Voice to Text for Keynote
Creating presentations in Keynote means endless typing into slide titles, bullet points, and speaker notes. Every text box requires you to stop thinking about your message and start hunting for keys. Blurt changes that. Hold a button, speak your slide content naturally, release. Text appears instantly wherever your cursor sits. Whether you're building a pitch deck, designing a conference talk, or preparing a classroom lecture, your voice becomes your keyboard. Works natively on macOS for $10/month or $99/year, with a first 1,000 words free.
The Typing Problem
Typing into Keynote text boxes breaks your creative flow
You have a compelling narrative in your head. The slides should tell a story. But every time you click into a text placeholder, you switch from storytelling mode to typing mode. Your fingers can't keep up with your ideas. By the time you've typed out the first slide, you've forgotten the perfect wording you had for slide five. The presentation ends up disjointed because typing fragmented your thinking.
Keynote's beautiful templates demand beautiful words you can't type fast enough
Apple designs stunning slide layouts. Minimal text, maximum impact. But crafting those perfect short phrases takes forever when you're hunting and pecking. You start with 'Revolutionary approach to customer engagement' in your head, but by the time you type it, you've settled for 'New customer plan.' The slides look gorgeous but the words fall flat.
Speaker notes become an afterthought because typing is exhausting
You know exactly what to say for each slide. The presentation lives in your head. But documenting those talking points means typing paragraphs into the presenter notes section. After finishing the slides, you're too tired to write proper notes. You end up with bullet fragments like 'mention Q3 numbers' instead of the full context you actually need when presenting.
Last-minute presentation changes mean typing under pressure
The meeting starts in an hour and your boss wants 'a few tweaks' to the deck. New slides, revised talking points, updated statistics. Each change means clicking into tiny text fields and typing frantically. Your hands cramp, you make typos, and the presentation still isn't polished when you walk into the room. Pressure typing produces pressure results.
Building presentation outlines takes longer than it should
You want to plan your deck structure before diving into design. But outlining 30 slide titles and descriptions means 30 separate typing sessions. You rush through it, skip sections, end up with 'TBD' placeholders everywhere. The outline that should have taken 15 minutes takes an hour, and it's still incomplete. Structure suffers because your keyboard can't keep up.
How It Works
Blurt works anywhere you can type in Keynote. Slide titles, body text, speaker notes, text boxes, shape labels, table cells. If there's a cursor, Blurt can insert text.
Click into any text field
Title placeholder, content area, presenter notes panel, text box, shape, or table cell. Anywhere you'd normally type in Keynote.
Hold your hotkey and speak
Press your chosen shortcut and say what you want on the slide. Speak naturally. Blurt handles punctuation and capitalization automatically.
Release and continue building
Text appears instantly at your cursor. Move to the next slide, switch to presenter notes, or add another text box. No extra steps needed.
Real Scenarios
Dictating presenter notes for an entire deck
Your conference talk has 40 slides and each needs detailed speaking notes. Instead of typing paragraphs into the presenter display panel, you click into notes and hold your hotkey. Say 'Pause here for effect after showing the graph. Ask the audience if anyone has experienced this problem. Transition to the solution slide by referencing the pain points we just discussed.' Complete notes in seconds. Full deck with comprehensive presenter notes in 20 minutes instead of two hours.
Crafting punchy slide titles on the fly
Keynote rewards concise, impactful headlines. When inspiration strikes, capture it immediately. Hold your hotkey and speak: 'The Future Belongs to Those Who Show Up.' The exact phrase you imagined, captured before your inner editor could water it down. No typing lag between idea and execution. Your slides get the headlines they deserve.
Building bullet point lists naturally
Your slide needs five key takeaways. Click into the content area, hold button, speak: 'Reduced customer churn by 34 percent.' Release. Next bullet. Hold, speak: 'Increased average order value by $47.' Each point takes three seconds instead of fifteen. You write clearer, more complete bullets because speaking takes no extra effort.
Rapid iteration on slide messaging
The messaging on slide twelve isn't landing. Instead of careful editing, select the text and delete it. Hold your hotkey, speak a fresh version: 'Our platform eliminates the complexity that's costing your team 15 hours every week. That time goes back to work that actually moves the business forward.' Try another angle if this version doesn't work. Iteration becomes free when typing isn't the bottleneck.
Creating training presentations with detailed documentation
You're building onboarding slides for new hires. Each slide needs comprehensive notes so any trainer can deliver it consistently. Hold your hotkey and dictate: 'Walk through the login process step by step. Common mistake is forgetting to check the remember me box. Pause to let them try it themselves before moving on. If anyone struggles, reference the troubleshooting guide in appendix B.' Training materials that anyone can use, spoken naturally.
Customizing template decks for specific audiences
You have a master pitch deck that needs tailoring for each prospect. Their company name, their metrics, their industry context. Click into each placeholder, speak the customized content: 'Specifically designed for Acme Corporation's manufacturing challenges.' 'Based on your current throughput data showing 50,000 units monthly.' Personalization that would take an hour of typing, done in ten minutes.
Building presentation outlines at the speed of thought
You need to structure a 25-slide investor pitch. Open Keynote's outline view, hold your hotkey, speak: 'Introduction and team background. Market opportunity and size. Problem we're solving. Our solution and differentiation. Business model. Traction to date. Financial projections. The ask.' Your entire deck structure appears in 30 seconds. Now you can rearrange and refine before adding visual design.
Why Keynote users choose Blurt over macOS Dictation for presentation work
| Blurt | macOS Dictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Activation | Single customizable hotkey | Double-tap Fn or click microphone icon |
| Response time | Text appears in under 500ms | 2-3 second delay, sometimes fails silently |
| Works in presenter notes | Yes, anywhere you can type | Inconsistent, often fails in notes panel |
| Punctuation | Automatic from natural speech | Must say 'period' 'comma' explicitly |
| Reliability | Consistent transcription quality | Stops randomly, requires retries |
| Privacy | Audio never stored after transcription | Processed through Apple servers |
Frequently Asked Questions
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