Speech Recognition Software for Writers, Bloggers

I tried Dragon Naturally Speaking when it first came out, and then a few years later, excited about the idea of easier, faster ways to get a typed copy of my manuscripts. I was disappointed with how much I had to train the program, and how many mistakes it made.

But now, after watching a video by Jon Morrow, associate editor of CopyBlogger, I’m interested in–and excited about–trying it out again (using the newest version). I’ll also know to get the right equipment–not only a microphone and sound card (which I did before), but also making sure I have a newer computer with enough speed and power. What Jon recommends is Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 for Windows (or the newest version) or MacSpeech Dictate for Mac; a good USB sound pod–a super-easy-to-install sound card that connects to your microphone via plugs, and then plugs into your USB port, for greater accuracy, such as the VXI Full Duplex USB Sound Pod, or any of the newer ones recommended at Know Brainer, a good microphone, such as VXI TalkPro Xpress Headset, or again, any of the newer models recommeded via Know Brainer, and a newer computer. I can’t wait to try that all out!

Since I write–and edit–my novels by hand, sometimes it’s a tedious process to type it all in. Between that and all the web searching, blogging, and tweeting I do, it used to give me pain and numbness in my hands, but since I converted to using an ergonomic keyboard, Dvorak instead of Qwerty, and an ergonomic mouse, I stopped having that problem. Still, having speech recognition software actually work easily and well is very appealing to me, and I know I’m going to check it out, as soon as I can afford to.

I think it could be a great tool for writers and for bloggers–it can help prevent hand and arm strain (anti-RSI), and potentially be faster, even easier, to complete everyday tasks as well as type up manuscripts, articles, blog posts, etc. Check out Jon’s fantastic video below.

Speech Recognition for Bloggers — The Ultimate Guide from Jon Morrow on Vimeo.

Thanks to @BookBuzzr for the video.

December 12th, 2009