{"id":21035,"date":"2019-03-19T01:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T08:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=21035"},"modified":"2019-03-19T16:50:42","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T23:50:42","slug":"starting-small-with-dictation-by-vanessa-kier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/19\/starting-small-with-dictation-by-vanessa-kier\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting Small with Dictation by Vanessa Kier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Let\u2019s\u00a0welcome\u00a0back monthly columnist,\u00a0Vanessa Kier<\/a> as she shares with us \u201c Starting Small with Dictation.\u201d Enjoy!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Many of you have probably heard how Dragon Dictation<\/a> has made life so much easier for other writers by converting their spoken words into text.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But not only is Dragon expensive, it requires a time commitment to train it to recognize your speech patterns. And unless you opt to use it for transcription, where you record your voice into an audio file and then import it for Dragon to convert to text, then you\u2019re tied to your computer.<\/p>\n

THERE IS ANOTHER WAY!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Using the native dictation feature of your mobile phone gives you the ability to do limited dictation without spending extra money or being at your computer.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to start using dictation in little ways to ease your workload:<\/em><\/p>\n

TURN ON DICTATION<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Android and iOS phones come with a basic dictation function built in, but they need to be turned on.<\/p>\n

iPhone<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On an iPhone, go to Settings>>General>>Keyboard and turn on Enable Dictation. Once this is turned on, whenever you go to type text in an app there will be included at the bottom of the keyboard a microphone icon that will turn on the microphone to capture your speech and convert it to text.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a one-minute cutoff time for iOS devices. You have to stop recording and let the system finish converting that batch of audio into text before you can start dictating again. What\u2019s nice is that this works even if you\u2019re not connected to the internet.<\/p>\n

Android<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I don\u2019t have an Android phone, but my research indicates that you can turn on dictation through the Settings app.<\/p>\n

Look for Language & Input and make sure that Google Voice Typing is checked.<\/p>\n

As with the Apple products, that should give you a microphone when the keyboard shows up for typing. I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a cutoff time limit on an Android phone.<\/p>\n

START WITH SHORT TEXT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Start small<\/strong> by dictating a text message. They\u2019re great starters because they\u2019re short, so you won\u2019t run into the one-minute cutoff if you\u2019re on an iOS device. Plus, they\u2019re less complicated.<\/p>\n

Next, you can try dictating short notes to yourself.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On Apple devices, there is a Notes feature. I dictate a lot of notes to myself. Everything from plot notes to reminders about research.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s a bit of a pain that I have to stop the dictation to allow it to finish converting to text, but this doesn\u2019t take long.<\/p>\n

With dictation activated, any app where you can type text should offer the ability to have your voice converted into text.<\/p>\n

Here are some other places to use dictation on your phone:<\/p>\n