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Table Of Contents

17 MacSpeech DictateChapter 4 — Training

Figure 4-6

4. When nished, MacSpeech Dictate will display a screen

informing you the words have been added to your vocabulary,

asshowningure4-7.Clickthe“Close” button or the red close

window button to dismiss this window.

Figure 4-7

Improving Accuracy

There are a variety of things you can do to improve

accuracy.

Proper Microphone Position Is Important!

Improper microphone position is the first thing you should

check when accuracy declines. Make sure the microphone is

pointed towards your mouth, but is not directly in front of it.

Many microphones are noise-canceling, which discard sounds

picked up away from your mouth. In many cases, a user

having problems with accuracy will discover the microphone

has been turned around and the noise-canceling side is

facing towards the mouth. No wonder accuracy is suffering!

To review: For most people the microphone should be one to

two fingertips from the corner of the mouth. It should be out

of the breath stream from your mouth or from your nostrils.

An easy way to tell if the microphone is in your breath stream

is to place a finger over it and see if you can feel anything

when you exhale normally. Once you have the microphone

positioned properly, make sure it is placed there every time

you dictate.

Don’t Over-enunciate!

Train MacSpeech Dictate with your normal, clear speaking

voice. It is ok to enunciate a little more than normal. However,

if you read the training text with extra enunciation, like a radio

announcer, MacSpeech Dictate will think you speak that way

all the time.

You don’t want to over-enunciate, but you do want to speak

clearly. You should not sound stilted or weird; ideally, you

should still sound like you — just speaking a bit more distinctly

then you normally might when talking with a friend. Those

experienced with older speech recognition software tend to

develop a style that is a bit more precise than their usual

speaking voices. They find when they are tired, or if they slack

off a bit, their accuracy declines.

Think Before You Speak

Remember, you are developing a new skill when dictating. If

you think before you speak, what you say will come out more

clearly.