This newsletter started as a voice note. I had the idea while making breakfast, said it out loud to my phone, and it was sitting in my notes before I ever sat down at a keyboard.
Most people still use AI the way they use Google: short, careful questions typed into a box. That's slow, and it makes you leave out the context that gets you a good answer.
Speaking is just faster, and it closes gaps in ideas that may otherwise be lost in translation between your head and your keyboard. In a Stanford study, people entered English text on a phone about 3x faster by voice than by typing, 161 words per minute vs. 53 [1]. To be fair, that was short phrases in a quiet room, not a real workday [1]. Your whole week won't get 3x faster. But the speed difference is real.
It helps most when you're away from the desk. Here's a few things to try this week:
- Talk through a client meeting recap on the drive back, then have the AI turn it into a clean checklist.
- Ramble a client reply out loud, then ask it to tighten it up.
- Brain-dump a business idea while walking the dog.
Tools you can try out, today
You can start for free with the mic button on your phone's keyboard. But nowadays, there are powerful AI-enabled apps that will help clean up your dictations as you make them. Plus they can be used across any app on your computer where there is a place to input text.
Here are a couple that we've been using at Deerpath:
- Superwhisper: free with models that run on your own device, so on the free plan nothing you dictate leaves it [2]. Pro is $8.49 a month, adds the AI cleanup, and one license covers Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android [2].
- Wispr Flow: works in any app on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, free up to 2,000 words a week on desktop [3]. Pro is $15 per user a month for unlimited [3]. Transcription always runs in its cloud, so check the privacy settings before you dictate anything sensitive [4].
Right now, we prefer Superwhisper for its privacy feature and lower overall cost.
Speak first, verify second
Do keep in mind that while voice-typing does increase your thought-to-text speed, that's not always a good thing. As always, when AI is involved, it's important to keep a "verify" step in place.
First, make sure you check every name, number, date and price, and that what you've voice-typed is accurate to what you said. These tools are good, but they can still mishear things, and a wrong quote might cost you more than the time you saved. Second, that speed makes it easy to say too much, so be careful what you say out loud. The FTC recommends knowing when an assistant is listening, reviewing how recordings are stored, and deleting old ones [5]. OpenAI says it doesn't train on business workspace data by default [6], but that's no reason to read a customer's card number into it.
Trust but verify. That's a habit you should take with you whenever AI is involved.
If you want help navigating the benefits of using AI-assisted voice typing in your business, grab 15 minutes and I'll show you how I use it day to day.
| Book a 15-minute call |
Sources
- Stanford (Ruan et al.): Speech Is 3x Faster than Typing for English and Mandarin Text Entry on Mobile Devices
- Superwhisper: Plans & Pricing
- Wispr Flow: Pricing
- Wispr Flow: Privacy
- FTC: How To Secure Your Voice Assistant and Protect Your Privacy
- OpenAI: Business data privacy, security, and compliance