SpeechMagic™Tips - Nuance

SpeechMagic™Tips

How to get the best out of your speech recognition application.



SpeechMagic Tips

Here are our tips for working with speech
recognition applications powered by SpeechMagic™.
By keeping in mind a few simple guidelines you
will be able both to work more efficiently and to
optimize your recognition results.

Before you start dictating

The working environment
Institution-wide spelling guidelines are a good idea, for
example, for abbreviations. Before you start using speech
recognition, clarifying the spelling system to be used,
with the typing pool and other users, helps to make the
correction process more straightforward.
Good sound quality is vital for good recognition. A
workstation using speech recognition should not be close
to a source of background noise (like a radio). If it is, the
system will learn to compensate but the recognition results
will always be affected. As a general rule, the lower the
background noise the better the recognition.

How to hold the microphone
• Hold your microphone at a constant distance from your

mouth. In a quiet environment, this should be around
10 cm/3.5 – 4 inches. In a noisy environment this can be
reduced to around 5 cm/2 inches.

The distance between mouth and microphone
should not exceed 10 cm.

The optimal position: below your mouth,
about 10 cm away.

• Avoid noise from breathing; position the microphone
element to the side of or below your mouth. Do not
hold the microphone directly in front of your mouth.
If the microphone moves away from the optimal position,
your results might suffer.

• Hold the microphone in a comfortable way. Any friction
on the microphone, for example, rubbing motions, can
interfere with the sound quality.

• If you dictate into a microphone which is lying on a table
it may conduct additional noise as it will pick up vibrations
from the surface on which it is lying; this will negatively
affect your recognition results.

Audio Wizard
• Running the Audio Wizard is crucial to prepare the

system for your recording environment.
• Make sure that you run the Audio Wizard in conditions

similar to those you will use when dictating real
reports. For example, if you will be working in a loud
environment, do not ask those around you to be quiet
while you run the Audio Wizard.

• When the Audio Wizard asks you to adjust the recording
volume, you should read the text at the same volume
and style that you will use when dictating real reports.

• You should re-run the Audio Wizard from time to
time and if anything changes (temporarily or permanently)
in your recording environment. For example, a new
microphone or a change in background noise.

Initial Training
When using SpeechMagic for the first time, Initial Training
enables the recognition process to become familiar with
your speech characteristics more quickly. Non-native
speakers and native speakers who are new to dictating
or speech recognition are encouraged to run the Initial
Training; for others it is optional. Only run Initial Training
once.

How to dictate

• Dictate everything you want included in the report.
We recommend you to:
• Dictate grammatically
• Dictate clearly
• Dictate punctuation
• Dictate with a natural pace. It is important to
pronounce all syllables

Try to avoid:
• Hesitations, for example, um, ah
• Interruptions
• Making unnatural pauses, for example in the
middle of a date
• Superfluous speech, for example, thank you this is the
end of the report
• Over enunciation

• Keep your style constant; this way the system can adapt
to you. If you speak in a way unnatural to you (for
example, more slowly and with emphasis, because you
think you could facilitate accurate recognition); you will

be adapting to the system, not the other way around.

• Keep your dictation volume constant, for example, do
not move the microphone or your head. If you want to
change the volume at which you speak, make sure to run
the Audio Wizard again.

• If dictation is interrupted or you need to pause for any
reason you should stop the microphone until you are
ready to start again. If you pause for a moment to plan
your next sentence you do not need to press the Stop
button.

• Do not stop in the middle of a phrase. A logical place to
pause is, of course, at periods and commas.

Correcting your dictation

• Correct all recognition errors. The system is constantly
learning and if you do not correct errors, the way that the
system learns will be counterproductive.

• Constantly checking and correcting every small mistake
as is occurs is not efficient working practice with speech
recognition.
We recommend waiting until you have finished, for
example, a whole paragraph and then correct it.

• You can correct by manually typing or by selecting the
incorrect text and dictating over it.
• For recognition errors we recommend manually typing
the correct text.
• For mistakes (for example, ‘left arm’ instead of
‘right arm’) we recommend selecting the text and
dictating over it. This ensures that the sound remains
synchronized with the text which means the system
can learn from it.

• When selecting text in order to dictate over it, it is better
to select a whole phrase (the words surrounding the
wrong word) and not individual words.

• Dictate your information in the order you want it to be in
the report, for example, findings come before conclusion.
Try to avoid cutting and pasting sections of the text within
the report.

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