How to Use AI Faster: Talk, Don't Type
The fastest change you can make with AI has nothing to do with prompts. Speak to it instead of typing. Here's how to switch it on in Windows or on a Mac, and why the answers get better as well as quicker.
The short answer
The fastest way to use AI better is to talk to it instead of typing, and it costs nothing to switch on. Windows 11 has Voice Access built in under Accessibility, then Interaction, then Speech. Macs have Voice Control in the same part of System Settings. ChatGPT and Claude also both have their own voice mode, in a browser and on mobile. Talking is roughly three to four times faster than typing for most people, and it produces better answers, because when your fingers aren't getting tired you stop cutting corners and give the AI the context it needed all along.
At a glance
- Time
- ≈ 2 minutes to switch on
- Cost
- Free
- You need
- A microphone
- Where
- Windows or Mac settings
AI has made me far more productive. But it isn't the AI on its own that did it.
It's the way I use it.
The single biggest change I've made has nothing to do with prompts, prompt frameworks, or any clever wording. I stopped typing and started talking.
I think better when I speak than when I type. I didn't grow up texting, so speaking out loud is simply easier for me, and my output went up the moment I switched.
Most of us are so used to doing something one way that we never look for a better way. We just keep typing.
You can do this at your desk, in the car, walking around the house. Watch the video above and you'll see it running on real tasks.
Key takeaways
- 01
Talking is roughly three to four times faster than typing. Most people speak at around 150 words per minute and type at about 40. That gap is hours of your week, not seconds of your day.
- 02
The answers get better, not just quicker. When you type, your fingers get tired, so you abbreviate and leave context out. When you speak, you naturally give more detail, and detail is what the AI needed.
- 03
It's free and already installed. Windows 11 has Voice Access and Macs have Voice Control, both sitting in Accessibility settings. Nothing to buy, nothing to download.
- 04
Voice Access works across every application, not just AI. Once it's on, you can talk to your browser, your email, your documents. AI is just where the payoff is biggest.
- 05
Your wrists are part of this too. US Department of Labor figures put the average time off work to recover from a repetitive strain injury at 23 days. That's most of a month, because your hands couldn't keep up.
The shift I didn't expect is the reason I still do this.
When you type, you tend to ask for one thing. A single task, phrased tightly, because typing is effort and you're economising without noticing.
When you talk, you think out loud. You give the background, you say what you're worried about, you mention the thing that's been nagging at you. And all of that is exactly what the AI needed to give you something useful.
You stop thinking like someone executing a task and start thinking like someone solving a problem. You focus on the what and the why instead of getting stuck in the how.
A developer put it better than I can: "when typing prompts, there's always the temptation to be concise. Your fingers get tired, but with AI, detailed prompts consistently produce better results."
We're using AI to work smarter, and then bottlenecking the whole thing at the keyboard.
Prefer to watch
9:11Turning it on and using it properly
Turn on Voice Access in Windows 11
Press the Windows key and I to open Settings.
Go to Accessibility on the left, scroll down to Interaction, and open Speech. Toggle Voice Access on.
That's it. It's now running, and you'll see a bar at the top of your screen.
Wake it up
Say "Voice access, wake up." Or press the mic button on that bar.
You'll see it change to listening. Now everything you say goes wherever your cursor is.
Try it on something real
Don't test it with "hello." Give it an actual job so you can feel the difference.
Mine was opening the browser, going to a chat, and dictating a client email: pushing a deadline back a week because of a technical issue, apologetic but confident in tone, with a specific new delivery date included.
That's a long, specific instruction. Typing it is a chore. Saying it takes seconds.
Stop asking, start thinking out loud
This is the step that changes your results rather than your speed.
Instead of one tight question, talk through the actual problem the way you'd talk it through with a colleague. What you're weighing up. What you already suspect. Who your audience is. What you're worried about.
Then ask for the breakdown at the end.
Pause it when you need to
Say "Voice access, sleep" and it stops listening, so it isn't typing out everything happening in the room.
Say "Voice access, wake up" when you're ready again. Use this more than you think you will.
Or use the AI's own voice mode
ChatGPT and Claude both have a voice mode of their own, in a browser and on mobile.
In ChatGPT, click the sound wave icon and choose use voice, not the microphone. Those are two different things and the sound wave is the one that gives you a proper back-and-forth conversation.
In Claude, it's on the mobile app and works much the same way. Your speech gets transcribed, Claude reads the transcript and answers, and the answer is read back to you.
You can switch between talking and typing mid-conversation. Just start typing and it picks up from there.
On a Mac, use Voice Control
Go to System Settings, then Accessibility, then Voice Control, and toggle it on. It's the Mac equivalent of Voice Access.
There's also an app called Spokenly, which is voice to text across any Mac application. You press a hotkey, speak, and it types wherever your cursor is. It's free with no usage limits, works offline, and runs on the same Whisper engine behind a lot of transcription tools.
What it looks like in practice
The client email
Dictated in one go: explain that the project deadline needs to move back a week because of an unexpected technical issue, keep the tone apologetic but confident, and include the new delivery date.
Every one of those constraints matters to the output. Every one of them is the sort of thing you drop when you're typing.
Thinking out loud about strategy
I talked through a real problem. Should I focus on shorter, more frequent videos, or longer in-depth ones?
Then I kept going. Shorter videos might get more views at first, but I want authority. My audience is people building online businesses, so they probably value depth over quick tips. But the algorithm seems to reward consistency, so maybe both. What if I did one long video a week and pulled two or three shorts out of it?
Then I asked for the pros and cons and whether there was a better structure.
Why that one worked
Look at what actually happened there. I didn't ask a question. I talked through my thinking, gave context about my audience, shared my concern, and only then asked for a breakdown.
That's far more than I would ever have typed. And because of that, what came back was far more useful.
ChatGPT voice mode in a browser
The sound wave icon, then use voice. What you get is an interactive conversation rather than dictation into a box.
It answers out loud, adjusts its tone if you ask it to, and you end it by saying goodbye or telling it to hang up.
Claude voice mode on your phone
Same idea on the Claude mobile app, with the same sound wave to start it.
One thing to check first: your microphone permission. Go into your phone settings and give Claude access to the microphone, or you'll be talking to something that can't hear you.
Sources
Questions people actually ask
Why is talking to AI better than typing?+
Two reasons, and the second matters more. It's faster, and it makes you more generous with context. Typing pushes you to be brief, and brief prompts leave out the detail that would have produced a better answer.
How much faster is speaking than typing?+
Most people speak at around 150 words a minute and type at around 40, so roughly three to four times. Over a working week that's hours, not minutes.
How do I turn on voice access in Windows 11?+
Windows key and I for Settings, then Accessibility, then Interaction, then Speech, and toggle Voice Access on. Say "Voice access, wake up" to start it listening.
Does this work on a Mac?+
Yes. Macs have Voice Control under System Settings, then Accessibility. There's also Spokenly, a free voice to text app that works in any Mac application with no usage limits and runs offline.
Does it work with every application?+
Voice Access does, yes. Once it's on you can talk to your browser, your email, your documents, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, anything on the machine. The AI voice modes are the exception, because those only work inside their own app.
How do I stop it listening?+
Say "Voice access, sleep." It stops transcribing until you wake it again, which you'll want whenever someone else walks into the room.
What's the difference between voice access and voice mode?+
Voice Access is your computer typing what you say, anywhere. Voice mode is the AI holding a spoken conversation with you and answering out loud. Different jobs, and it's worth having both.
Can I switch between talking and typing?+
Yes, mid-conversation, and you don't have to announce it. Start typing and it carries on from there.
About the author
Hey, I'm Traci
Digital Marketing Strategist
With over 25 years in this industry I help small business owners and creators turn their online presence into profit.
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