SpeechBee

Guide

Voice to text for email and Slack

Email and chat are where most of us type the most, and where talking saves the most time. A reply you'd spend two minutes typing takes thirty seconds to say. Here is how to set up voice to text for Mail, Gmail, Outlook and Slack on a Mac, and how to avoid sending something embarrassing.

By the SpeechBee team, who make SpeechBee. Updated 12 October 2026

On this page
  1. Why dictate messages
  2. Option 1: Apple Dictation
  3. Option 2: a one-key dictation app
  4. How to sound like yourself
  5. Check before you send
  6. Privacy at work
  7. Questions
  8. Keep reading
  9. Sources

Why dictate messages

Messages are short, conversational and frequent, which is exactly what speech is good at. You already know what you want to say. The slow part is typing it. Long replies benefit most: the careful answer to a client, the explanation in a Slack thread, the follow-up after a meeting.

Option 1: Apple Dictation

Built into every Mac. Turn it on in System Settings, Keyboard, Dictation, then press the Microphone key or your shortcut in the message box. It works in Mail, Gmail and Outlook in the browser or app, and Slack. It stops after 30 seconds of silence and has no custom dictionary on Mac, so colleagues' names may need fixing. See how to dictate on a Mac.

Option 2: a one-key dictation app

If you send a lot of messages, a dictation app with a global shortcut removes the friction. Hold a key in the reply box, talk, let go, and the message appears. The useful extras for messages:

  • A dictionary for colleagues', clients' and product names, so you fix them once.
  • Snippets. Say "my calendar link" and get the URL. Say "my sign-off" and get your full signature.
  • Filler removal. "Um" and "uh" come out, so the message reads as if typed.

SpeechBee, which we make, does all three. Others, including Wispr Flow and Aqua Voice, also use AI to restyle messages, which some people like and others find puts words in their mouth. We compare them in the best dictation apps for Mac.

How to sound like yourself

  • Say it the way you'd say it to the person. Dictated messages often sound more natural than typed ones.
  • Add punctuation out loud where it matters: "period", "comma", "question mark", "new paragraph".
  • Keep a greeting and sign-off as snippets, so every message starts and ends cleanly.
  • Do short messages in one take. For long emails, dictate a paragraph at a time.

Check before you send

Dictation sometimes hears a different word, and in a message that can be embarrassing. Glance over it before you press Send, especially names and numbers. In Slack, pressing Return sends the message, so finish dictating and check before you press it.

For long emails, listening works better than rereading. Select the text and have it read aloud: SpeechBee reads selected text with a natural local voice, and macOS Speak selection does it free with Option-Esc. You hear the missing word your eyes skip over.

Privacy at work

If your messages include client or company information, check where your dictation is processed. Cloud dictation apps send your audio to their servers. Apple says general dictation may be processed on your Mac, which you can check in Keyboard settings. SpeechBee transcribes on your Mac and never uploads your audio. Your email and Slack provider still receive the message itself, of course.

Voice to text
New message

Hi Maya, I'll send the revised proposal tomorrow morning.

SpeechBee's listening indicator on Mac
Hold your key, talk, let go. The text lands at the cursor.
Text to speech
Article

Most people read faster than they speak. SpeechBee reads the sentence you selected out loud, while you keep working.

SpeechBee's Read Aloud player on Mac
Select text, press your reading key, listen.

Reply by voice in any app. Free for 7 days.

Voice to text and Read Aloud on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. After the week, $9 a month, $79 a year, or $99 once. Every plan has every feature.

Download for MacGet it for iPhone & iPad

Questions

Can I dictate emails on a Mac?

Yes. Turn on Dictation in System Settings, Keyboard, then press the Microphone key in any email. It works in Mail, Gmail and Outlook. A dictation app with a global shortcut works the same way.

Does dictation work in Slack on a Mac?

Yes. Apple Dictation and dictation apps type into Slack's message box like any other text field.

How do I add my email signature by voice?

Use a dictation app with snippets. Save your signature as a snippet, then say its trigger phrase. SpeechBee supports this.

How do I stop dictation getting colleagues' names wrong?

Add them to your dictation app's dictionary once. Apple Dictation on Mac has no custom dictionary.

Keep reading

Sources

All checked on 12 October 2026.