Dragon 15 set up is pretty easy. Install, test your mic (I use both a cheaper head set and a blue yeti on a boom." Open Dabble and start dragon and your on.
But there are two commands I like to set up in the “Tools->add new auto text” feature of Dragon. Two commands I call “Quote that.” and “Finish Quote.” This is a little picky thing that has to do with flow. I don’t like to say “Open Quote, close quote.” It’s silly I know but speaking punctuation is a pain. This is OK with period, question mark etc… but the quotes in dialog drive me nuts.
Quote that… is a macro that put two " on the screen and then backs up to put the cursor between them.
The command sequence is “Step-by-step”
- Send keys “.” (note the period in there, you need that to get the quotes to open and close.
- Press Left (arrow keys)
- Backspace (gets ride of the period. as dialog can end in comma, question or exclamiation)
Finish Quote jumps the cursor out of the quote and adds a space.
Again it is step by step and the commands are
- press left,
- and space.
Within dragon under Options->Miscellaneous I like to turn on “Have the microphone on but asleep” under the profile launch options. So I can just start by saying “Wake up.”
Under Tools->auto-formatting I like to turn on Automatically add commas and periods. Although some find that annoying. But this helps me when I say “new line” it will put in the period.
That said I tend to only use “Wake up.” “Go to sleep.” and “Scratch that” which removes my last diction so I can restate. Much easier than trying to highlight and manipulate.
At first it’s slower. You have to learn it and practice. You have to be OK with producing a DRAFT. and let the edit phase be a separate thing from the writing. Trying to edit and write with dragon will drag your speed down.
What about transcription. I have the version that transcribes. Whole new issues arise. Here it’s you and the tape recorder on a walk. The system does take commands. BUT… you have to be sure you pause clearly or you will get a lot of typing out of punctuation. I do use a recording app on my android phone. So it does not have to be a separate device but I do recommend it if you have the money (But Dragons 400 dollar option is WAY to high priced IMO)
