The Transition from Keyboard to Speech Recognition

The following post is from a speech-recognition user outlining his journey from keyboarding to voicing:

Creative tasks such as writing are deeply tied to the brain’s kinesthetic sense. To an extent, the longer you perform a creative activity the stronger the tie between the creative process and the physical motions involved. This is why you will hear some writers say that they work better writing long-hand than they do at a typewriter or keyboard. For them the creative process of writing is deeply tied to the physical motions of moving a pen across paper.

Even those of us who use speech recognition due to a disability have an initial period during which writing by voice is more difficult. The words don’t “flow.” It isn’t all that uncommon at first to get part way through a sentence and come to a screeching halt. This can be a very frustrating experience indeed. I believe it is one of the causes of people giving up on using speech recognition--even if they are achieving good accuracy. (TIP: do not look at the screen while dictating. This will keep you from getting distracted waiting for words to appear. This also helps you keep an even rhythm when dictating--which improves accuracy.)

If my own personal experience over the years is any guide, you will go through an initial phase where the words do not flow well at all, followed by a phase where the words come in a flood, making editing to remove the excess a necessity. Eventually you will gain back your original writing style. In fact, you may find that your writing improves somewhat. I say this because any sort of physical injury or disability that affects the hands also subtly affects the words chosen by the writer.

I know that my writing is far better now that I use speech recognition. Yes, I have had more practice over the years; but I am also no longer distracted by fatigue and in some cases pain. Now I can concentrate on saying exactly what I want to say with all of the nuances still present. Rather than writing being a physical chore to be completed as quickly as possible, it has become a truly creative endeavor. I think once you get used using speech recognition you will rediscover the pleasure in selecting just the right words, and in just the right order, to convey the meaning you intend.

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