Introduction:
If your typing skills are lacking, you might be looking for a faster way to input text. The Mac offers two different methods for dictating text instead of typing. One method is found in Keyboard Settings. You use this if you can type, but you just want to use dictation to input text faster. Another method is found in Accessibility Settings. This method is designed for people who cannot or have difficulty using a keyboard.
Index
- Basic Keyboard Dictation
- Dictating and Typing At the Same Time
- Basic Keyboard Dictation Commands
- Voice Control Dictation
- Basic Keyboard Dictation
- Voice Control Dictation Commands
Basic dictation:
Activate this feature by going to System Settings and searching for Keyboard in the left column. Scroll down in the Keyboard section until you find Dictation. Here you can enable or disable dictation. You also have other options, such as setting the language for dictation and the shortcut key to start dictation.
Now let's see how it works. You can type in any app, such as Pages or TextEdit, or the Messages app. Activate dictation by quickly pressing the Control key twice and then speaking. You'll see a microphone icon indicating that you're in dictation mode. Now it works very quickly if you have a Mac with an M1 processor or newer because all this dictation processing takes place on your Mac. If you're using an older Intel Mac, the audio is sent over the internet to Apple servers. The translation from audio to text takes place there and is sent back to your Mac. Note that dictation automatically inserts punctuation, but you can always add your own.
Dictating and Typing At the Same Time:
Another great feature of dictation on the Mac is the ability to quickly switch from speaking to typing without actually turning off dictation. I can speak and then type a bit and then continue speaking. Note that the shortcut key on my keyboard to start dictation is to press the Control key twice, but I only have to press the key once to actually stop dictation.
Switching Languages During Dictation:
The small microphone icon can do more than just indicate that dictation is active. If I go to System Settings and add a new language, you'll see that it starts to show more than just a simple microphone. It also shows the language. I can click on it to change it.
Basic Keyboard Dictation Commands:
There are some commands you can use during standard dictation. If you go back to System Settings and click the question mark button at the bottom, you'll get help information for the entire set of settings. Go to dictation, and you'll find information on how to dictate messages and documents. There are some tips, and you can see a complete list of all available commands.
Voice Control Dictation:
Now let's look at the second way to dictate on your Mac, which is using the more powerful Voice Control feature. This not only allows you to dictate text but also to actually command your Mac. These commands include manipulating the text cursor and the text itself. In some situations, it's more comprehensive. Even if you have the ability to type on a keyboard, sometimes you might want to use voice control if you really want to be hands-free for a while.
Voice Control Dictation Commands:
Vocabulary simply allows you to add special words to the list. If you have special terms or names or places or things like that that aren't being recognized, you can add them to the list. Then there are the commands. Many of these commands have to do with controlling your Mac. For example, you can tell it to close an application or open a document. So Voice Control is doing all of that as well as listening to text and taking dictation. But if you scroll through this list, you'll find many commands related to dictation.
I hope you found this article helpful.
