hot key that corresponds
to the Microphone On/Off choice in MacSpeech
Dictate’s Preferences. The microphone icon will
change from a red stop sign to a microphone with
agreencirclebehindit,asingure5-3.
Figure 5-3
5. Speak into your microphone. There will be a
short delay while MacSpeech Dictate interprets
your speech, after which text will appear in the
document window.
6. Whenyounishdictating,clickthemicrophone
icon in the Status window or say “Microphone
Off,” or “Go to Sleep.”
Dictation Sessions
If you are dictating into the active text area of a supported
application, and you open a second document in that or
another supported application, MacSpeech Dictate starts
a new dictation session for the new window. This allows
MacSpeech Dictate to keep track of words and punctuation
for each window.
Handling Mistakes
No matter how good MacSpeech Dictate is — or how careful
you speak — both it and you will make some mistakes. When
that happens, there are some special commands available to
assist you.
Scratch That or Forget That
Both of these commands do the same thing — they delete
the last utterance, which is what you said from the last time
you paused.
Scratch Word
If Scratch That or Forg e t That del etes too much, say Scratch
Word or Forget Word instead to erase only the last word.
These commands can be said repeatedly. MacSpeech Dictate
tracks what you do back to the beginning of the current
session. If you started with a blank document, you would say
Forget That (or Scratch That) repeatedly until the document
was blank again.
Editing Your Document
As we have already mentioned, MacSpeech Dictate can track
whatever you say with your voice, but it cannot track what you
do with the keyboard and mouse. This is because software
applications do not share information about key presses and
mouse movements with other applications — and for good
reason! Could you imagine what would happen if the words
you were typing into your email program suddenly started
appearing in your word processor as well?
Because of this, there are some special rules for editing
your documents when using MacSpeech Dictate. You can
use the “Scratch That,” “Forget That,” and “Scratch Word”
commands we already told you about, but there are many
other commands at your disposal.