Training
I’m happy to say that having attended my Dragon Accreditation training program – a two day update session for the latest release of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I passed the online examination that followed!
This means that I am currently one of only seven trainers in the country who are accredited for the latest version of Dragon!
Neil Sleight
Accreditation Certificate version 13!
No, it’s not the film!
I hope that this post will help you understand exactly ‘what does Dragon training involve?’
I take the time to find out about the work that you do and how you would like Dragon to help you, and then customise my training so that you will get the most benefit from it in the shortest time possible.
It is broken down so the initial part will cover setting the software up correctly and ensuring that you obtain the highest possible level of accuracy.
We will then look at the basics of dictating in Microsoft Word or other word processor if you use something different, and we again focus on commands that get you up and running quickly! Commands covered here will include correcting Dragon when it makes a mistake, formatting and deleting text, and controlling the Ribbon by voice. I like to try to complete some ‘real’ work if possible rather than just academic training.
Similarly for Outlook, there are a number of fairly simple commands that we can cover to virtually allow emails to be dealt with without touching the keyboard. Commands covered will include opening, closing, deleting, replying to and creating emails, and moving between fields in the email message.
Excel can be more complex and this often depends on how much detail is included your spreadsheets. I usually cover the basics of entering data, moving from cell to cell, and completing simple formulas. If we have time, we can look at a typical spreadsheet and work with this.
For your bespoke systems, we can try dictating into these and see how well Dragon responds. There is a fall back system that can be used if it doesn’t work well directly. I would also look for keyboard shortcuts for navigating around these systems because I can then create custom commands for these systems and this really personalises Dragon to get the most benefits from it!
We will then have a look at accessing the Internet with voice commands, typically so you can quickly access links, buttons, boxes or other elements on the page, and quickly navigate between pages. Although not essential, if you are comfortable with these commands, they will really save time and they are impressive to see in action!
I will also provide a free copy of my concise Dragon training manual, developed over 20 years, and a link to a weekly newsletter that gives a bit more information about all of the topics mentioned above – and a few more!