Chapter 13: Work with Speech Recognition

Using the Speech Recognition feature, you can enter and format text in Word documents and operate menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes using your voice.

Set Up Speech Recognition

You can enter information into a Word document and select commands from menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes using your voice. To use this feature, you must set up speech recognition on your computer.

Make sure that you connect a microphone and speakers to your computer to use this feature. Setting up speech recognition involves adjusting your microphone and training Office to understand your voice.

1. Click Tools.

2. Click Speech.

   

   A message appears explaining that speech recognition files are not currently installed.

3. Click Yes to install the Speech Recognition feature.

   

   When the installation process finishes, the Welcome to Office Speech Recognition wizard appears.

4. Click Next.

   

   The Microphone Wizard – Welcome dialog box appears.

   Instructions for positioning a headset microphone appear here.

5. Click Next.

   

Can I completely control Word using speech recognition?

The Speech Recognition feature is not intended to be used exclusively. Instead, you will find that you work most efficiently if you use a combination of speech recognition, keyboard strokes, and mouse clicks.

Are there special requirements I must have to use speech recognition?

Yes. Your computer’s processor should be at least 400 MHz and your computer should have at least 128 MB of memory and be using Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or Windows XP Service Pack 2. You should use a high-quality close-talk microphone; typically, a headset microphone will work best.

As part of setting up the Speech Recognition feature, you need to set the volume and position of your microphone.

6. Read this sentence aloud.

   The volume meter displays the volume of your voice through the microphone.

7. Repeat step 6, monitoring the volume level as you read.

8. When the volume level remains consistently in the green range, click Next.

   

   The Microphone Wizard – Test Positioning dialog box appears.

9. Read this sentence aloud.

   

   After a pause, you hear a recording of your voice playing back to you.

   If the recording sounds like you are blowing into the microphone, reposition the microphone and repeat step 9.

   If you reposition the microphone, click Back and complete steps 6 to 9 again.

10. Click Finish.

    

    The Voice Training wizard begins.

    The text in this area explains that you must complete at least one voice training session to use the Speech Recognition feature.

11. Click Next.

    

Why are the volume and position of my microphone important?

The Speech Recognition feature works best when you use it consistently. By establishing a standard microphone volume, you are less likely to encounter errors where speech recognition indicates you spoke too softly or too loudly. Using a consistent microphone position helps ensure that the Speech Recognition feature understands you.

Is there any significance to the sentence that I read to adjust the microphone position?

The sentence “This papaya tastes perfect” contains explosive consonants. Using a sentence containing explosive consonants helps the Speech Recognition feature adjust its interpretation of your speech, making it more

As the last portion of setting up the Speech Recognition feature, you train Microsoft Office Word 2003 to understand your speaking style.

• This text explains how to train the Speech Recognition feature to understand your voice.

12. Click Sample.

    You hear a sample of how you should speak during the training session.

13. Click Next.

    

    Sample text appears.

14. Read the text.

    As you read, the Voice Training wizard highlights the words it recognizes.

    

    When you finish reading the sample text, the Voice Training wizard automatically displays the next box in the wizard.

    The Voice Training wizard continues to display a series of boxes containing text for you to read.

15. Read the text in each box as it appears.

    You can click Pause to take a break during training. To resume, click the Resume button that appears in place of the Pause button.

    

    When you finish reading the last box of text, this window appears.

16. Click Finish.

    Note 

    The Language toolbar appears at the top of the Word window. You can use this toolbar to perform speech recognition tasks.

    

Should I speak in any special way during speech training?

You should read the boxes presented to you during training in as smooth and consistent fashion as possible. Do not slow down your speaking habits or leave pauses between words. Do not read faster than you typically speak. Read naturally.

How accurate should I expect speech recognition to be?

After you complete the initial training, speech recognition should recognize 85–90 percent of the words you dictate. The more you use the feature, the more accurate it will become. If you do not achieve results in line with these estimates, consider doing more training. Click Tools on the Language toolbar and then click Training.