FeatherweightThe short answer: click into the prompt box, hold fn, explain what you want the way you'd explain it to a colleague, and let go. Featherweight Dictation types your exact words, ums gone, with code symbols written out. Read it, then press Return.
Why talk to an AI instead of typing
An AI does better with context: what you're working on, what you tried, what good looks like, what to avoid. Typing all that feels like a chore, so prompts get short. Saying it takes the effort out, so you give the whole picture, and get better answers on the first try.
How to do it
- Install Featherweight Dictation (or turn on the Mac's own Dictation; see how to dictate on a Mac).
- Click into the prompt box: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Cursor, Codex or any other.
- Hold fn and talk. Ums, restarts and “actually, no” are fine.
- Let go. The prompt is typed. Read it, change anything, and send.
In the ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Codex, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Windsurf and Zed apps, Featherweight Dictation knows it's writing a prompt: it keeps your exact words, never answers or rewrites them, and gives a separate ask its own line where you pause. In a browser, it goes by what you say, and an instruction to an AI is laid out the same way.
Tips for better spoken prompts
- Say the goal first, then the details: “Write a reply to this customer. Keep it under 100 words. Don't promise a date.”
- Pause between asks. Each separate request or constraint can land on its own line.
- Count things out when you want a list: “first…, second…, third…” becomes 1., 2., 3.
- Say symbols by name: “user underscore id” becomes user_id, and “example dot com slash pricing” becomes example.com/pricing.
- Correct yourself out loud: “use Postgres, actually SQLite” types “use SQLite”.
- Numbers come out as digits: “keep it under fifty words” types “Keep it under 50 words.”
Dictating in Cursor and other code editors
Use it in the chat and agent boxes, where you describe changes in words: “Rename user underscore id to account underscore id in the auth module” types “Rename user_id to account_id in the auth module.” File names, paths and identifiers keep their exact characters, with no spaces.
Built-in Dictation or an app?
The Mac's own Dictation types into prompt boxes too, and it's free. It types what you say, as you say it. Featherweight Dictation finishes the prompt before it lands: no ums, your corrections applied, symbols and numbers written out. See Apple Dictation vs Featherweight Dictation.