The microphone picks up your voice and translates it into text.

However, in OS X Yosemite, dictation is essentially speech-to-text, and it allows you speak what you would otherwise type. This means that dictation can be all sorts of things, liking jotting down notes in class or writing down ideas that someone shouts out during a business meeting. If you look up the word “dictation” in the dictionary, it means “the action of saying words aloud to be typed, written down, or recorded on tape.” Here’s a brief explainer on what dictation is and how to set it up on your Mac.

Luckily, it’s really easy to get it set up and begin using. OS X Yosmite has dictation abilities, but you have to enable the feature first before you can start using it. This is why dictation can be a useful feature on computers. Your wrists can become tired after a long period of typing, which can lead to carpal tunnel and other discomforting effects. The same could be said for any typing in general. It’s a feature that’s especially convenient on the iPhone, as the small on-screen keyboard isn’t exactly ideal for typing out long messages. Just like on the iPhone, Mac users can talk into the microphone and have it translated into text, saving you from having to type out long-winded responses. Typing away on your Mac is second nature, but if you’d rather turn your speech into text instead, here’s how to enable dictation in OS X Yosemite.

How to use apple dictation