User guide

Dragon 12 Installation and User Guide
Chapter 12: Improving
recognition accuracy
There are many things you can do to improve recognition accuracy.
n Positioning the microphone correctly
n Speaking clearly and continuously
n Run the Accuracy Assistant
n Run the Acoustic Optimizer
n Use recognition modes
n Train misrecognized commands
n Train individual words and phrases
n Run General Training again
n Run the Let Dragon search for words tool
n Personalize your Vocabulary
Top 10 ways to improve accuracy
Here's our top 10 list of ways to optimize Dragon's ability to recognize your speech.
1. Use careful dictation practices Dictating with Dragon is different than talking to some-
one. When we talk, we often hesitate, mumble, slur words, or leave words out altogether,
but we're still able to understand each other. And people can easily filter out noise, which
lets us understand each other, even in noisy environments, like restaurants, but speech
software needs help separating dictation from other sounds. With dictation, the idea is to
speak in a consistent speed and volume - try not to hesitate, exaggerate your pro-
nunciation, or talk loudly or slowly. So make sure background noise doesn't drown you
out and that you have the microphone close enough for Dragon to hear you properly,
usually about an inch from your mouth and to one side. Also, remember to dictate using
complete phrases, so that Dragon gets the context. For example, we use our experience
and common sense to decide whether someone said "I Scream," or "Ice Cream." But
Dragon doesn't understand what words mean, so it can't use common sense the way we
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