# What is a custom vocabulary or personal dictionary in dictation and transcription?

> A custom vocabulary is a list of names and terms you teach a dictation or transcription tool, so it stops misspelling clients and jargon. How to use one.

Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/custom-vocabulary · Updated 2026-10-19 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com)

[AI assistants](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary#topic-ai-assistants) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)

Quick answer

A custom vocabulary, often called a personal dictionary, is a list of words you add to a voice tool so it spells them right: client names, product names, firm terms and acronyms. Without it, the tool guesses from common words and writes something that only sounds close.

Last updated October 19, 2026

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Updated October 19, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about)

## Why it matters for a small business

Voice tools do well with ordinary words and badly with the ones a business cares about most. "Harborview" becomes two words, a client's surname gets a common spelling, an acronym turns into a phrase. Each fix is a few seconds, but it happens every day, and the one that slips through lands in a client email with their name spelled wrong.

A custom vocabulary moves that fix to the start. You add the twenty names and terms you say most, once, and the tool uses them every time. It lowers the [word error rate](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/word-error-rate) on exactly the words that are hardest to spot, because a misspelled name still looks like a real word when you skim.

## What to put in a small firm's dictionary

| Type of word | Example |
| --- | --- |
| Client and company names | Harborview Dental |
| People with unusual spellings | A client's surname, the way they spell it |
| Your own firm's name | Northgate Accounting |
| Acronyms and form names | The forms and codes your team says out loud |

## In a real lesson: Wispr Flow: Answer Emails and Write AI Prompts by Voice

In the free [Wispr Flow lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/wispr-flow-dictate-emails-and-ai-prompts), the chapter called Teach it your words starts from the problem: client names and firm terms are what voice tools get wrong most. wisprflow.ai says Flow learns your unique words and names automatically, or lets you add them yourself.

You click **Dictionary** in the Flow sidebar, and the lesson asks you to add the names you say every day, like Harborview, the made-up dental client whose email you just answered by [voice dictation](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/voice-dictation). The [Captions lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/captioned-client-video-for-linkedin) shows the cost of skipping this step: the AI wrote Britewell for Brightwell Financial Planning, and you fix it by hand in the Word panel.

[Try this lesson free](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/wispr-flow-dictate-emails-prompts) or [read the step-by-step guide](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/wispr-flow-dictate-emails-and-ai-prompts).

## Common confusions

### Custom vocabulary vs custom instructions

[Custom instructions](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/custom-instructions) tell a chatbot how to answer. A custom vocabulary only tells a voice tool how to spell words it hears.

### Custom vocabulary vs autocorrect

Autocorrect fixes typing after the fact. A vocabulary list helps the voice tool pick the right word as it listens.

## Tips

- Start with your top 20 client names and your firm's name.
- Add a word the second time you have to fix it, not the tenth.
- Still read names in anything client-facing; a dictionary helps, it does not guarantee.

## Related terms

[Voice dictation](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/voice-dictation) · [Word error rate (WER)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/word-error-rate) · [Speech-to-text](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/speech-to-text) · [Custom instructions (ChatGPT)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/custom-instructions) · [Brand voice](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/brand-voice)

## More AI assistants terms

[Deep research](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/deep-research) · [DeepSeek](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/deepseek) · [Effort level](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/claude-effort-level) · [Enterprise data protection](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/enterprise-data-protection)

## Where you use it: free lessons

- [Wispr Flow: Answer Emails and Write AI Prompts by Voice](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/wispr-flow-dictate-emails-and-ai-prompts) (Wispr Flow, 10 min)
- [Turn a Raw Client Video into a Captioned LinkedIn Clip using Captions](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/captioned-client-video-for-linkedin) (Captions, 8 min)

## AI tools that use it

- [Wispr Flow](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/ai-tools/voice-audio#tool-wispr-flow) ([free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/wispr-flow-dictate-emails-and-ai-prompts))

[More terms by tool](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/ai-tool-terms)

## Frequently asked questions

**Where is the dictionary in Wispr Flow?**

In the lesson it is **Dictionary** in the Flow sidebar on the Windows desktop app.

**Does a custom vocabulary fix every misheard word?**

No. It helps with the words you add. Other names, numbers and soundalike words still need a quick read.

**Do transcription tools have custom vocabularies too?**

Some do. Check the settings of the tool you use; if it has none, fix names in the transcript before you share it.

[All AI glossary terms, A to Z](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) · [Free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts)