Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium

With the start of college also comes a lot more work, papers, and note taking than what most are used to.  You can easily get overwhelmed if you aren’t the fastest typer.  To help you with this transition, there is Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11.  With it, all you have to do is dictate to your computer and it will transcribe your notes and papers for you.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is very easy to set up and use.  Once you install the program on your computer, you’re ready to get talking.  The first step is to go through the training modules so that the software can get used to your voice and style of speaking.  There are several tutorials where you have to read paragraphs containing obscure words in order to boost the programs accuracy.  This process takes a little while, but in the end the program will recognize your voice much better and make far fewer mistakes when you’re transcribing.  The good thing about NaturallySpeaking is that it supports different user profiles so if you share your computer with someone else, the program can get used to your styles separately and won’t muddle them together.

Once the software is all set up you can really start having some fun.  It was very easy to dictate notes from classes and save them on your computer.  This made it easier to read and share them with classmates or study groups.  You can also use a supported digital recorder if you want to record notes you say throughout the day.  Trying to record lectures however was hit or miss.  If you sit in the front row and your professor is loud enough to be picked up clearly on the recorder, the program will work good enough for you to decipher what it transcribes without too much trouble, but if your teachers like to walk around the room or don’t speak very loud it won’t work well.

While transcribing may be the most common use for NaturallySpeaking, there is a lot more to the software than just being able to type up what you say.  You can use the software to navigate several Windows programs including Outlook and web browsers.  You can tell it to compose emails, perform searches, click on links, and go to websites.  All of this without even having to touch your computer.  Nuance tries to make this as simple as possible with a list of commands that can be viewed in a window on your computer.  The downside here is that having to manually scroll through a list of commands defeats the purpose of using voice controls, slowing down your productivity by making you have to stop what you’re doing just to look up a command.  This may be a frequently encountered problem when you first get the software, but you’ll soon find yourself memorizing the commands you use most often.  Once you reach this point, you’ll be able to work with just your voice and have a level of freedom that can’t be matched by a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Getting used to voice recognition software takes a little while, but once you get the hang of things, you’ll find it can be much faster than using a keyboard.  NaturallySpeaking probably is not the best idea for dorm use however.  You can imagine how much your roommates will hate you when you try to dictate a 5 page paper at 2 in the morning because you waited until the last minute.  But if you have your own room or your roommates don’t care that you talk to your computer, you’ll find it extremely useful and fun to use.

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