With the rise of artificial intelligence and voice-assisted technology, it’s no surprise that even applications like PowerPoint are now equipped with speech recognition features. While this can be a valuable tool for creating presentations, there may be times when you need to disable this feature, either for privacy reasons or simply because you don’t require it. So, let’s delve into how you can stop PowerPoint from listening.
Turning Off the ‘Dictate’ Function
PowerPoint’s listening feature is part of the ‘Dictate’ function which transcribes the spoken word into text. To deactivate this feature, follow the steps outlined below:
- Open PowerPoint and navigate to the ‘Home’ tab on the ribbon at the top of the screen.
- Click on the ‘Dictate’ button located in the ‘Voice’ group.
- Once clicked, it will turn off, and PowerPoint will stop listening.
It’s as simple as that. However, if ‘Dictate’ activates itself automatically every time you open PowerPoint, you might need to delve into the application settings to disable it completely.
Adjusting PowerPoint’s Application Settings
If you want to stop PowerPoint’s ‘Dictate’ function from auto-starting, you will need to change the application settings. Here’s how:
- Go to ‘File’ at the top left corner of the application and click on ‘Options’.
- In the ‘PowerPoint Options’ dialog box that opens, click on ‘Advanced’.
- Scroll down to the ‘Voice’ section and uncheck the box that says ‘Automatically turn on Dictate’.
- Click ‘OK’ to save your changes and exit.
Now, the ‘Dictate’ function should remain off unless you manually turn it back on. PowerPoint will no longer listen to your conversations unless you enable the function.
Conclusion
While voice-assisted technology can be useful, not everyone is comfortable with having their software ‘listening in’. By following the steps outlined above, you can keep control over who – or what – is listening. Stay in control of your privacy and enjoy creating your PowerPoint presentations!
