Take a moment to learn the new ways to get Alexa to speak the way you want. It will dramatically improve how you use Alexa forever.
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Amazon’s Alexa
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Change the speed of Alexa
You can change Alexa’s volume directly on most devices or by using your voice, but did you know you can change the speed at which Alexa speaks to you?
say “Alexa, speak faster” or “Alexa, speak slower” once or a few times to make the device speak at the rate you want. If you end up wanting Alexa back to original speed, just say so “Alexa, speak at your default pace” and the settings will be reset.
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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson demonstrates how to customize Alexa.
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Use Alexa Short Mode
Speaking of Alexa needing to speed up, sometimes the device just says too many phrases. You might just want a quick answer about temperature or package delivery, and Alexa will give you a full explanation of other settings you can change.
Turn on short mode on your Alexa devices to receive only the basic responses that Alexa will provide.
- Open your Alexa app
- faucet Month (the three horizontal lines at the bottom right)
- faucet Voice responses
- active short mode so Alexa will speak less or opt for a short sound instead of a spoken response
Under Voice Responses, you can also select whisper mode, meaning Alexa will whisper back to you if you whisper into the device, or adaptive volume, meaning your device will automatically increase the volume if your environment is louder.
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Screenshot of how to change settings in Amazon Alexa
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Change or disable the Alexa wake word
At this point, the name Alexa has been changed forever. You can’t even watch a video of someone saying the name without turning off your devices and getting voices from everywhere. If you want to change this, you can choose a different “hot word” to get your Alexa’s attention. You can also prevent Alexa from listening to you entirely.
How to change Alexa’s wake word
- Open your Alexa app
- faucet devices
- faucet Echo and Alexa
- Tap the device you want to change the wake word for (if you want to do this for all your Alexa devices, do it individually for each one)
- touch Configuration icon in the upper right corner
- Scroll down and tap Wake up word
- Select from the options
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Screenshot showing how to change your Amazon Alexa wake word
(Fox News)
You can also change Alexa’s voice to someone like Samuel L. Jackson or Melissa McCarthy by saying, “Alexa, change your voice.”
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How to stop Alexa from listening to you
If you just need a break from Alexa and none of the wake words work for you, you can mute Alexa. Most newer Alexa devices have a mute button, which is a circle with a bar. Just tap it and you’ll see a red light indicating that your Alexa is in silent mode.
An Amazon Echo Dot with a red ring and Alexa muted
(Fox News)
For more Alexa tips, go to CyberGuy.com and search for “Alexa” and be sure to sign up for my free newsletter.
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