Voice Commands Reference
ParrotPadMD uses Dragon-style spoken punctuation, giving you full control over formatting. Simply speak the command naturally, and it converts to the appropriate symbol.
Punctuation Commands
Sentence Endings
| Say This | You Get |
|---|---|
| "period" | . |
| "full stop" | . |
| "question mark" | ? |
| "exclamation point" | ! |
| "exclamation mark" | ! |
Mid-Sentence Punctuation
| Say This | You Get |
|---|---|
| "comma" | , |
| "colon" | : |
| "semicolon" | ; |
| "semi colon" | ; |
| "hyphen" | - |
| "dash" | - |
| "em dash" | — |
| "en dash" | – |
| "ellipsis" | ... |
| "dot dot dot" | ... |
Line Breaks & Paragraphs
| Say This | You Get |
|---|---|
| "new line" | Single line break |
| "next line" | Single line break |
| "line break" | Single line break |
| "new paragraph" | Double line break |
| "paragraph" | Double line break |
Quotation Marks
| Say This | You Get |
|---|---|
| "open quote" | " |
| "open quotes" | " |
| "begin quote" | " |
| "close quote" | " |
| "close quotes" | " |
| "end quote" | " |
| "single quote" | ' |
| "apostrophe" | ' |
Parentheses & Brackets
| Say This | You Get |
|---|---|
| "open paren" | ( |
| "open parenthesis" | ( |
| "left paren" | ( |
| "left parenthesis" | ( |
| "close paren" | ) |
| "close parenthesis" | ) |
| "right paren" | ) |
| "right parenthesis" | ) |
| "open bracket" | [ |
| "left bracket" | [ |
| "close bracket" | ] |
| "right bracket" | ] |
| "open brace" | { |
| "left brace" | { |
| "close brace" | } |
| "right brace" | } |
Symbols & Special Characters
| Say This | You Get |
|---|---|
| "percent" | % |
| "percent sign" | % |
| "degree sign" | ° |
| "degrees" | ° |
| "ampersand" | & |
| "and sign" | & |
| "at sign" | @ |
| "pound sign" | # |
| "number sign" | # |
| "dollar sign" | $ |
| "asterisk" | * |
| "plus sign" | + |
| "equals sign" | = |
| "slash" | / |
| "forward slash" | / |
| "backslash" | \ |
Medical & Scientific Symbols
| Say This | You Get |
|---|---|
| "times" | × |
| "greater than" | > |
| "less than" | < |
| "greater than or equal" | ≥ |
| "less than or equal" | ≤ |
Editing Commands
These commands help you correct mistakes during dictation:
| Say This | What Happens |
|---|---|
| "scratch that" | Deletes the last inserted text chunk |
| "undo that" | Same as "scratch that" |
| "delete that" | Same as "scratch that" |
| "never mind" | Same as "scratch that" |
How "Scratch That" Works:
- Removes the last chunk of text you inserted
- Works on the most recent insertion only
- Can be used multiple times to undo multiple chunks
Recording Control Commands
| Say This | What Happens |
|---|---|
| "stop recording" | Stops the current recording session |
| "stop dictation" | Same as "stop recording" |
When you say "stop recording":
- Any text spoken before the command is inserted
- Recording ends automatically
- Same as pressing Alt/Opt+A or clicking Stop
Capitalization Commands
Control capitalization during dictation with these Dragon-style voice commands:
| Say This | What Happens |
|---|---|
| "caps on" or "all caps" | Start typing in ALL CAPS |
| "caps off" or "no caps" | Return to normal capitalization |
| "cap [word]" or "capitalize [word]" | Capitalize just that word |
Example:
You say: "The patient is mister cap smith and he presents with chest pain"
You get: The patient is mister SMITH and he presents with chest pain
Note: Caps mode persists during a recording session and resets automatically when recording stops.
Automatic Formatting
ParrotPadMD automatically handles these formatting rules:
Capitalization
- First letter of your dictation is capitalized automatically
- After periods — the next word is capitalized
- After question marks — the next word is capitalized
- After exclamation points — the next word is capitalized
- After new paragraphs — the next word is capitalized
Spacing
- No space before punctuation marks (periods, commas, etc.)
- Single space after most punctuation
- Opening quotes/brackets — no space after
- Closing quotes/brackets — no space before
Medical Headers
Google's medical speech model outputs recognized medical section headers in ALL CAPS. By default, ParrotPadMD normalizes these to Title Case for better readability:
- "REVIEW OF SYSTEMS" → "Review of Systems"
- "ASSESSMENT AND PLAN" → "Assessment and Plan"
- "CHIEF COMPLAINT" → "Chief Complaint"
- "HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS" → "History of Present Illness"
- "PHYSICAL EXAMINATION" → "Physical Examination"
This normalization can be disabled in settings if you prefer ALL CAPS headers.
Example Dictations
Progress Note
You say:
"Chief complaint colon chest pain period new paragraph History of present illness colon The patient is a 65 year old female presenting with substernal chest pain times two hours period She describes it as pressure like comma radiating to her left arm period new paragraph Review of systems colon Positive for chest pain and diaphoresis period Negative for shortness of breath comma nausea comma and palpitations period"
You get:
Chief complaint: chest pain.
History of present illness: The patient is a 65 year old female presenting with substernal chest pain × 2 hours. She describes it as pressure-like, radiating to her left arm.
Review of systems: Positive for chest pain and diaphoresis. Negative for shortness of breath, nausea, and palpitations.
Medication
You say:
"Start the patient on lisinopril 10 milligrams daily for hypertension period Follow up in two weeks period"
You get:
Start the patient on lisinopril 10 milligrams daily for hypertension. Follow up in two weeks.
Tips for Voice Commands
- Pause slightly before punctuation commands for clearer recognition
- Speak at normal speed — no need to slow down for commands
- Commands are case-insensitive — "Period", "PERIOD", and "period" all work
- Multi-word commands work naturally — "new paragraph" is recognized as one command
- Corrections are easy — say "scratch that" immediately after mistakes