Features of Persona
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Talking with Persona.
To begin speaking, type text into the application window. When you have the phrase on the screen, you can speak
by pressing the Esc key, or you can press the Speak button on the top of the screen. Settings for speech output
can be to speak every character, speak each word when you press the space bar, speak each sentence when you press a
punctuation mark, or speak all when you are ready. If you are talking to someone over the phone, it is best to use
the speak each word setting to keep the listener involved in the conversation while you type. Replay the entire
message for them when you have finished the sentence.
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Word Completion |
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Word prediction will appear on the left side of the screen if it is turned on in Preferences. Press the
number next to the desired word to select a predicted word. Selecting predicted words from the list reduces keystrokes
while typing. The Persona program learns from your typing and offers words that you have used before.
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Word Prediction |
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Persona tracks word sequences and predicts the next word after you complete the prior word. If you
need to type a number from one to six, check mark the Numbers box in the word prediction window.
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Abbreviation / Expansion (AbEx) |
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Store your own acronyms that you use frequently so you can type out entire phrases with a minimum of
keystrokes. These are short cuts to phrases you use often. Persona can learn an acronym and expand it out to a phrase
for you. For example, you might use "cc" to expand out to "May I please have a cup of coffee?",
or "mn" to expand out to "My name is Doug."
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Speech Exceptions (SpEx) |
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Not all the words we spell sound the way we would want to say them. Train Persona to pronounce
certain words or proper names phonetically so that they sound better to you. .
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Stored Phrases in Phrase Bank |
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To select a stored message or to add a new phrase to the library, press the Phrase button on the top of
the screen. Scroll down to the phrase you want, or type the first letter of the phrase to jump to that area of the
phrases. Press or double click on the message to speak it (or use the key when phrase is highlighted).
Store your frequently used phrases alphabetically and speak from the list. Create categories to group messages by
topic.
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Dialogue Scripts |
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Prepare for future conversations or save what you have said during a conversation. You can prepare a
dialogue for a conversation you are going to have and save it for later. Type out your side of a future conversation.
Then go into the File menu and Save the script as a file.
For example, if you know that you are going to see your best friend, type out greetings for when they
arrive, questions about them, stories about what is going on with you, or whatever you want to talk about. Save the
entire conversation as "Visit with Marie". Then when Marie arrives, go into the File menu, Open the Marie
file, and speak the sentences you have prepared. You can always type more during the conversation, and add thoughts
you hadn't saved yet.
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Persona is provided with high quality DECtalk speech in American English voices, and is now available
in NeoSpeech on our Polyana-JT for a more natural sounding voice. |
