Dictating text is only half the story. The real power of voice-to-text comes when you can control punctuation, formatting, and editing without ever reaching for the keyboard. Steno ships with a carefully chosen set of voice commands that let you do exactly that. This guide covers every command available, explains how Steno tells them apart from regular speech, and shares tips for weaving commands into natural conversation.
Punctuation Commands
Punctuation is the most frequently used category of voice commands. Instead of going back and manually inserting periods and commas after you finish speaking, you can say them inline and Steno will insert the correct character.
| You say | Steno inserts |
|---|---|
period | . |
comma | , |
question mark | ? |
exclamation mark | ! |
For example, if you say "I'll be there at three comma maybe four period", Steno outputs: I'll be there at three, maybe four. The command words themselves are stripped from the output, so you get clean, properly punctuated text every time.
These commands work anywhere within a sentence. You can say "Is that right question mark" and get Is that right?, or say "Wow exclamation mark that was fast" to get Wow! That was fast. The recognition is immediate and reliable because Steno matches against a known list of command phrases before the transcription is finalized.
Formatting Commands
When you need to control the structure of your text, formatting commands handle line breaks and paragraph spacing.
| You say | What happens |
|---|---|
new line | Inserts a single line break |
new paragraph | Inserts a double line break (blank line between paragraphs) |
These are especially useful when dictating emails, documents, or any content that benefits from visual structure. Instead of dictating a wall of text and formatting it later, you can say "Thanks for the update new paragraph I have a couple of follow-up questions" and get a nicely separated two-paragraph message.
The "new line" command is perfect for list-style content. Say "Item one new line item two new line item three" and each item appears on its own line, ready to go.
Editing Commands
Sometimes you need to fix what you just dictated or start fresh. Steno provides basic editing commands that work through your operating system's standard keyboard shortcuts.
| You say | What happens |
|---|---|
select all | Selects all text in the current field (equivalent to Cmd+A) |
undo | Undoes the last action (equivalent to Cmd+Z) |
"Undo" is particularly handy. If Steno transcribes something incorrectly, or if you misspoke, you can immediately say "undo" in your next dictation to reverse it. There is no need to grab the mouse or press any keys. Since Steno types text character by character, a single undo typically removes the entire last dictation, so you can re-speak it cleanly.
"Select all" is useful when you want to replace the entire contents of a text field. Say "select all" and then dictate your new text, and the old content is replaced in one smooth motion.
How Voice Commands Are Detected
A common concern with voice commands is false positives. What if you actually want to type the word "period" in your text? Steno handles this through context-aware detection.
When your speech is transcribed, Steno scans the result for exact matches against the command list. The matching happens on the final transcription text, not on raw audio. This means the speech recognition engine first figures out what you said, and then Steno checks whether any of those words correspond to a known command.
In practice, false positives are rare because the command phrases tend to appear in positions where they clearly function as instructions rather than content. For instance, "period" at the end of a clause is almost always a command. The few edge cases where you genuinely want the word "period" in your text are uncommon enough that the tradeoff heavily favors having the commands active by default.
Tips for Using Commands Naturally
The biggest mistake new users make is pausing dramatically before and after a command. You do not need to do this. Steno is designed to handle commands spoken in the natural flow of a sentence. Here are some practical tips:
- Keep your cadence steady. Say "Let me know if that works period I will check back tomorrow" at your normal speaking pace. You do not need to slow down or leave gaps around "period."
- Chain commands freely. You can say "Thanks for the help exclamation mark new paragraph Talk soon comma and let me know if you need anything period" and get perfectly formatted output.
- Use commands at the start of a dictation. If you want to start a new paragraph from the previous dictation, begin by saying "new paragraph" before your content. The formatting command applies immediately.
- Practice with short messages first. Start by using punctuation commands in Slack messages and emails. Within a day, they become second nature.
- Trust the system. The commands have been tested across thousands of dictations. They work reliably even with fast speech, accents, and background noise.
Building Muscle Memory
Voice commands follow the same learning curve as keyboard shortcuts. The first few days feel slightly awkward because you are consciously thinking about when to say "period" or "new line." After about a week of regular use, the commands become automatic. Your brain starts to treat them as natural extensions of speech, much like how you stopped thinking about Cmd+C and Cmd+V years ago.
The payoff is significant. Once commands are second nature, you can dictate fully formatted, punctuated text in a single pass. No cleanup, no going back to add periods, no manual paragraph breaks. You speak, and the text comes out ready to send.
If you have not tried Steno yet, download it and start with just the punctuation commands. Within a few hours of use, you will wonder how you ever dictated without them.