Please read this text at a normal pace and with a normal tone of voice, as if you were having a conversation with another person.

Dragon will now collect an audio sample so it can adapt to the characteristics of your voice and begin learning how you pronounce words.

Dictating with Dragon is different from talking to another person.

People can easily filter out noise, which lets us understand each other even in a noisy restaurant.

Computers need help separating speech sounds from other sounds.

As you read, make sure you are in a place without too much noise.

You should also check the position of your microphone.

Your microphone should always be about an inch away from the corner of your mouth.

When people talk, they often hesitate, mumble, slur their words, or leave words out altogether.

But we are still able to understand each other.

For example, we use our experience and common sense to decide whether someone said

OPEN QUOTE I scream CLOSE QUOTE or OPEN QUOTE ice cream CLOSE QUOTE

Dragon doesn't understand what words mean, so it can't use common sense the way people do.

Instead, Dragon recognizes words that appear next to other words. It learns this from the way you speak to it.

You need to help it understand how you speak and the context of the words you use.

Dragon calculates how frequently words and phrases are used and can offer you suggestions when it makes mistakes.

You just need to know how to operate it properly.

It's best to dictate in complete sentences, speaking clearly and evenly, in a natural manner.

The idea is to speak to Dragon normally, at a consistent speed and volume.

Try not to hesitate, exaggerate your pronunciation or talk loudly or slowly.

Try to think about your whole sentence before you start to speak it. This will give Dragon the context it needs.

The software lets you dictate punctuation and symbols, such as?
OPEN QUOTE
PLUS SIGN
and HYPHEN
even things like SMILEY FACE.

Dragon also comes with hundreds of commands, including
Move Mouse Up
Move Mouse Down and Left
Correct That
Undo That
Copy That
Cap That
Go to End
Press OK
Press Escape
Tab Key

Pause briefly before saying a command and Dragon will instantly recognize that the command is something you want it to do, rather than something you are dictating.

When you first start dictating with Dragon, it's important to be patient.

As with anything, practice is important.

Try to avoid saying extra words you really don't want in your document, like OPEN QUOTE you know. CLOSE QUOTE

Dragon has no way of knowing which words you say are important, so it simply transcribes everything you say.

Think about what you want to say before you speak. This will help you to dictate in complete phrases.

To understand what it means to speak both clearly and naturally, listen to the way newscasters read the news.

For the best results using speech recognition, copy this style when you dictate.

If you dictate something by accident, you can delete it by saying, OPEN QUOTE Scratch That. CLOSE QUOTE You can delete full sentences, a phrase, just one word, or a symbol.

When you are dictating something Dragon doesn't understand, like a person's name, you can say, OPEN QUOTE Spelling Mode, CLOSE QUOTE and then spell out the word.

You can apply formatting using a word processor. Just select the word by voice, then you can capitalize, change font size and style, and apply bold, italics, or underlining.

Another great feature is that Dragon can check your documents to learn how you write, and the words and phrases that are most frequently used when you speak.

Dragon enables you to perform many everyday tasks by just using your voice.

Besides dictation, you can also use it to surf the web by voice.

You can open Safari by saying, OPEN QUOTE Open Safari, CLOSE QUOTE and then use commands to go to websites,

search the Internet, or fill out and submit forms.

You can also use Dragon to read, write, send, and receive email with Mail.

You dictate an email address as you would normally speak it.

It's important to get into the habit of turning off the microphone when you are not dictating;

otherwise Dragon will pick up and transcribe any words that it hears.

For example, make sure to turn off your microphone before answering the phone or speaking to someone.

You can easily do this by clicking the microphone icon in the Status Window or in the menu bar.

You can also use voice commands to control the microphone. You can say:

OPEN QUOTE Go to sleep CLOSE QUOTE to put the microphone to sleep

OPEN QUOTE Wake up CLOSE QUOTE to turn the microphone back on.

You can also say OPEN QUOTE microphone off CLOSE QUOTE but you will have to manually turn it back on when you want to dictate again.

If you want to understand Dragon better, browse through the topics included in the tutorial. Refer to the tutorial frequently when you need assistance.

You can also use Help to search for the software's features and commands. Remember that the more you use Dragon, the smarter it gets.

Refer to the Help menu to access help topics, tutorials and additional information on the Nuance website.