7 Ways to Improve Amazon Alexa’s Communication Skills
In everyday use, Amazon’s Alexa is pretty good at communication. But more often than not, there are things that become repetitive or unnecessary as we become more experienced with the smart home assistant.
If you’re finding yourself becoming frustrated with Alexa’s responses, it’s time to take action. Here are some tips to make Alexa’s communication skills even better.
1. Speed Up or Slow Down Alexa’s Talking Speed
Speeding up or slowing down Alexa’s responses is an excellent feature offered by Amazon that was initially launched with accessibility in mind.
But the feature can be useful for anyone who wishes Alexa would talk faster or slower. To activate this feature, just say, “Alexa, speak faster,” or “Alexa, speak slower.” Keep adjusting until you’re happy with its talking speed. To return to default speed, say, “Alexa, speak at your default speed.”
2. Keep Alexa’s Responses Brief
Sometimes, Alexa can go over the top with its responses where a simple confirmation would suffice. Luckily, Alexa has a Brief Mode feature that cuts down on verbal feedback, which is ideal for more experienced users.
It’s easy to turn on Brief Mode with your voice. Just say, “Alexa, turn on Brief Mode”.
To turn on Brief Mode in the Alexa app (available foriOSandAndroid), follow these steps:
Now, Alexa will give concise responses or even a little beep instead of a drawn-out answer.
3. Turn On Follow-Up Mode
If you’re somewhat of a power user, it can be frustrating to keep using your Alexa wake word before every command. Instead, Alexa has a feature called Follow-up Mode, which enables your Echo device to keep listening for five seconds after your initial request. Perfect if you want to start a timer and dim the lights in quick succession, for example.
To turn on Follow-up Mode using your voice, say “Alexa, turn on Follow-up Mode”.
Here’s how to activate Follow-up Mode in the Alexa app:
Alexa will now stay actively listening for five seconds after your first request. For more information, take a look at our primer onhow to enable Follow-Up Mode.
4. Play a Sound When Alexa is Listening
In addition to the visual indicators that Alexa is listening, it’s also possible to hear an audio confirmation after you say your wake word. This feature is handy for those who can’t see their Echo light up when they say the wake word or often have their back turned when using Alexa.
You activate Request Sounds with your voice. Just say, “Alexa, turn on Start of Request Sound”.
To turn on Request Sounds in the app:
Now, Alexa will play a noise when it starts listening. You can also select End of Request if you want an audio confirmation when Alexa has finished listening, or say, “Alexa, turn on End of Request Sound”.
5. Whisper to Alexa
If it’s late at night, or you don’t want to wake a sleeping child, it’s no good if Alexa blares its response at you. Whisper Mode solves this problem. Essentially, if you whisper to Alexa, it’ll whisper back.
To turn on Whisper Mode using your voice, just say, “Alexa, turn on Whisper Mode”.
To turn on Whisper Mode in the Alexa app:
To test out this feature, try whispering to your Echo device.
6. Stop Alexa Suggesting Things to Try
If you’ve never had to shout, “Alexa, stop,” after hearing “by the way…”, count yourself lucky. Some may find its suggestions helpful, but for the vast majority, they’re just irritating. By turning on Brief Mode, you counteract many of these prompts. But, to turn them off entirely, you’ll need to go into your notification settings.
Now, you shouldn’t receive any more annoying suggestions.
7. Move Your Echo
Sometimes, not everything can be solved digitally. If Alexa isn’t hearing your requests correctly, it could be an issue with the location of your Echo device. For example, if it’s next to a wall, close to other speakers, or in an area with lots of background noise,Alexa can have trouble understanding you.If you’re a naturally quiet person, it can be unpleasant to have to shout to your voice assistant every time you want to make a request.
To fix these issues, try moving your Echo and follow these tips:
Customize Alexa’s Communication to Your Taste
If you’re becoming used to having Amazon Alexa around the house, you probably don’t want to hear the same suggestions you’ve heard many times before or deal with a verbose response while Alexa confirms something.
But with these handy tips, it becomes a much more efficient and overall pleasant experience when communicating with the virtual assistant.
We’ll highlight some common issues with Amazon’s assistant and how you could fix each one.
Obsidian finally feels complete.
The fix was buried in one tiny toggle.
It’s not super flashy, but it can help to keep your computer up and running.
Goodbye sending links via other apps.
Your iPhone forgets what you copy, but this shortcut makes it remember everything.
