How to use Fireflies Talk to dictate in any app

Typing is not always the quickest way to put your thoughts into words. Using Fireflies Talk, simply say your words out loud and they will automatically be captured and formatted in whatever application you are using.

It works anywhere that you would type - Slack, Gmail, Google Docs, ChatGPT, CRM applications and beyond!

✨ What Talk Does With Your Speech

Talk doesn't just transcribe, it automatically cleans up and formats your words based on the app you're writing in:

• Removes filler words and false starts - "um", "like", restarted sentences

• Adds punctuation automatically - no need to say "comma" or "period" out loud

• Adapts formatting to context - emails get a greeting and sign-off; Slack messages stay short and casual

• Keeps your original meaning unchanged

1. Start a dictation

Once Talk is set up, you can dictate directly into any text field. Use Fireflies Talk anywhere you normally type.

1. Open the app where you want to enter text.

2. Click inside the text field.

3. Press and hold your Talk shortcut.

4. Start speaking.

5. Release the shortcut when you're finished.

Your text appears where your cursor is.

For example, you can use Talk to dictate a prompt directly into Claude instead of typing it:

1. Open Claude and click inside the text field.

2. Press and hold your Talk shortcut, then start speaking.

3. Say:

Give me a daily briefing: check today's important tech news, tell me about major AI product updates, and summarize key action items from my last meeting.

Your prompt appears directly in the Claude text field, ready to use.

2. Use hands-free mode

You don't need to keep holding the shortcut while you speak. Talk also supports hands-free mode.

You can start hands-free mode in either of these ways:

• Double-tap your Talk shortcut.

• Click the microphone icon on the Talk pill.

Both actions start the same hands-free mode.

Once hands-free mode starts:

1. Speak naturally.

2. When you're finished, press the Talk shortcut again.

Talk stops listening and inserts your dictation into the active text field.

Example: Double-tap your Talk shortcut or just press mic icon and say:

"Hi Sarah. I wanted to follow up on the camping task."

3. Cancel a dictation

Talk listens while a dictation is in progress, whether you started it by holding the shortcut or using hands-free mode.

If you start dictating and decide you don't want to continue, press Escape on your keyboard.

Talk cancels the dictation in progress, so the unfinished text isn't inserted into the active text field.

4. Move, minimize, or hide the Talk pill

The Talk pill gives you quick access to dictation controls while you work. You can move it to a convenient position, make it smaller, or hide it completely.

Move the Talk pill

1. Open the Fireflies desktop app.

2. Go to Settings → Dictation.

3. Under Preferences, find Pill position.

4. Select the edge of the screen where you want the pill to appear.

   

💡Alternatively, You can also drag the pill directly to another edge of the screen.

1. Click and drag the Talk pill.

2. Move it to a position that doesn't cover the content you need. The pill can be placed along the edges or in the corners of your screen.

   

Minimize the Talk pill

If you want the pill to take up less space, turn on Minimize pill.

1. Open the Fireflies desktop app.

2. Go to Settings > Dictation.

3. Under Preferences, turn on Minimize pill.

The pill changes to a smaller version while keeping the dictation controls available.

Hide the Talk pill

If you don't want the floating pill on your screen, you can turn it off.

1. Open the Fireflies desktop app.

2. Go to Settings > Dictation.

3. Under Preferences, turn off Floating pill.

The pill is hidden from your screen, but you can still use your configured Talk shortcut to start dictation.

Start the Notetaker from the Talk pill

The Talk pill also includes a shortcut for starting the Fireflies Notetaker. Click the document icon on the pill to start taking notes without opening the Desktop app controls.

📌 For more information, see How to Record Meetings Without a Bot on the Fireflies Desktop App.

5. Polish text on Mac

On Mac, you can use Talk to polish text you've already written. Select the text you want to improve, then press Fn + 1.

Talk can polish selected text by:

• Correcting grammar and spelling errors.

• Improving formatting.

• Rewriting the text in a more polished format, such as an email.

Example: Suppose you've written:

“Umm, generate an, uh, image of a modern office with two employees having a meeting.”

Select the text and press Fn + 1. Talk removes filler words, corrects the text and turns it into a cleaner message:

“Generate an image of a modern office with two employees having a meeting.”

6. What happens if there is nowhere to paste your dictation?

Talk needs an active text field to insert your dictation. If there isn't a text field under your cursor, Talk can't determine where to paste the text.

When this happens:

1. Talk plays a short error sound.

2. Your dictated text is copied to your clipboard.

3. Talk shows Ready to paste with the Ctrl+V (Windows) or Cmd+V (Mac) shortcut.

4. Open any app where you want to use the text.

5. Click inside the text field and paste the copied text.

7. Use Talk across your apps

Talk works wherever you normally type. The same basic dictation workflow carries across different apps, while Talk adapts the formatting to the context.

• Gmail: Dictate an email naturally, and Talk forfmats it as an email with a greeting, paragraphs, and sign-off.

  

• Slack: Dictate messages directly in a Slack conversation. You can also dictate teammate names and turn them into @mentions.

  Related: How Fireflies Talk tags people in Slack

  

• Google Docs: Dictate directly into your document without switching between typing and speaking.

  

• ChatGPT or Claude: Speak your prompt naturally and have it appear directly in the message field.

  

• CRM fields: Dictate information directly into the text fields you normally type in.

  

• Fireflies: Use Talk to dictate text directly in Fireflies.

  

8. Find and manage your dictation history

Talk keeps a history of your previous dictations in the Dictation tab. You can review what you dictated, see where each entry was used, search or filter your history, and manage individual entries.

View your dictation history

1. Open the Fireflies desktop app.

2. Go to the Dictation tab.

3. Under Your dictations, review your previous entries.

Each entry shows the time and the text you dictated. An app icon indicates where the dictation was pasted. If Talk couldn't paste the text into an app, the entry is marked Not pasted.

Search or filter your dictations

If you have many dictations, you can find a specific entry using the available search and filter controls.

Search your dictations

Use Search dictations to find a specific word or phrase in your dictation history.

Filter your dictations

• Click the Filter icon and select an app, such as ChatGPT, Slack, Chrome, Claude, Gmail, or Google Docs, to view only dictations from that app.

• Select All apps to view your complete history.

Manage your dictations

You can manage individual dictations directly from your history using the available actions:

• Copy: Copy the dictated text so you can reuse it elsewhere.

• Give feedback: Share feedback about the dictation.

• Delete: Remove the dictation from your history.

View your word count and streak

The Dictation tab also shows your dictation activity on the right side of the page.

• Total Words shows the number of words you've dictated.

• Day streak shows your current dictation streak.

9. Customize Talk settings

You can customize how Talk looks and works to match the way you use it, from shortcuts and the Talk pill to your microphone, languages, and other dictation preferences.

Open Talk settings

1. Open the Fireflies desktop app.

2. Click the Fireflies icon in the top-right corner.

3. Select Settings.

4. Open the Dictation tab.

From here, you can adjust:

• Shortcuts: Change Push to talk and Hands-free mode shortcuts.

• Floating pill: Show or hide the Talk pill.

• Minimize pill: Keep the pill minimized until you point to it.

• Pill position: Choose where the pill appears.

• Sound effects: Turn dictation sounds on or off.

• Microphone: Choose your microphone.

• Languages: Select languages or use Auto-detect.

• Pause media: Pause music and videos while dictating.

• Screen context: Turn Screen context on or off.

• Polish text: On Mac, use Fn + 1 to polish selected text.

• Danger zone: Clear your dictation history or turn off Fireflies Talk.

📌 Related guides

• How to set up Fireflies Talk on Mac → Set up Talk and configure the required permissions.

• How to set up Fireflies Talk on Windows → Set up Talk and configure it on Windows.

• How to dictate in other languages with Fireflies Talk → Configure languages for multilingual dictation.

• How Fireflies Talk tags people in Slack → Learn how Talk turns dictated teammate names into Slack @mentions.

• Troubleshoot Fireflies Talk → Fix common issues with shortcuts, microphone access, permissions, or dictated text.