1.5

2IntroductionMacSpeech Dictate 1.5
Learning.MacSpeechDictatecan’tobeyjustanyoldcommands.Whenyou
startout,youwon’tknowMacSpeechDictate’sbuilt-incommands;you’ll
learnthemasyougoalong(especiallytheonesyouusemostfrequently).
Whendictating,youwon’talwaysknowMacSpeechDictate’stermsforpunc-
tuationthatyouwanttouse;these,too,you’lllearnasyougoalong.(Of 
courseyou’llhaveplentyof assistancealongtheway;MacSpeechDictate
hasawindowlistingitscommandsandpunctuation,plusyoucanconsult
thismanualandtheonlinehelp.)You’llalsolearntospeakmoreclearlyand
smoothly;speakingtoacomputerprogramtakespractice.
Withtime,you’llbecomemoreexperienced,andmostof thethingsyoudowith
MacSpeechDictatewillbecomesecondnature.YoumayevencustomizeMac-
SpeechDictate’sabilitiestosuityourneeds.Forexample,youmightaddtoits
repertoryof commands.MacSpeechDictatecomeswithbuilt-inspecializedcom-
mandsforcontrollingitself plussixcommonlyusedapplications,alongwithaset
of generalcommandsforusewithanyapplication.Youcanwrite your own
commandsforinsertingtext,runningascript,choosingamenu,andsoforth.
Andyou’llalmostcertainlycustomizeMacSpeechDictate’sunderstandingof your
speech.Youcanadd to MacSpeech Dictate’s vocabulary,incaseyouuse
wordsthatitdoesn’talreadyknow.AndwhenMacSpeechDictatetypeswhatyou
dictateandgetsitwrong,youcantrain MacSpeech Dictate to understand
you better,tellingittherightinterpretationof whatyousaidandimprovingits
abilitytointerpretyourspeechcorrectlyinthefuture.
You’reprobablyeagertoinstallMacSpeechDictateandprovideitwithaninitial
sampleof yourspeechsothatyoucanstartcontrollingyourcomputerbyspeaking.
Thenextchapterwillguideyouthroughthestepsfordoingso.