Michael Clark – Slowing down in 2024
Based in the south island with his wife Katherine, Michael has been involved in teaching and education for over 40 years and saw again and again the need for assistive technology. His interest in assistive and adaptive technology led to Dragon NaturallySpeaking back in 2000. Ironically we clashed initially as the reseller he was working for was squeezing margins and I was  presumed to be “responsible” as the distributor.  One of my great friends now, and working with Voice Power as our South Island support / trainer for the last 6 years, many of you will have dealt with Mike over the phone or via remote support. In 2024 he hopes to slow down, but will still be training and supporting Dragon users in the assistive technology space and filling in on the phones and remote support. My visits to Hotel Prebbleton have been a joy and will continue. All those who know Mike, know his stories are varied and fascinating and I have asked him to put his years with Dragon down in words:

Mikes words:

“About 25 years ago an acquaintance of mine asked me if I knew anything about Dragon software. At that time all I knew was the name, but apparently the local agent for the company that was then called Dragon was looking for somebody in my area to offer training in the use of Dragon. I bought a copy of the software, trained myself and have been training myself and other people in the use of speech to text software ever since. Along the way I have learned a lot of very valuable lessons both about training people and about the software itself. When I started using the software is was at version 4. These days the version that sits on individual computers is version 16. There are also cloud-based versions, but most of the training I focus on is with the software installed on an individual’s computer and doesn’t necessarily need to be connected to the Internet while the software is being used. I have used the software in many ways over the last 25 years, including writing exams with it. I answer emails with it and occasionally will compose something like this article with it. I am semi-retired so there’s no great demand for me to write a lot, but I did think it might be worthwhile explaining why training is so important for Dragon users.

There are two aspects to the use of speech to text software:

1. The first is the software itself.
   It must be properly installed, with the proper personalised profile options chosen. I once had a client from the Indian subcontinent who was struggling with Dragon because his IT department had installed the default US profile. They hadn’t bothered to look for the Indian English language model which has been in Dragon for a long time. That same client taught me a very important lesson. His wife was a Hindi speaker only and while I was with him she called him on the phone. He’d been speaking English to me and switched to Hindi while he was talking to his wife. I then realised that the rhythms of Hindi and the rhythms of his spoken English were the same. That’s why he needed the proper Indian English language module for his Dragon profile.
2. The second aspect is the skill of dictating.
   Many of the people I’ve worked with are excellent dictators, but I’ve also met some of the worst. Dictating text requires you to know what you want to say and how you want to say it. And as with anything it requires preparation. I think it was Winston Churchill who when asked to make a speech said “how long do you want me to to talk?”,  “Why?” was the reply. “Well” said Mr Churchill, “it depends on how long you want me to speak for. The speech of 10 to 15 minutes may require a few hours of preparation the longer speech of a few hours may require days, but with no time limit no preparation required at all.”  The same concept losely applies to dictating documents, whether they be important formal documents, letters or emails.
   It is better to be prepared so as to get things right first time, than to waste time rambling.  Think about what you want to say and speak in natural sentences.