Anyone Use A Voice Recorder and/or Voice-to-Text Software to Write Articles? | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

I have been looking for ways to increase the speed and efficiency of my writing. Often, I will think of ideas and talk them out while driving to work in the morning, or while getting a haircut, or even having a conversation with a friend.

It would be great if I could record these moments and then load the file to my computer and then use software to transcribe the recording!

Has anyone ever tried this for blogging? If so, did you have good results? Are there a lot of problems to doing this? 

Thanks!

I don't but now you have me thinking. You might just be on to something here. I would love to rest my hands and get away from the computer. I am curious to hear what others have experienced.

I've used one, but don't do it regularly.  I have Dragon Naturally Speaking, but haven't spent enough time training it.  I've also used fiverr to get it transcribed.  I can usually get 2-3 articles per gig.

I use Evernote on my phone to jot down potential titles and quick points that I think of out of the blue, thenwhen I get to my desktop, I log in and access everything I noted.

I used to have Dragon Naturally speaking but even after training, it was like the autocorrect on cellphones–it would change words that it didn't recognize and sometimes not pick up on some things spoken at all.  I haven't used it in some time so it the developers may have enhanced it's value and recognition ability, so if you can get a trial and play with it a bit it could be very helpful.

Miss T @ Prairie Eco-Thrifter said:

I use Evernote for a ton of other things in my life but I have never thought of it for the blog. Great idea. Thanks.

Eric J. Nisall said:

I use Evernote on my phone to jot down potential titles and quick points that I think of out of the blue, thenwhen I get to my desktop, I log in and access everything I noted.

I used to have Dragon Naturally speaking but even after training, it was like the autocorrect on cellphones–it would change words that it didn't recognize and sometimes not pick up on some things spoken at all.  I haven't used it in some time so it the developers may have enhanced it's value and recognition ability, so if you can get a trial and play with it a bit it could be very helpful.

 

I use the blog title for the note title and use the body to put down points to consider for the post.  Kind of like an outline

Eric, that's actually a great idea. Evernote has been one of those things I've been meaning to explore more, but just haven't made the time to do so. That seems like a great way to have a repository for brainstorming or when ideas just pop into your head – accessible anywhere. Thanks.

I have used CopyTalk and now Mobile Assistant to write posts many of times.   They are both paid for transcription services and run me about $50 a month.   Seems pricey but I also use it for my business to write letters, respond to emails, take notes following a client meeting, etc.  

If you have a smart phone that has Apps, see if there are any apps you can download.  I tried Dragon but the quality wasn't what I needed.  I was having to go back and edit just as if I was writing the post from scratch.

Jeff Rose said:

I have used CopyTalk and now Mobile Assistant to write posts many of times.   They are both paid for transcription services and run me about $50 a month.   Seems pricey but I also use it for my business to write letters, respond to emails, take notes following a client meeting, etc.  

If you have a smart phone that has Apps, see if there are any apps you can download.  I tried Dragon but the quality wasn't what I needed.  I was having to go back and edit just as if I was writing the post from scratch.

So for these services, do you just upload your recordings and they send you transcriptions? Two questions about Dragon:

1) Have you used it recently? Do you remember the version?

2) How did you use the software? Did you speak into a microphone in front of the computer or did you record yourself on a voice recorder and upload it later?

Thanks!

KNS Financial said:

To those who responded with Evernote (I've never used it) or some other note taking software, do you find that it's enough to just write down a quick point or idea?

I use evernote a lot.  I keep to-do lists, article ideas, reminders, audio clips, etc.  If I see a movie at Walmart I want to watch, I snap a pic with my phone and save it to evernote.

I have hundreds of article ideas sitting there.   For speed of writing, it's best to do the article topic and an outline, but mostly, I just save the topic.

KNS Financial said:

Jeff Rose said:

I have used CopyTalk and now Mobile Assistant to write posts many of times.   They are both paid for transcription services and run me about $50 a month.   Seems pricey but I also use it for my business to write letters, respond to emails, take notes following a client meeting, etc.  

If you have a smart phone that has Apps, see if there are any apps you can download.  I tried Dragon but the quality wasn't what I needed.  I was having to go back and edit just as if I was writing the post from scratch.

So for these services, do you just upload your recordings and they send you transcriptions? Two questions about Dragon:

1) Have you used it recently? Do you remember the version?

2) How did you use the software? Did you speak into a microphone in front of the computer or did you record yourself on a voice recorder and upload it later?

Thanks!

With Mobile Assistant I just call from my cell phone and within 24 hours I get an email with the typed out transcription.   Why I dropped Copy talk is that they had a 4 min cut off.  That got old really quick.  I would have to start with a 2nd call recording which meant a separate email.  That and the transcription weren't the greatest.  Not an issue with Mobile Assistant.

I have not used Dragon lately.   I just have the App on my iPhone.

I think they do have a version where you can speak directly into a microphone on your computer.