1.2

8 MacSpeech Dictate
Command Mode
Command Mode is used when you only want to control your
Mac by voice. In Command Mode, anything not recognized
as a command will be ignored. The advantage of using
Command Mode is that the commands will be more easily
recognized and will be less likely to be confused as something
you want dictated instead.
In Command Mode, you can click buttons, control windows,
launch applications, and use speech instead of pressing keys
on the keyboard or using the mouse. Many commands in
MacSpeech Dictate are written in AppleScript, the scripting
language built into Mac OS X. Commands can be global,
meaning they work everywhere, or application specific, which
means they only work within a particular application.
Spelling Mode
Spelling Mode allows you to spell a word that is not part
of the regular MacSpeech Dictate vocabulary. For example,
you might use this to correctly dictate names and other
proper nouns, proprietary terms, words in other languages,
or acronyms.
Sleep Mode
Sleep mode is a special mode where the microphone stays
on, but ignores everything except a command to resume
listening. You say Go to Sleep to put MacSpeech Dictate into
sleep mode, and Turn Microphone On or Wake Up to return
it to the last mode used before putting it to sleep.
Switching Between User Modes
There are several ways to switch between the user modes:
Speech
Say Command Mode, Dictation Mode, Spelling Mode or
Go to Sleep.
Menu
You can also switch modes by bringing MacSpeech Dictate
to the front and selecting the desired mode from MacSpeech
Dictate’s Speech menu.
Hot Keys
You can turn the microphone on or off and cycle between user
modes with customized keyboard shortcuts. To change your
Hot Key preferences, select Preferences from the Dictate
menu and click the Shortcuts icon in the toolbar (figure 1-4).
Any key can be used for a hot key, provided you use at least
one modifier (Command, Control, Option, etc.).
Figure 1-4