It’s time to speed up how you write emails. If you struggle typing quickly, dictating email can help boost your productivity. We’re going to show you Dictate, which integrates straight into Outlook.
Dictate is a utility developed by Microsoft and also works with other Office programs. You just plug your microphone in, click a button, and start talking. Everything you say is then transcribed.
Speech-to-text software, or dictation software, lets you control your computer, dictate text, or both. These are the options for Mac OS X users. Speech-to-text software, sometimes known as dictation software, is something that lets you talk to the computer in some form and have the computer react appropriately to what you are saying. You can right click on the text and click Stop Speaking. You can press the key combination again to stop speaking. In the System Preferences window where you set the Voice and Key Combination you can also make the computer announce the time and warn you when a pop-up window appears. Various options on my Insert Tab and Format Text tabs within my Outlook new message are greyed out. Not all options, just: Table, SmartArt, Chart, Screenshot, TextBox, WordArt, Equation & Drop Cap in 'Insert Tab', and Styles within 'Format Text' tab. Dec 02, 2016 To make this process easier, we now offer you controls to add alt-text not only in Office for PC, Mac and Office Online, but also in several Office mobile applications. Furthermore, we are designing ways to make alt-text easier to discover and use. 'Start Speaking' Feature No Longer Working for New Emails in Outlook 2016 Mac In the past, I use to be able to create a new email in Outlook 2016 for Mac and when I was done composing the email, I select the text and then: Edit -> Speech -> Start Speaking to have the selected text in the email read back to me.
If you use Dictate or have a different speech-to-text software that you use, please let us know in the comments.
About Dictate
Microsoft Garage is a division of Microsoft that allows employees to work on their own projectsMicrosoft's New App Means You'll Never Oversleep AgainMicrosoft's New App Means You'll Never Oversleep AgainThe newest Android app from Microsoft has some creative ways of getting you to shut the alarm off in the morning.Read More with the support of the company. Its name comes from the fact that Bill Gates started Microsoft out of his garage and this division is now located in his former office on the Redmond campus.
The teams can be made up of any number of people and can receive support from those experienced in all stages of project development. Not only does Microsoft Garage foster creativity, but it also helps the company look for innovation.
One such project that came from this is Dictate. It’s a speech to text utility that integrates into Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint, similar to Google Doc’s voice typing featureGoogle Doc's Voice Typing: A Secret Weapon for ProductivityGoogle Doc's Voice Typing: A Secret Weapon for ProductivityLearn everything you need to know about voice dictation and voice control in Google Docs, including how to get started and a few essential tips for productivity.Read More. You simply talk into your microphone and it turns that into text, using the technology that powers Windows 10’s virtual assistant CortanaHey, Cortana? Everything You Didn't Know to Ask and MoreHey, Cortana? Everything You Didn't Know to Ask and MoreCortana can do a lot more than you think. This master list of basic and not-so-obvious commands will help you get to know your virtual assistant and increase your productivity.Read More.
Dictate is capable of understanding more than 20 languages and can scribe into 60. It can also automatically input punctuation, or you can switch to speak it manually. We’re going to show you how it works for Outlook.
Download Dictate
Before you download Dictate, you first need to check whether you’re using the 32-bit or 64-bit versionWhat's the Difference Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows?What's the Difference Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows?What's the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows? Here's a simple explanation and how to check which version you have.Read More of Office. Note that even if you’re using 64-bit Windows, it doesn’t mean that’s your Office version.
To check, open Outlook and go to File > Office Account > About Outlook. You will see your version of Outlook listed.
Next, close all Office programs you’ve got open. Then, go to the Dictate website and download the version you need. Run the installer and open Outlook once it’s completed.
How to Use Dictate
You can use Dictate at any point when writing an email, accessible via the Dictation section on the ribbon. Before beginning, ensure your microphone is plugged in.
Use the From dropdown to set what language you’ll be speaking and the To dropdown to set what language you want the text to output as.
When you’re ready to talk, click Start. It’ll detect your microphone and the icon will display a red circle to show that it’s listening.
Unlike some other email dictation apps, Dictate doesn’t input the text immediately as you talk. Instead, it’ll wait until you’ve reached the end of your sentence and then put it in. When you’ve finished, click Stop.
You can use the following commands while talking:
- New line: Enters a line break.
- Delete: Removes the last line you dictated.
- Stop dictation: Ends the dictation session.
Dictate will automatically place punctuation in your sentences. It’s pretty good at detecting when to do this, but you might prefer to control it yourself. If so, before recording, click the Manual Punctuation button from the ribbon.
These are the commands you can use for that:
- Period
- Comma
- Question mark
- Open quote
- Close quote
- Colon
One of the most requested features for Dictate is support for more manual punctuation commands, so this list might be expanded in the future.
Dictate in Action
I’ve recorded some videos so you can see how to dictate email in Outlook with Dictate. This first video shows me talking in English, with the text being outputted in English, and the punctuation automatically being detected.
As you can see, Dictate is very accurate. I tried a few different attempts, somewhere I was talking very quickly or not fully pronouncing words, and it still did a commendable job at turning it into text. Of course, your mileage may vary, especially if you’re in a noisy room.
I then created a second video to try out manual punctuation while dictating email.
Although it correctly transcribed what I said, including the punctuation, it didn’t adhere to grammar rules as well as it did when the punctuation was being automatically detected. It placed spaces between punctuation if you pause before saying it, which wasn’t necessary. However, it’ll handle punctuation well enough if you say at the same time as the sentence.
Other Speech-to-Text Options
It’s still early days for Dictate, so hopefully, the development team will continue to improve its functionality alongside the detection quality of the Cortana technology. Perhaps one day it’ll even be integrated into Office out of the box.
If you’re looking for other email dictation options for Windows 10, check out our articles on how to enable use speech recognition to control your PCEnable Speech-to-Text and Voice Control by Setting Up Speech Recognition in WindowsEnable Speech-to-Text and Voice Control by Setting Up Speech Recognition in WindowsSpeech Recognition remains more powerful than Cortana. It drives speech to text and voice control. This article will show you what Speech Recognition can do, how to set it up, train it, and use it.Read More and the best free third-party programs to do similar thingsThe Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for WindowsThe Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for WindowsLooking for the best free Windows speech to text software? We compared Dragon Naturally Speaking with free alternatives from Google and Microsoft.Read More.
Do you use Dictate to transcribe your emails? Is there another program that you prefer?
Explore more about: Email Tips, Microsoft Office 2016, Microsoft Outlook, Speech Recognition, Speech to Text, Voice Commands.
- Ha, on a Mac, simply turn on Dictation under System Preferences -> Dictation & Speech
I recommend enabling 'Use Enhance Dictation'
If you really want to control your computer and not just Dictation then go to System Preferences -> Accessibility -> Dictation -> select 'Enable the dictation keyword phase'
and also then
Preferences -> Accessibility -> Dictation -> Dictation Commands... -> select 'Enable Advance Commands'
Now you can also control your computer from afar with the keyword... 'Computer, what time is it?'
Update for MacOS Sierra 10.12 Users
Text To Speech
Why I don’t see Dictation (Speech to Text) and Text to Speech option under System Preferences?
Dictation : Dictation feature has been removed from the main screen of the System Preferences. You can still find it under System Preferences, but you need to click on Keyboard option, and then select Dictation Tab. The setup guide will remain the same as we have explained below.
Text to Speech : Text to Speech option has also been relocated. If you have updated to MacOS Sierra 10.12, you will find it under System Preferences, and then click Accessibility option, and select Speech.
Update Ends
What is Dictation or Speech to Text Feature on Mac OS X
Outlook For Mac Version
Dictation feature on Mac allows users to turn their voice into text. So when you are tired of typing or you have got some issue with your hand, you can simply enable the feature and start speaking. Your computer will type everything you write. It makes your work easy, and it can be used in any app you want, email, browser, docs and so on…
How to enable and use Speech to text or Dictation feature on Mac
- Go to System Preferences on Mac (Click on Apple Logo, and Select System Preferences).
- Under System Preferences, hit Dictation & Speech option, and Select Dictation Tab. (Note : MacOS Sierra 10.12 users need to click on Keyboard option, and then select Dictation tab).
- Turn On Dictation feature. You will be asked to confirm, you can do it clicking on enable dictation.
- To get the best experience from Mac’s Speech to Text, you can check the option Use Enhanced Dictation. Do it when you are using WiFi, because it will download over 1GB of required file.
- Pressing Function (fn) key twice enables dictation by default. If you want to change the shortcut, click on Shortcut dropdown list, and customize.
- Once you have done that all, you can start using Mac’s Voice to Text feature.
- Simply Press the fn key twice (or the key you set as shortcut), and you will see a Microphone icon on the screen. Start Speaking, and it will be written where you want to.
- You can also turn on dictation by voice command.
What is Text to Speech Feature on Mac, and why to use
It’s opposite of Dictation feature. It allows to listen to the written text. So why someone would use it. Here is an example; I am a blogger, and every time I write an article I know I must have made some errors in the article. So I select all the content in article and turns them into voice. Mac reads from the start to end. All I have to do is listen carefully to find errors, and rectify them. Mac doesn’t tell where you made mistake, you need to be an active listen. I find it easier than reading, because our eyes don’t check the each and every character of a word. So it is difficult to find spelling errors. In the same way, you can listen to a text book on the internet or listen any texts or document you want.
Text to Speech feature on Mac OS X : How to enable and use
- Go to System Preferences and Select Dictation & Speech as we did to enable Speech to Text.
- Now Select Text to Speech tab. (Note : MacOS Sierra 10.12 users can enable it from System Preferences –> Accessibility–> Speech).
- Select System Voice. A Couple of them are preinstalled, and you will need to download additional file to improve voice quality, or to get additional voice. I found Ava to be the best, so using this one.
- Select the Speaking Rate to increase or decrease the rate of speech.
- Click on Play to test how it sounds.
- When “Announce When Alerts are Displayed” feature is on, Mac will notify you speaking the notification item.
- Option+Esc Key is used by default to enable Text to Speech, that you can customize clicking on Change Key option.
- Once all setup is done, you can start using text to voice.
- To use this feature you can select some or all content of a document, and press Option+Esc (Or the shortcut key you set), and Mac will start reading the file.