How to Use Voice Commands in Mac OS 9

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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You speak, your Mac obeys. Your voice can open files, applications, and even shut down your Mac.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Connect an Apple PlainTalk or USB microphone to your Mac, unless you have a built-in microphone. Position any external microphone within three feet of the speaking source (you).
Step 2

Make sure you select the proper microphone in the Monitors and Sound control panel.
Step 3

Open the Speech control panel and turn on Speakable Items. Follow the directions for choosing your settings.
Step 4

Set the button for how your Mac listens for commands: the default is pressing the Esc key and speaking a command. You can choose another "listening key," or have your Mac listen all the time. (See Warnings).
Step 5

Set how the computer gives you feedback. You can have the "feedback window" write out your command, have your Mac make a sound when a command is recognized, or (by default) speak a response to your command.

Tips & Warnings

The Speakable Items folder stores all of the commands your Mac will recognize and the names of the files, folders and applications it will open on command.
You can drag an alias (document, folder, application, AppleScript) into this folder and it will become a Speakable Item. Drag the alias out of the folder to reverse the process.
If you can't find the Speech control panel or the Speakable Items command, make sure these have been installed. You can add them using the Custom Install option on your Mac OS CD.
If you set your Mac to listen for commands all the time, be sure you remember that anything you say or do can be used against you! It's best to set your Mac to execute a command after a specific greeting, such as "Hey, computer."

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