Dictation

Overview

Dictation turns speech into text in any app on your computer. Hold a shortcut, say what you want written, and let go. MeetingDebrief types the text into the app you were already using (an editor, a terminal, a chat box, an email) and keeps a copy under Dictation in the sidebar. Dictation runs on the same local speech engine as your meetings, so your voice never leaves your computer.

Requirements

Dictation needs the Parakeet TDT v3 (Multilingual) speech model, which is fast enough to transcribe as you speak. Download it once (about 714 MB) in Settings → Models. After that, dictation works offline. Parakeet supports 25 languages, including English and Dutch.

A 15-second dictation is typed out within a fraction of a second of letting go of the shortcut.

Your first dictation

1. Click into any text field: an editor, a terminal, a chat box.
2. Hold the shortcut and say what you want written, then let go.
3. The text is typed in for you, and kept on the Dictation page so you can find it again.

The shortcut

The default shortcut is Control+Alt+D: ⌃⌥D on macOS and Ctrl+Alt+D on Windows. Change it in Settings → Dictation → Shortcut.

Modifiers on their own work too: you can set the shortcut to hold ⌃⌥ and speak. Pressing another key while the modifiers are held leaves the shortcut alone, so combinations like ⌃⌥← keep doing their usual job.

How it starts and stops

Choose one of three modes under How it starts and stops:

• Hold the keys while you speak: push-to-talk. Recording stops when you let go.
• Press to start, press again to stop: hands-free. Press the shortcut once to begin and again when you are done.
• Both: a tap keeps recording, holding is push-to-talk: a quick tap starts a hands-free recording; holding works like push-to-talk.

Press Esc while dictating to throw the recording away.

The dictation window

A small window shows what is happening while you speak:

• A level meter that moves with your voice.
• Your words as they are recognized. Words that are still being revised appear dimmed.
• A status line with the elapsed time and a running word count.
• An esc Discard button while you are recording.

The status line moves through these states:

• Listening: recording has started and no speech has been heard yet.
• Recording: your words are appearing.
• Finalizing: you let go and the final text is being prepared.
• Pasted: the text was typed into your app.
• Copied: the text was saved and placed on the clipboard, but not pasted.

The window appears at the bottom of the screen by default. Move it to the top with Show the dictation window.

Pasting and your clipboard

With Paste into the app I'm using turned on, MeetingDebrief pastes the text for you. Pasting goes through the clipboard, so with Keep what I had copied turned on, whatever you had copied is put back afterwards. Copy a log, dictate "take a look at this error", and the log is still there to paste underneath.

Pasting respects your keyboard layout, so it works on Dvorak, AZERTY, and other layouts.

Some places block pasting, such as password fields and elevated (administrator) windows on Windows. In that case the text stays on the clipboard and the dictation window tells you to paste it yourself.

Permissions on macOS

macOS needs Accessibility access before MeetingDebrief can paste for you. The Dictation settings panel asks for it and explains why; click Grant access. A shortcut made of modifiers only also needs Input Monitoring access.

Sound and other audio

• Mute other audio while dictating: music and other audio are muted while you speak, then restored exactly as they were, including the volume level and including when you cancel. A system you had already muted is left alone.
• Play a sound when recording starts and stops: an audible cue for the start and end of each dictation.

Your vocabulary

Dictation runs through the same Vocabulary as your meetings, so product names, people, and jargon come out spelled the way you mean them.

Dictation history

Every dictation is saved on the Dictation page, grouped by day. Each entry shows the text, the time, and its length. Play the audio back, copy the text again, or delete the entry.

Use Search dictations on the Dictation page, or the global search palette (Cmd+K or Cmd+F on macOS, Ctrl+K or Ctrl+F on Windows). In global search, dictations appear in their own group after meetings. Type is:dictation to search dictations only, or is:meeting to leave them out.

Dictated into the wrong window? The tray menu can copy your last dictation.

Keeping audio

Keep dictation audio controls how long the recording of each dictation is kept: Don't keep audio, For 7 days, For 30 days (the default), For 90 days, or Keep it. The text stays until you delete it.

Troubleshooting

The Dictation page names whatever is stopping dictation and offers a button that fixes it:

• Dictation is switched off: click Enable dictation. Your saved dictations stay where they are.
• Dictation needs the Parakeet speech model: click Go to Models and download Parakeet.
• Dictation has no shortcut: click Choose a shortcut and pick a key combination that does not clash with starting a recording.

If the text is copied but never pasted on macOS, check that MeetingDebrief has Accessibility access in System Settings → Privacy & Security.