This feature is available in the Simplified Chinese, English (U.S.), and Japanese language versions of Microsoft Office.

As you work, messages on the Language bar offer help or hints. In Voice Command mode, you'll see the name of the last recognized command you said using speech recognition. If you used your mouse or keyboard instead of speech recognition, you'll see the name of the command you could say.

Language bar speech message

Note  The Language bar by default shows text labels beside each button on the bar. You can hide or show the text labels by right-clicking the Language bar, and then clicking Text Labels.

In Dictation mode, the messages may increase speech recognition accuracy. For example, the "Too soft" message means that you may be speaking too softly for the computer to recognize your words.

Note  You can turn the messages on or off by clicking Speech Tools on the Language bar, and then clicking Show Speech Messages.