Following on from our article about speaking loudly, this isn’t true. In the early days, speaking more clearly and at a slower pace may have possibly helped with overall accuracy. Nowadays, you can speak at a normal pace and expect great results! While speaking slowly to Dragon won’t hurt, you can speak at a pace that’s counterproductive. It’s okay to say a few words… pause to think and then say a few more. This kind of dictation is good, as long as you speak in phrases to give the software more context about the words you’re using.
It doesn’t help, however, if you’re speaking so slowly that the sound of the words makes them sound distorted. Equally, speaking so fast that your words clash is also not recommended. While dictating at breakneck speeds may make you think you’re getting more done in less time, slowing it down by a second will enable better enunciation and make it easier for Dragon to separate the sound waves and interpret words more accurately. Sounding like you’re commentating at the horse track may seem like a good idea, but after using Dragon with direct dictation through a microphone you’ll get a better feel for what works better.
It’s easier for humans to try and make sense of speedy dictation. They’ll be able to refer to previous history, compare notes with earlier chapters of the document or be able to search for words and spelling online. Dragon is less discriminate and will only be able to apply the transcription according to the words stored in the built-in vocabulary. It does have a good idea of which words you use most frequently and will use this learning to almost predict your words and syntax, but it doesn’t have the ability to fill in gaps when it doesn’t hear a word pronounced well enough. For the best results, mimic the way newscasters read the news. Not too loud, not too soft, not too fast and not too slow.