One of the best “hidden” features in Google Docs and Google Slides is voice typing. By enabling this simple tool you give Google access to your microphone and you can talk instead of typing. From my experience, the translation is pretty good. It even picks up on punctuation marks.
Here’s how to do it:
Step 1 Open up a Google Doc or Google Sheet
Just make sure you have a Google account and create a Google Doc or Slide by using the following three options
- Google Drive: Go to New and then click on Doc or Slide
- New Google Doc
- New Google Slide
Step 2 Go to Tools and Voice Typing
Step 3 Click on the Microphone (and allow Chrome to use your microphone)
When you click on Voice typing a microphone will appear. Depending on your screen size it will show up in the margin or on the doc/slide itself. If it appears in a location that you don’t like you can click, hold, and drag it around the screen.
Click on the microphone and start talking. You may have to allow your browser to access your microphone. If you get a pop-up, click on Allow otherwise voice typing will not work. When you are recording the microphone will have a red circle around it. Finally, when done, click on the microphone again and you can type like normal.
If you need to change the language that you are speaking in, click on the small triangle drop-down next to the currently selected language. There are a ton of languages to choose from.
Google Slides Differences
You are not able to type actual slides using your voice. Google Slides allows you to use your voice to type speaker notes.
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