Enable Dictation

You can save yourself hours of typing by talking to your Mac.

With AI, better context means better results. But there’s a gap between knowing this and doing it. Even as someone who writes constantly (running remote companies made me a pretty effective writer), I still hesitate before diving into those long, context-rich prompts that yield the best outputs.

The solution is simpler than you might think: macOS dictation. I completely slept on this feature, assuming I needed diction of a US president. However, it’s surprisingly accurate for non-native speakers too - just hit F5 and talk.

Now instead of carefully typing out detailed prompts, I can talk through my thought process naturally. Same goes for drafting documents or emails (with some cleanup before sending). This post started as pure dictation.

Here’s why it works: verbal expression of complex ideas is fundamentally easier than typing. We do it effortlessly in meetings and conversations. But for many people, writing is an order of magnitude harder than speaking. Remove the typing friction, and you’re more likely to tap into the full potential of AI.

Try hitting F5 next time you’re staring at that blank prompt. Let your Mac do the typing while you focus on the thinking.