Special Edition Using® Microsoft® Office Word 2003

Dictating to Word

In addition to giving Word commands by voice, you can dictate to Word; Word processes the text you speak and inserts it in your document.

To begin dictation, display the Language Bar by right-clicking on the Restore icon in the Windows taskbar. If Voice Command is selected, click the Dictation button to switch into Dictation mode. Then begin speaking.

Try to speak naturally: Don't speak in the stilted “one-word-at-a-time” tone that early speech-recognition software demanded. Word actually does somewhat better with “natural” language, in which phrases run together.

As you speak, Word inserts a series of colored dots at your insertion point. As Word processes the text you've spoken, it replaces the dots with the text it believes ...