Why I Just Love Dragon Naturally Speaking

The Dragon has spoken! Seriously it has. In 2007 I had an acute stroke which left me unable to speak, walk or do anything for myself. Over time and with a lot of work I earned and gained everything back with the exception of the usage with my right hand and my speech becomes slurred every now and then especially after a long day. My speech therapist, while recovering from the stroke, had this wonderful suggestion. What was it? To get this great new program called Dragon that types what you say. This was GREAT news for me because I was self-employed and REALLY needed to get back to my career in Public Relations which is a ton of typing involving responding to emails, developing in depth marketing plans, pounding out press releases, presenting in PowerPoint and more. So I was ready to get this great product called Dragon. Well, I quickly discovered the great product was $299 and all though I could not afford to live without it I also constantly had to select my medicine over it.

Let’s fast forward seven years. The price went down a couple of time however I was recently blessed to be able to review it complimentary. PLEASE know this is an honest review and I am not being compensated in form. I did get the product complimentary however nothing else is being exchanged for this review.

Dragon Naturally Speaking has been a God send to me. No more typing with one hand. My typing speed is almost double what it was before the stroke which allows me to get SO much more work done and to not stay up all night trying to meet deadlines. My twenty hour days have literally been reduced to ten and twelve hour days. I am so grateful!

I attend a lot of conferences throughout the year and all though I look a little interesting with the headset on I am a BEAST with my live tweets, status updates and recaps now. I cannot wait for BlogHer, BlogHer Food, iRetreat, Blogaliocious and more! I will advise every blogger to get The Dragon. Timing is no longer a challenge.

The BIG Set Up
Setting it up was a bit challenging for me because I have an older (five years) laptop. I would recommend a newer computer to ease the installation process. I would also recommend installing online versus the CD. However once you get it set up it quickly becomes a breeze.

Getting Started
You get to go through this really unique speech pattern to ensure Dragon understands your method of speaking. They provide you with a paragraph or two to read through until Dragon completely understands your speech pattern. It stated this would be about forty five minutes process however because of my speech challenges it took me about six hours over two days. No worries. I appreciate this requirement because some of my wording was not immediately recognized by Dragon. Also, please note the program has many updates from the online installation so be prepared to update it at least twice.

Going Forward
Great support and tutorials along the way. I have been sent two emails of guidance which has helped tremendously.

I love my new Dragon product and affectionately call it The Dragon!!!!! I would highly recommend it to anyone and especially victims of a health challenge which has left them with typing and/or speech challenges. Please stay tuned to the blog as I plan to give to another review in about two weeks.