del.icio.us
If you're a slow typist, using a speech recognition program may boost your productivity. People speak at 100 to 175 WPM. If you only type 30 WPM, using a program that recognizes your speech could increase your productivity by 5 times.
To use a program that recognizes your speech, you speak into a microphone that's connected to your computer. Then as you speak, the program will translate your words into text on the computer. It will do your typing for you.
There are different speech recognition programs out there you can use. In one program, you can even speak commands into your computer. To open a file, you can say, "File open." This can be handy if you have trouble finding commands, such as opening a file. (But then again, you can always press Ctrl+O which is faster than saying "file open." But learning the shortcut keys takes some initial effort.)
If you have Windows Vista, it comes with a program that recognizes your speech. To find it, press the Start button and type "speech recognition" in the "Start Search" field. You'll see a program called "Windows Speech Recognition." You can configure it by selecting the program "Speech Recognition Options."
The programs you use to recognize your speech won't have 100% accuracy. So it'll make mistakes here and there. If you don't mind a little editing, the program can be beneficial. It's even more beneficial if you're a slow typer. Give it a try and see if it boosts your productivity. If it doesn't, you can always scrap it. So there's nothing to lose.
