Chapter 17
In This Chapter
Using the Accuracy Center
Recognizing when and how to train words
Knowing when and how to add vocabulary words
Adding the words you want in vocabulary building
Creating shortcuts
Doing more training
Deciding when and how to train commands
If your NaturallySpeaking assistant doesn’t appear to be quite as sharp as you’d like it to be, you can teach it to do better. Dragon gives you a central place — the Accuracy Center — from which to improve its skills. If you start there, you will find all the tools you need at your fingertips. You can also find training options in other DragonBar menus, but if you are new to the software, this is the best place to start.
Training and improving NaturallySpeaking is the key to an almost flawless experience over time. Take the time to work with the software and train it to understand your special way of communicating.
Go to the Accuracy Center from DragonBar⇒Help⇒Improve My Accuracy, or say, “Open Accuracy Center” from the Help menu. You’ll see the following sections, as shown in Figure 17-1:
Yikes, lots of choices! Nobody said that educating software was effortless, but this chapter familiarizes you with what to do, and when and how to do it.
Personalizing your vocabulary involves two functions. The first is vocabulary editing, which lets you add words to the NaturallySpeaking vocabulary and, optionally, train NaturallySpeaking in how you say those words. It also lets you add custom phrases that translate into text. For example, you can say, “My Address,” and NaturallySpeaking types your address. The second function is vocabulary building, which uses documents and e-mails to build your existing vocabulary. I cover both of those in the following sections.
You can directly add words to the NaturallySpeaking active vocabulary. The Vocabulary Editor is your tool to add or delete any word you have added but no longer use. It also has special features that allow you to do any of the following:
Adding a word tells NaturallySpeaking that you want to include something new to its vocabulary. The accompanying Word training also teaches NaturallySpeaking how you say a word.
To add a new word or phrase, from the Accuracy Center click Add a New Word or Phrase. Up pops the Add Word or Phrase box, as shown in Figure 17-2.
To add words, follow these steps:
NaturallySpeaking uses a pronunciation guesser to figure out how most terms sound from the spelling. However, lots of jargon, acronyms, and other terms don’t conform to standard rules of English pronunciation. Sometimes you can type a spoken form that gives NaturallySpeaking something better to guess from.
But, whether you enter a written and spoken form or just a written form, if the pronunciation you’re going to use isn’t obvious from the spelling, you should train NaturallySpeaking in how you pronounce the word. That’s why you see a check box that lets you choose to train the pronunciation of the word or phrase. You can use the word training feature to make sure NaturallySpeaking recognizes your word or phrase.
For example, you may want NaturallySpeaking to write “Boston and Maine Railroad” when you speak the phrase “B&M.” Enter the written form Boston and Maine Railroad and the spoken form B and M or it could be bee and em for example.
The Train Words dialog box displays in large type the spoken form of the term (or the written form if you haven’t entered a spoken form), as shown in Figure 17-3. I chose to train the word “prewash.”
Speak the phrase into your microphone exactly as you always say it.
If you have recently added this term (say, in the Vocabulary Editor), NaturallySpeaking has little or no context for the term. You haven’t used it in a phrase, so NaturallySpeaking is more likely to choose the term with which it has more experience. The solution is to dictate your new term in context and then correct NaturallySpeaking with “Correct That” when it chooses the wrong term. If you dictate the new word and correct NaturallySpeaking with the Correction dialog box, it will catch on and use the new term.
To add custom terms to the NaturallySpeaking active vocabulary, click the Open the Vocabulary Editor link from the Accuracy Center (or you can launch the Vocabulary Editor by choosing Vocabulary⇒Open Vocabulary Editor from the DragonBar menu or speak the commands). Then follow these steps:
In Figure 17-4, for example, I entered an e-mail address, [email protected].
To see what’s in the vocabulary, you can either scroll the list in the Vocabulary Editor or type the term in the Search For box. As you type, the list scrolls to match your typing.
If you want to speak something other than what’s typed, first add the word by clicking Add. In the Add New Word or Phrase dialog box that appears, enter the way you want to say the word in the text box labeled Spoken Form (If Different). For example, if I enter My E-Mail there, I can simply say, “My E-Mail” and have NaturallySpeaking type [email protected]. If you use a term in the Spoken Form box that NaturallySpeaking doesn’t already have in its vocabulary, a dialog box lets you know that fact. It also asks whether you want it to assign an approximate pronunciation. Click OK.
If you think the pronunciation will be difficult, select the I Want to Train check box before clicking the Add button and record the word as directed. The Vocabulary Editor adds the term to the vocabulary list and marks it with a plus sign (+). You can delete any custom term you add. Just click the term, and then click the Delete button. You can also select multiple terms to delete by holding down the Ctrl button as you click.
The period at the end of this sentence has more aliases (alternative names) than most criminals. The words period, decimal point, dot, point, stop, and full stop are all valid names for that same symbol in different contexts. NaturallySpeaking doesn’t currently recognize all those alternative spoken names, but you can add them to the vocabulary.
If you have an alternative spoken name you would like to use for a word, phrase, or symbol, use the Vocabulary Editor to add that name. Unfortunately, you can’t change any of the existing names, even if you don’t like them. You can only add an alternative.
To add aliases, whether for symbols, numbers, or other terms, launch the Vocabulary Editor (choose Vocabulary⇒Open Vocabulary Editor) and then do the following:
The list scrolls to show the current written and spoken forms.
To see all the currently defined symbols and dictation commands in the Vocabulary Editor, you must scroll up above the terms beginning with “a.”
The Add New Word or Phrase dialog box appears.
A second copy of the word appears in the vocabulary list, with your new alias and a plus sign (+) to mark the alias as a custom term. (If the alias doesn’t work out, you can delete it. Just click the line and then click the Delete button.)
If you’re likely to use terms from some specialized vocabulary in the documents you dictate, you can make a list of such terms and give them all to NaturallySpeaking in one fell swoop. For example, Queen’s Gambit Declined is the name of a chess opening. Each of the three words is surely already in the NaturallySpeaking General English vocabulary, but NaturallySpeaking doesn’t know that these three words have a special capitalization pattern when they appear together. If you were to dictate documents about chess, you would want to include Queen’s Gambit Declined on one line of your list.
You can create a list and use the Import List of Words or Phrases box, as shown in Figure 17-5.
Follow these steps:
A screen pops up with the words “Import List of Words or Phrases.” You also see the option to “Preview the list of unknown words.” If you wish to do that, select the box.
You are asked to add the file.
The file is analyzed.
A Summary box shows you how many words were added to your vocabulary.
At this step, you provide your NaturallySpeaking assistant with documents so that it can look at them and pick out any words or capitalized phrases it doesn’t recognize. (In essence, it’s automatically building a list like the one you may have provided, as the preceding section describes.) The more documents you give Vocabulary Builder, the better. In particular, give it documents that resemble the documents you want to dictate — your previous best-seller, for example, or a collection of your office memos.
To add words from specific documents in Word, WordPerfect, plain text, RTF (Rich Text Format), and HTML (web) documents, follow these steps:
A Learn from Specific Documents screen pops up, as shown in Figure 17-6. On this screen, you have the option to Find Unknown Words (in various forms) or Adapt to Writing Style.
A new screen appears with buttons to add either folders of documents or single documents to analyze.
Your Windows Browse window opens, allowing you to choose the files as you normally do. Next, the files show up in the window of the Learn from Specific Documents screen.
Your documents are analyzed. A check mark appears next to the names of the documents analyzed. All the words that were new to your vocabulary are shown with check marks and the frequency with which they occurred.
You see a list of the words, and the screen asks you to check the words you want to train.
The Train Words dialog box displays, in large type, the written form of the term.
Speak the phrase into your microphone exactly as you always say it.
A Summary box shows you how many words were added to your vocabulary.
Normally, you use your own documents to teach NaturallySpeaking about your vocabulary. What can you do, however, for a subject that you have not written much about?
Answer: Grab words from documents other people have written. The web, for example, is full of documents about nearly any subject you can name. The trick is to have NaturallySpeaking pick up on the words, but not the writing style, of this other author (unless you intend to write just like him or her).
To use someone else’s documents, first you must get the documents! NaturallySpeaking can read Microsoft Word or WordPerfect documents if you have Word or WordPerfect installed. It can also read plain text, RTF, and HTML documents. To get documents from the web, browse to the page you want, and then save the page as an HTML file. In Internet Explorer, for example, choose File⇒Save As, enter a filename in the dialog box that appears, and click Save.
Use these documents in the Add Words from Documents box as you would any other documents. When you get to the Adapt to Writing Style check box, deselect it so your NaturallySpeaking assistant won’t assume that you write like that other writer.
Analyzing e-mails is another way for your NaturallySpeaking assistant to build your vocabulary. This process helps in two ways. It learns from the style of your e-mails and it can automatically add e-mail addresses you currently use. It works with Microsoft Outlook, Outlook.com, Lotus Notes, Gmail, Yahoo!, and Windows Live Mail.
From the Accuracy Center, click Learn from Sent E-mails or go to Vocabulary⇒Learn from Sent E-mails from the DragonBar. The Learn from Sent E-Mails Wizard appears, as shown in Figure 17-7.
Follow these steps to complete the process:
Choose from the options presented by selecting the check boxes.
The e-mails are analyzed.
Any new words will be displayed for you to train (see the section “Learning from specific documents,” earlier in this chapter).
This section of the Accuracy Center is key. It contains several ways for you to customize NaturallySpeaking to make your assistant do things your way. Remember to revisit your Options settings periodically when you are using NaturallySpeaking. You may want to alter the settings you chose when you first started.
It’s important to set personal options from Options on the Tools menu. From the Accuracy Center, access it by clicking in the Open the Options dialog box. This is where you set up preferences for the NaturallySpeaking assistant to work your way. See Chapter 3 for a full discussion.
Auto-formatting is important so don’t skip it. Access it from the Open the Auto-Formatting Options dialog box in the Accuracy Center or go to Tools⇒Auto-Formatting Options.
If you get overzealous and regret some of the changes you made, click the Restore Defaults button shown in Figure 17-8.
To save time, consider setting these default options:
The Accuracy Center provides three ways to help your NaturallySpeaking assistant improve your acoustics. They are as follows:
I discuss these in the following sections.
Obviously, the microphone is an all-important part of your software. Make sure your NaturallySpeaking assistant doesn’t have a “hearing” problem. Does NaturallySpeaking make errors on lots of words and phrases, not just a specific few? Your problem could be with speaking unclearly, with your microphone position or quality, with your sound card quality, or with the microphone volume set by Dragon, as shown in Figure 17-9.
To rule out a hearing problem, rerun the microphone check from the Check Microphone link in the Accuracy Center. You can also access it from the Audio⇒Check Microphone menu option on the DragonBar. If Dragon thinks your audio is fine, and you still get errors on lots of words after running the microphone check, try the voice tips in Chapter 16. If all else fails, you can reset your audio by choosing Audio⇒Reset Audio Calibration. You may want to try checking the microphone and doing more training before going that route though because you lose all your audio training to date.
Here’s where the correction and fine-tuning of your dictation really pay off. From the Launch Accuracy Tuning Now link in the Accuracy Center (or from Audio⇒Launch Accuracy Tuning), you’ll be presented with the Acoustic and Language Model Optimizer screen. Don’t be intimidated. Your NaturallySpeaking assistant does all the heavy lifting.
As shown in Figure 17-10, the Perform Acoustic Optimization and Perform Language Model Optimization check boxes are selected by default. Leave them selected, then do the following:
You are given an estimated time for completion of this process. Don’t be shocked if the initial estimate says 450 hours! It quickly changes to a couple of minutes while it’s working. Perhaps your NaturallySpeaking assistant has a weird sense of humor.
You’ll be asked to save the newly optimized files.
See? Your NaturallySpeaking assistant does all the work. (Isn’t that why you pay it the big bucks?)
If NaturallySpeaking seems to be making more mistakes than it used to, ask yourself if you have changed since you first trained Dragon. Has your voice, manner of speaking, or working environment changed?
For example, are you getting more experienced at dictation? Have you changed your office or changed something that makes or absorbs sound in your office? If so, try running the Training Wizard. (To access it, go to the DragonBar menu and choose Audio⇒Read Text to Improve Accuracy.) Training helps NaturallySpeaking get a more accurate picture of your voice and speech habits.
The plan for training is to read something to NaturallySpeaking so that it can figure out how you speak. Look around and find some reading material of interest to choose from.
In version 13 of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Nuance gives you several ways to identify commands. The Learning Center makes it really easy to find them on the fly. (See Chapter 21.) Because the Learning Center is context-sensitive, you will always see the commands that are helpful for the application you are in.
If NaturallySpeaking isn’t obeying your commands, it may not be recognizing your pronunciation. You can improve its recognition for many commands exactly as you would for word or phrase training. See the steps in the preceding sections for instructions.
Make sure you capitalize the words of the command properly. Check the documentation that comes with NaturallySpeaking for proper capitalization. Most words in NaturallySpeaking command phrases are initial-capped except for articles, prepositions, and other short words.
You can’t, however, train “dictation commands” this way. These commands are the ones that control capitalization and spacing, like No Caps On. To train those commands, use the Vocabulary Editor. Scroll to the top (above the “a”) of the list of words in the Vocabulary Editor. Click a command and then click the Train button.
Before you try command training, make sure that you pause correctly before and after a command. If NaturallySpeaking gets the words right but types them instead of doing them, pausing is more likely to be your problem than pronunciation. Chapter 4 talks about solving this problem.
To access the Command Browser from the Accuracy Center, click the Open the Command Browser link. Or you can choose Tools⇒Command Browser.
When using the Command Browser, as shown in Figure 17-11, you have several options:
Unless you know what you’re doing, stay in Browse mode.
This section of the Accuracy Center is where you find information about your vocabulary and a link to the Nuance website, shown in Figure 17-12.
When you click the How to Manage and Personalize Your Vocabularies link, you are taken to an explanation of the types of vocabularies available. Recall that when you installed your NaturallySpeaking software, you were asked several questions about your accent and what region of the world you live in. This Help section gives you more information about those vocabulary choices.
The Nuance website is chock-full of information, training, help, and tech support. Chapter 21 covers this extensively.
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