Skip the keyboard: How to dictate in Microsoft Word and Google Docs
Old science fiction shows depicting the future made a big deal out of voice control. Much of it came true! Decades later, we can ask questions and control devices with our voice, thanks to virtual assistants and smart home technology.
Voice transcription makes it easy to get what’s in your head down on paper (in this case, digital paper). Even if your hands are full, you can type out what you need using your voice. Microsoft Word and Google Docs have this capability built into their software, and we’ll show you how to take advantage of it.
Voice dictation has many uses
As a writer, voice dictation is excellent for creating outlines and drafts. It also works for note-taking or getting your thoughts out. Perhaps you don’t like to type or have a repetitive strain injury. There’s no need for a keyboard when you can dictate whatever you need to enter text.
Voice typing is part of the accessibility features built into many operating systems and apps, including subtitles, mono audio, magnifiers, focus assist, screen readers, alt text and more. This helps people with impairments and disabilities get full use of these programs.
RELATED: Trouble reading your prescription labels? There’s an app for that
Dictation in Microsoft Word
You need a microphone and network connection to use dictation in Microsoft Word. This works with Word for Microsoft 365 on PC and Mac.
To use dictation in Word on your Windows PC and Mac:
- Sign into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device.
- Open a new or existing document and go to Home > Dictate.
- Wait for the Dictate button to turn on and start listening.
- Start speaking clearly and at a normal pace to see text appear on the screen.
Here are some helpful voice commands:
- Insert punctuation by saying them explicitly.
- To insert a word that’s also punctuation, such as “comma” or “period,” say, “literal comma” or “literal period.”
- Say, “New line” or “New paragraph” to start a new thought or section.
- Say, “Go to” or “Go after,” plus a word to move the cursor before or after the word.
- To correct the last thing you said, say, “Correct that.”
- Say, “Select that” to select the last thing you said.
- Say, “Caps” plus a word to capitalize the first letter of that word.
How to add emojis using your voice with Siri and Google Assistant
Although voice dictation technology lets you send hands-free text messages, it has glaring shortcomings. For example, smart assistants often have trouble understanding you.
That means you’ll have to constantly repeat yourself when the AI doesn’t get what you’re saying. Here are five ways to make your smart assistant understand you better. Here’s another pain point: Smart assistants not sending emojis when you tell them to.
Google Drive tricks: 15 smart ways to get more out of this free office software
Almost all of us utilize cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox in some capacity. Cloud-based storage services are just a normal part of using technology at this point.
While there are lots of cloud storage services to choose from, Google Drive has tons of advantages over the competition. Not only does it offer free file storage, but it also lets you create documents that can be accessed from anywhere. That’s a huge benefit now that it’s common to work remotely. Tap or click here to see what Google did to help at-home workers over the past few months.