USER'S GUIDE By Dan Newman For details on ScanSoft Application Solutions Partners near you, please visit: www.ScanSoft.com/NaturallySpeaking/locator/ Learn more about speech recognition at: Training and Customization Professional training and customization services from a ScanSoft-certified Applications Solutions Partner can help you achieve the maximum return on your investment. If you would like to unleash the full potential of Dragon NaturallySpeaking® software, please contact one of our Partners for training, customization, and more. ScanSoft Application Solution Partners are the best in the industry; distinguished by their expertise, experience, and commitment to providing top-level services for Dragon NaturallySpeaking® speech recognition products. For details on ScanSoft Application Solutions Partners near you, please visit: www.ScanSoft.com/NaturallySpeaking/locator/ or call 800-443-7077 About the Author Dan Newman is president of Say I Can, Inc., a leading reseller of speech-recognition products and training services. A computer expert and skilled teacher, Dan is the author of several books about speech recognition, including Talk to Your Computer and The Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Guide. Dan has written for many publications, including PC Magazine and Speech Technology, and has appeared on the PBS television show Computer Chronicles. He recently created his first instructional video presentation, Dragon NaturallySpeaking® 6 Video Guide, which helps people use Dragon NaturallySpeaking® speech-recognition software most effectively. Dan's Video Guide is a CD-ROM-based video presentation that runs on your computer and is designed for both new and experienced users of Dragon NaturallySpeaking® software. In the Video Guide, Dan guides you visually through key Dragon NaturallySpeaking® version 6 topics and skills, demonstrating expert techniques and insider secrets. He shows you how to fix mistakes quickly, automate tedious tasks, browse the Web hands-free, boost accuracy, and more. You can see the complete list of topics covered and download free sample video lessons at www.sayican.com. In addition to the Video Guide, Say I Can offers many other speech- recognition products and services. Their innovative "Web Training" service provides live one-on-one training over the Internet, allowing you to conveniently learn how to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking® software from an expert. Other items available include digital recorders, specialty microphones, and volume licenses of Dragon NaturallySpeaking® software. For more information, please call 1-877-Say-I-Can or visit www.sayican.com. This is a screen shot of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking® 6 Video Guide. For more information, please visit the Say I Can Web site at www.sayican.com. May 2002. Version 6.1 Professional, Medical, Legal, and Public Safety Solution and Preferred editions. This publication may not include some last-minute technical changes and/or revisions to the software. Changes are periodically made to the information described here. Future versions of this manual will incorporate these changes. ScanSoft, Inc., may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to such patents. The software is subject to one or more of the following U.S. patents, among others: 5,027,406; 5,202,952; 5,526,463; 5,680,511; 5,715,367; 5,754,972; 5,765,132; 5,794,189; 5,799,279; 5,818,423; 5,822,730; 5,850,627; 5,909,666; 5,915,236; 5,920,836; 5,949,886; 5,960,394; 6,064,959; 6,088,671; 6,092,043; 6,092,044; 6,101,468; 6,151,575; 6,163,768; 6,167,377; 6,212,498. No part of this manual or software may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including, without limitation, electronic or mechanical, such as photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written consent of ScanSoft, Inc. Specifications are subject to change without notice. Copyright © 2002 ScanSoft, Inc. All rights reserved. Portions copyright © 1999­2001 Dan Newman. All rights reserved. Used with permission. ScanSoft, the ScanSoft logo, L&H, the L&H logo, the Dragon logo, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, NaturallySpeaking, NaturallyMobile, RealSpeak, Nothing But Speech "NBS," Natural Language Technology, Select-and-Say, BestMatch, MouseGrid, and Vocabulary Editor are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. All other names and trademarks referenced herein are trademarks of ScanSoft or their respective owners. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and where ScanSoft is aware of the trademark, the designation is printed with a trademark (TM) or registered trademark (®) symbol. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Adobe and Acrobat are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Corel and WordPerfect are registered trademarks of Corel Corporation. Lotus and Lotus Notes are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. Microsoft, Outlook, Windows, Windows NT, Visual Basic, and PowerPoint are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Netscape and Netscape Navigator are registered trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation. Say I Can and the Say I Can logo are trademarks of Say I Can, Inc. Voice It, the Voice It logo, and Voice It Link are trademarks or registered trademarks of VXI Corporation. AMD is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Sound Blaster is a registered trademark of Creative Technology Ltd. America Online is a registered trademark of America Online, Inc., a division of AOL Time Warner. QUALCOMM and Eudora Pro are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM, Incorporated. Yahoo! is a registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc. Dave Barry in Cyberspace, © Copyright 1996 by Dave Barry, published by Crown Publishers. 3001: The Final Odyssey, © Copyright 1997 by Arthur C. Clarke, published by HarperCollins Publishers. Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook, © Copyright 1996 by United Feature Syndicate, Inc., published by HarperBusiness, a division of HarperCollins Publishers. Success Is a Journey: 7 Steps to Achieving Success in the Business of Life, © Copyright 1999 by Jeffrey J. Mayer, published by McGraw Hill. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, © Copyright 1972 by Roald Dahl, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and Penguin Books. The Captain of Battery Park, © Copyright 1978 by Eugene Pool, published by Addison-Wesley. 120-D144-61 Contents CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 About this guide 2 What's new in version 6? 3 What should I expect from Dragon NaturallySpeaking? 7 Installing and Training 9 System requirements 9 Plug in the microphone 10 Plug in the speakers 11 Install the software 11 Create a new user 15 Audio Setup 18 New user training 21 Training problems and solutions 24 Starting to Dictate 27 Turning the microphone on and off 30 Sleeping and waking up 30 Online Help 31 The DragonBar 32 Correcting and Editing 37 The Correction menu 38 Selecting text by voice 41 Moving around in a document 45 Copying, cutting, and pasting text 47 Copying text to other programs 48 Deleting text 48 Keyboard editing shortcuts 51 Spelling as you dictate 52 Formatting 55 Capitalizing text 56 Formatting text 58 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 Dragon NaturallySpeaking User's Guide v Contents CHAPTER 6 Numbers and Punctuation 63 Dictating numbers 63 Punctuation 71 Dictating hyphenated words 72 Dictating compound words 73 Dictating names 74 Dictating abbreviations and acronyms 75 Dictating e-mail and Web addresses 76 Dictating special characters 77 Modes 82 Using E-Mail and Microsoft Internet Explorer Working with e-mail 85 Working with Microsoft Internet Explorer 89 Using Natural Language Commands 97 Available Natural Language Commands 97 The Sample Commands window 98 The Command Browser 98 Sample Commands 100 Hands-Free Computing 103 Starting programs 104 Opening documents and folders 105 Switching between open windows 105 Copying text to other programs 106 Opening and closing menus 107 Selecting buttons, tabs, and options 108 Selecting icons on the desktop 109 Resizing and closing windows 110 Scrolling in windows and list boxes 111 Pressing keyboard keys 111 Activating commands by saying key names 115 Moving the mouse pointer and clicking the mouse Hands-free tips 123 Automate Your Work 125 Viewing or editing commands 126 Searching commands 127 Creating new commands 128 Deleting custom commands 134 Renaming custom commands 135 85 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 117 CHAPTER 10 vi Dragon NaturallySpeaking User's Guide Contents Exporting commands 136 Importing commands 137 Creating Macro Recorder Commands 138 Some useful commands 139 CHAPTER 11 Workflow 141 Dictate first, correct later 141 Ways to correct your dictation 144 Speaking and Dictating Composing 156 153 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 Improving Accuracy 161 The Accuracy Center 162 Tools to improve your vocabulary 166 The ideal system for best accuracy 179 Some practical ways to improve accuracy 180 Healthy Computing 185 Ergonomics and posture 185 Maintaining good vocal health 186 Using a Handheld Recorder 189 Installing recorder software 190 Creating a user adapted to your recorded speech 191 Dictating into your recorder 195 Transcribing recorded dictation 197 Correcting mistakes 203 Using the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder as a microphone 204 Better accuracy with a recorder 204 Customizing Dragon NaturallySpeaking 207 The Options dialog box 207 Troubleshooting 221 Testing your sound system 221 Other problems and solutions 223 Commands List 263 227 CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 17 APPENDIX INDEX Dragon NaturallySpeaking User's Guide vii CHAPTER 1 Introduction W s s elcome to Dragon NaturallySpeaking®--the software that lets you talk to your computer instead of typing. As you speak, your words appear swiftly on-screen just as if you had typed them. You can talk ("dictate") into many programs, including Microsoft® Word, Corel® WordPerfect®, e-mail programs, personal information organizers, and more. For example, you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking® to: Compose letters, memos, and e-mail messages. Just think about what you want to say and then say it into the microphone. Enter data into forms or spreadsheets. Most people can dictate numbers faster than they can type. Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Professional or higher editions, you can create custom voice commands to enable you to move from field to field on your form by voice. Work on the Web. You can search the Web, access information, and navigate Web pages by speaking URLs and links. s You can also move text around within your document ("cut and paste"), revise and format text, and control your computer by voice. You can start programs, open menus, and send e-mails by voice. After you become comfortable talking to your computer, you may want to take the convenience of dictating a step further by using a handheld recorder with Dragon NaturallySpeaking®. With a handheld recorder, you can dictate while away from your computer. When you return to your computer, Dragon NaturallySpeaking® will type out ("transcribe") what you said. Dragon NaturallySpeaking User's Guide 1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction About this guide This guide provides detailed information that will help you get the most out of using Dragon NaturallySpeaking®. It will help you get up and running with the software, show you how to dictate, edit, and format your text, and discuss the best ways to work for maximum efficiency and accuracy. While this guide presents all the important features of Dragon NaturallySpeaking®, it is not intended to be a complete reference to each feature and function. More extensive information about using Dragon NaturallySpeaking® is available in the program's online Help. This guide covers the Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Preferred edition and the following Solution Series products: s s s s Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Professional Solutions Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Medical Solutions Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Legal Solutions Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Public Safety Solutions Most of the information presented in this guide is applicable to all these editions. When information applies to certain editions only, this is noted. Conventions used in this guide 1 This guide contains many examples of words and phrases you can say when using Dragon NaturallySpeaking®. These examples appear in italics with quotation marks, for example: "Format That Bold." Some procedures also include sample text for you to dictate. Sample text appears in a different typeface, with punctuation in square brackets. For example: US/Canada: When talking to a computer [comma] try to say every word clearly without trailing off at the end of a sentence [period] Other Dialects: When tal ...