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Creating Speech-to-Text PowerApps using Azure Cognitive Services

Are you tired of writing long texts to describe something or writing long comments? Here is an easy way to do it. In this blog, we will use Azure Cognitive Services to enable you to record your speech and convert it into text. We will break down the process into multiple steps so you can easily follow them.

Table of Contents

1. Setting up Azure Cognitive Services

Create an Azure account if you don’t have one already.

Go to the Azure portal .

Click on the “Create a resource” button.

Search and select “Speech” by Microsoft Azure Service.

Click on the “Create” button.

Select the “Resource group” , write the “Name” , and click on the “Review + create” button.

Copy the “Keys” , “Location/Region” , and “Endpoint” details to use in next step.

2. Create Cloud Convert API

We need a cloud convert connector in Power Automate to convert the audio received from PowerApps into a “.wav” format that is acceptable by Azure Cognitive Services.

Sign up or Login to Cloud Convert .

Open the following link to get your API key. https://cloudconvert.com/dashboard/api/v2/keys

Save the API key to use in next step. 

3. Create Power Automate Flow

Create an “Instant” flow.

Add an “Initialize variable” action, write the “varAudio” in “Name” field, set type to “String”, and for “Value” click on the “Ask in PowerApps” .

Add a “Convert File” by Cloud Convert action and write values as follow.

Paste following expression in the “Input File Content” field.

base64ToBinary(variables(‘varAudio’))

In the “Input filename” field, write the filename with the “.webm” extension. Select “wav” in the “Output Format” field.

Add an “HTTP” action and do the following configurations.

Method: POST

URL: https:// eastus .stt.speech.microsoft.com/speech/recognition/conversation/cognitiveservices/v1?language=en-US

Note: Make sure to use your region code in the URL.

Body: File content of “Convert File” action.

Add a “Parse JSON” action and pass values as follow.

Content: body of the “HTTP” action.

{    “type”: “object”,     “properties”: {         “RecognitionStatus”: {             “type”: “string”         },         “Offset”: {             “type”: “integer”         },         “Duration”: {             “type”: “integer”         },         “DisplayText”: {             “type”: “string”         }     } }

Add a “Respond to PowerApps or flow” action.

Write the “Name” and pass the “DisplayText” value coming from “Parse JSON” action.

The flow is ready. Save it.

4. Create an App

Go to PowerApps studio and create a new Canvas app.

Insert a “Microphone” control.

Insert an “Audio” control, a “TextInput” field, and a “Button” control.

Connect “Speech2Text” flow with PowerApps.

Select the “OnSelect” property of the “Convert” button, copy the code given below and paste it into the top bar.

Set(    varAudio,     JSON(         Microphone1.Audio,         JSONFormat.IncludeBinaryData     ) ); Set(     varBase64,     Mid(         varAudio,         25,         Len(varAudio) – 25     ) ); Set(     varResult,     Speech2Text.Run(varBase64).result )

Select the “Default” property of the “TextInput” field and write “varResult” into the top bar.

The speech to text feature is ready to use.

5. Test the App

Play the app, click on the microphone, record an audio, and click on the “Convert” button.

The output text becomes visible in the “TextInput” field.

Azure Cognitive Services and Power Automate can empower your PowerApps application with speech-to-text capability. Just create a Speech resource in Azure and a Power Automate flow to make the interaction between Azure and PowerApps.

That’s IT Folks

Convert Speech to Text using OpenAI Whisper in Power Apps

OpenAI has released a new neural network called Whisper, which can convert speech to text with high accuracy. This open-source model is designed for applications like virtual assistants and video captioning. It uses advanced machine learning algorithms to analyze audio signals from multiple languages and convert them into written text. OpenAI has made API endpoints available to the public, allowing developers to integrate this technology into their own applications. The article provides a step-by-step guide on how to use the Whisper API in Power Apps and Power Automate flows to convert speech to text. It also includes instructions for using the Microphone control and File Upload control in Power Apps.

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Creating Speech-to-Text PowerApps using Azure Cognitive Services

Senior Consultant at Capgemini Nederland B.V. (Dynamics365 CE/Power Platform)

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Are you tired of writing long texts to describe something or writing long comments? The post Creating Speech-to-Text PowerApps using Azure Cognitive Services ap

Are you tired of writing long texts to describe something or writing long comments? The post Creating Speech-to-Text PowerApps using Azure Cognitive Services can help you.

• PowerApps provide a platform for creating mobile and web applications.
• Azure Cognitive Services offer a variety of AI capabilities, including speech-to-text functionality.
• Combining these two technologies allows you to create powerful and accessible apps.
• Speech-to-text allows users to input text through voice, instead of typing.
• This can save time and improve the user experience.
• Azure Cognitive Services' speech-to-text API can transcribe spoken words into written text automatically.
• Adding this functionality to your PowerApp is simple and can enhance its capabilities.
• Users with physical challenges or who find typing difficult can greatly benefit.
• The integration of speech-to-text can also facilitate a more dynamic, hands-free user experience.
• Explore the possibilities of combining PowerApps and Azure Cognitive Services for innovative solutions.
• Setting up Azure Cognitive Services: This involves creating an Azure account and a new Speech service. Details such as keys, location/region, and endpoint need to be recorded for later use.
• Create Cloud Convert API: You need a Cloud Convert connector in Power Automate to convert the audio into a format that Azure Cognitive Services can accept (.wav format). You can get your API key from the Cloud Convert dashboard.
• Create Power Automate Flow: This involves creating an "Instant" flow where you initialize a variable for the audio file, add a "Convert File" action by Cloud Convert, configure an HTTP action to post to Azure Cognitive Services for speech recognition, parse the JSON response, and finally respond back to PowerApps or the flow.
• Create an App in PowerApps: The steps include creating a new Canvas app in PowerApps studio, inserting various controls (Microphone, Audio, TextInput, Button), connecting the created flow with PowerApps, and setting up the functionality of the "Convert" button and "TextInput" field to convert and display the speech-to-text result.
• Test the App: After setting up, the blog suggests testing the app by recording an audio clip and seeing its text transcription.

In conclusion, the blog outlines how Azure Cognitive Services and Power Automate can enable speech-to-text functionality in PowerApps, making it easier for users to input long pieces of text.

Discover More About Azure Cognitive Services and PowerApps

Azure Cognitive Services and PowerApps offer a powerful combination for creating modern and accessible applications. By leveraging these technologies, you can deliver a more user-friendly experience while harnessing the power of AI and cloud-based services. Explore the potential of integrating Speech-to-Text functionality with PowerApps to create versatile, innovative solutions that cater to a wide range of users. The possibilities for enhancing your applications are endless.

Read the full article Creating Speech-to-Text PowerApps using Azure Cognitive Services

Learn about Creating Speech-to-Text PowerApps using Azure Cognitive Services

Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services is a collection of cloud-based services that make it easier for developers to add powerful artificial intelligence functionality to their applications. One of the services available is the Speech-to-Text service, which enables applications to convert speech into text. This post will show you how to create a basic PowerApp that uses the Azure Cognitive Services Speech-to-Text service to convert spoken words into text. The post will also discuss the various features available in the service and how to use them to create a more powerful and accurate PowerApp.

The Speech-to-Text service is powered by the Microsoft Azure Cloud and provides developers with access to a range of pre-built speech recognition models. These models are optimized for a variety of scenarios, such as recognizing spoken commands, transcribing conversations, and recognizing multiple languages. The service also allows developers to customize the models to suit their particular needs.

Using the Speech-to-Text service, developers can create a powerful PowerApp that can capture spoken words and convert them into text. The app can be used to transcribe conversations, recognize commands, or even enable users to search for specific information. Additionally, the service is capable of recognizing multiple languages, which can be used to build applications for international users.

The Speech-to-Text service also allows developers to customize the models to suit their needs. For example, developers can add custom words and phrases to the model, which can be used to improve accuracy and tailor the model to a specific domain. The service also provides access to advanced features such as noise suppression and speaker identification, which can further improve the accuracy of the model.

By leveraging the power of the Speech-to-Text service, developers can create powerful PowerApps that can capture spoken words and convert them into text. The service can be used to transcribe conversations, recognize commands, or even enable users to search for specific information. Additionally, the service is capable of recognizing multiple languages, which can be used to build applications for international users. Finally, the service allows developers to customize the models to suit their needs, enabling them to create more accurate and powerful applications.

More links on about Creating Speech-to-Text PowerApps using Azure Cognitive Services

Speech Recognition, Azure Cognitive Services, PowerApps, PowerCloud Technologies, Text Processing

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How to insert speech to text in power apps

In microsoft powerapps i am trying to insert speech to text option. However, All the tutorials available on internet are outdated since the powerapps is being updated almost every week and hence, most of the things are changed.

I have till now tried using the parse JSON action and used the schema as

Which is supposed to change the input into a url according to the tutorial which i was following this url would then be entered into the convert file action. However, it is not being coverted into a url. What wrong am i doing ? Is there any other alternative method to implement speech to text in powerapps?

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• Dec 22, 2019

Text Recognizer and Translator using Power Apps and Azure Cognitive Services

In this #PowerShot I will show you how to use Text Recognizer (AI builder feature) along with Azure Cognitive Services to build a translator app using Power Apps.

Let's Get Started!

We will use an image with text in English language and use the Text Recognizer feature to recognize and extract text from the image. This extracted text will then be translated to a language of choice using the Microsoft Translator API in Azure Cognitive Services.

We will create a canvas app and use the Text Recognizer AI Builder feature to recognize text from an image.

Step 1: This is the Text Recognizer control that is selected from the AI Builder feature in Canvas Apps. This control is used to select and scan the image for extracting the text.

Step 2: This is a combo-box control that is used to display and select the language in which the translation needs to be done. The items on this control are populated using a collection created at "App Start". The expression used at the "OnStart" property of the app is:

Expression: ClearCollect(Languages,{DisplayName:"Hindi",LangCode:"hi"}, {DisplayName:"French",LangCode:"fr"},{DisplayName:"Spanish",LangCode:"es"},{DisplayName:"German",LangCode:"de"})

Step 3: This is a button control. On the press of this button, the text from the text recognizer output is collected into a collection and then translated to the language selected from the step 2 using the Microsoft Translator API. The expression used on the "OnSelect" property of this control is:

Expression: ClearCollect(CollectedText,TextRecognizer1.OcrObjects); ClearCollect(ReturnedResponse,MicrosoftTranslatorV2.Translate(ComboBox1.Selected.LangCode,Concat(CollectedText,text," ")))

NOTE: As the text recognizer reads each line as a separate element, we are using the "concat" function to join each line from the extracted text.

Step 4: This is a Text Label control that displays the returned text from the Microsoft Translator API.

Microsoft Translator API

Step 1: Create a "Translator Text" resource in Azure.

Step 2: Create a connection to the MS Translator API in Power Apps and pass the Key while creating the connection.

For more detail on the MS Translator API, refer the documentation here .

Setup in Action

In this post we saw how to use the text recognizer feature in Power Apps that enables the OCR capabilities and helps extracting text from images and translate that to a language of choice using the Microsoft text translator API. This setup and the enhanced capabilities of the PowerPlatform can be used for multiple application areas such as recognize text from medical prescriptions at medical stores, recognize text from receipts, text to speech (for reading text from an image) and etc.

I hope you found this is interesting and it helped you!

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ElevenLabs’ text-to-speech app Reader is now available globally

ElevenLabs , a startup developing AI-powered tools to create and edit synthetic voices, is making its Reader app available across the world with support for 32 languages.

The app, first released in June in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, lets users upload any text content — like articles, PDF documents or e-books — and listen to it in different languages and voices. Reader now supports languages including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Hindi, German, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Italian, Tamil and Swedish.

ElevenLabs, which became a  unicorn earlier this year after raising $80 million  from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, provides an API that companies can use for various use cases like dubbing or text-to-speech. The company powers voice interactions on the Rabbit r1 , as well as text-to-speech features on AI-powered search engine Perplexity and audio platforms Pocket FM and Kuku FM . The Reader app is its first consumer-facing product.

The startup said it has added hundreds of new voices from its library that are suited for different languages. Last month, the company licensed the voices of actors such as Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier for the app.

ElevenLabs said the extended language support is powered by its Turbo v2.5 model, released last month , which purportedly reduces the latency of text-to-speech conversion and improves quality.

The Reader app’s closest rival is Speechify , which offers additional features like scanning documents for text, integrations with Gmail and Canvas, as well as letting users clone their own voice to read out text. Mozilla-owned Pocket and The New York Times’ Audm-based audio app also let users listen to content.

ElevenLabs said it would add more features to the app, such as offline support and the ability to share audio snippets.

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The former president made a forceful case for vice president kamala harris, while spurning former president donald trump., published august 20, 2024 • updated on august 21, 2024 at 11:01 am.

Editor's note: The text of the speech below is as prepared. His actual delivery may have varied.

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It's been sixteen years since I had the honor of accepting this party’s nomination for president. I know it’s hard to believe since I haven’t aged a bit, but it’s true. And looking back, I can say without question that my first big decision as your nominee turned out to be one of my best – and that was asking Joe Biden to serve by my side as Vice President. 

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Over the last four years, those are the values America has needed most.

At a time when millions of our fellow citizens were sick and dying, we needed a leader with the character to put politics aside and do what was right. At a time when our economy was reeling, we needed a leader with the determination to drive what became the world’s strongest recovery – with 15 million jobs, higher wages, and lower health care costs. And at a time when the other party had turned into a cult of personality, we needed a leader who was steady, and brought people together, and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics: putting his own ambition aside for the sake of the country.

History will remember Joe Biden as a president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger. I am proud to call him my president, but even prouder to call him my friend. 

Now the torch has been passed. Now it’s up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in. And make no mistake: it will be a fight. For all the incredible energy we’ve been able to generate over the last few weeks, this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country – a country where too many Americans are still struggling, and don’t believe government can help. 

And as we gather here tonight, the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question: 

Who will fight for me? Who’s thinking about  my  future; about my  children’s  future – about  our  future together?

One thing is for certain: Donald Trump is not losing sleep over these questions. This is a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about  his  problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala. The childish nicknames and crazy conspiracy theories and weird obsession with crowd size. It just goes on and on. The other day, I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day. 

From a neighbor, that’s exhausting. From a president, it’s just dangerous. The truth is, Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to  his  ends. He wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help  him and his rich friends. He killed a bipartisan immigration deal that would’ve helped secure our southern border because he thought trying to actually solve the problem would hurt  his  campaign. He doesn’t seem to care if more women lose their reproductive freedoms since it won’t affect  his  life.

Most of all, Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between  us  and  them ; between the real Americans who support him and the outsiders who don’t. And he wants you to think that you’ll be richer and safer if you just give  him  the power to put those “other” people back in their place.

It’s one of the oldest tricks in politics – from a guy whose act has gotten pretty stale. We don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos. We’ve seen that movie – and we all know that the sequel’s usually worse. 

America is ready for a new chapter. America’s ready for a better story. 

We are ready for a  President  Kamala Harris. 

And Kamala Harris is ready for the job. This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion. As you heard from Michelle, Kamala wasn’t born into privilege. She had to work for what she’s got, and she actually cares about what other people are going through. She’s not the neighbor running the leaf blower – she’s the neighbor rushing over to help when you need a hand. 

As a prosecutor, Kamala stood up for children who had been victims of sexual abuse. As Attorney General of the most populous state in the country, she fought big banks and for-profit colleges, securing billions of dollars for the people they had scammed. After the home mortgage crisis, she pushed me and my administration hard to make sure homeowners got a fair settlement. Didn’t matter that I was a Democrat or that she had knocked on doors for my campaign in Iowa – she was going to fight to get as much relief as possible for the families who deserved it.  

As Vice President, she helped take on the drug companies to cap the cost of insulin, lower the cost of health care, and give families with kids a tax cut. And she’s running for president with real plans to lower costs even more, protect Medicare and Social Security, and sign a law to guarantee every woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. 

Kamala Harris won’t be focused on  her  problems – she’ll be focused on  yours . As president, she won’t just cater to her own voters and punish those who refuse to bend the knee. She’ll work on behalf of  every  American.

That’s who Kamala is. And in the White House, she will have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim Walz. 

I love this guy. Tim’s the kind of person who  should  be in politics – somebody who was born in a small town, served his country, taught kids, coached football, and took care of his neighbors. He knows who he is and what’s important. You can tell those flannel shirts he wears don’t come from some consultant, they come from his closet, and they’ve been through some stuff. 

Together, Kamala and Tim have kept faith with America’s central story – a story that says we’re all created equal, that everyone deserves a chance, and that, even when we don’t agree with each other, we can find a way to live with each other. 

That’s Kamala’s vision. That’s Tim’s vision. That’s the Democratic Party’s vision. And our job over the next eleven weeks is to convince as many people as possible to vote for that vision. 

It won’t be easy. The other side knows it’s easier to play on people’s fears and cynicism. They’ll tell you that government is corrupt; that sacrifice and generosity are for suckers; and that since the game is rigged, it’s ok to take what you want and look after your own. 

That’s the easy path. We have a different task. Our job is to convince people that democracy can actually deliver. And we can’t just point to what we’ve already accomplished or only rely on the ideas of the past. We need to chart a new way forward to meet the challenges of today. 

Kamala understands this. She knows, for example, that if we want to make it easier for more young people to buy a home, we need to build more units, and clear away some of the outdated laws and regulations that have made it harder to build homes for working people in this country. And she’s put out a bold new plan to do just that.  

On health care, we should all be proud of the enormous progress we’ve made through the Affordable Care Act – providing millions of people access to affordable coverage and protecting millions more from unscrupulous insurance practices. But Kamala knows we can’t stop there, which is why she’ll keep working to limit out of pocket costs.

Kamala knows that if we want to help people get ahead, we need to put a college degree within reach of more Americans. But college shouldn’t be the only ticket to the middle class. We need to follow the lead of governors like Tim Walz who’ve said that if you’ve got the skills and the drive, you shouldn’t need a degree to work for state government. And in this new economy, we need a president who actually cares about the millions of people all across this country who wake up every day to do the essential, often thankless work to care for our sick and clean our streets and deliver our packages – and stand up for their right to bargain for better wages and working conditions.

Kamala will be that president.

A Harris-Walz administration can help us move past some of the tired old debates that keep stifling progress, because at their core, Kamala and Tim understand that when  everybody  gets a fair shot, we’re  all  better off. They understand that when every child gets a good education, the whole economy gets stronger; that when women are paid the same as men, all families benefit. We can secure our border without tearing kids away from their parents, just like we can keep our streets safe while also building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

Donald Trump and his well-heeled donors don’t see the world that way. For them, one group’s gain is another group’s loss. For them, freedom means that the powerful can do what they please, whether its fire workers trying to organize a union or poison our rivers or avoid paying taxes like everybody else has to do.

We have a broader idea of freedom. We believe in the freedom to provide for your family if you’re willing to work; the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and send your kids to school without worrying if they’ll come home. We believe that true freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life – how we worship, what our family looks like, how many kids we have, who we marry. And we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that  other  people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours.

That’s the America Kamala Harris and Tim Walz believe in. An America where “We the People” includes everyone. Because that’s the only way this American experiment works. And despite what our politics might suggest, I think most Americans understand that. Democracy isn’t just a bunch of abstract principles and dusty laws. It’s the values we live by, and the way we treat each other – including those who don’t look like us or pray like us or see the world exactly like we do.

That sense of mutual respect has to be part of our message. Our politics has become so polarized these days that all of us, across the political spectrum, seem quick to assume the worst in others unless they agree with us on every single issue. We start thinking that the only way to win is to scold and shame and out yell the other side. And after a while, regular folks just tune out, or don’t bother to vote at all.

That approach may work for the politicians who just want attention and thrive on division. But it won’t work for us. To make progress on the things we care about, the things that really affect people’s lives, we need to remember that we’ve all got our blind spots and contradictions and prejudices; and that if we want to win over those who aren’t yet ready to support our candidate, we need to listen to their concerns – and maybe learn something in the process.

After all, if a parent or grandparent occasionally says something that makes us cringe, we don’t automatically assume they’re bad people. We recognize the world is moving fast, and that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up. Our fellow citizens deserve the same grace we hope they’ll extend to us. 

That’s how we can build a true Democratic majority. And by the way, that doesn’t just matter to people in this country. The rest of the world is watching to see if we can actually pull it off. 

No nation, no society, has ever tried to build a democracy as big and diverse as ours before – one where our allegiances and our community are defined not by race or blood, but by a common creed. That’s why when we uphold our values, the world’s a little brighter. When we don’t, the world’s a little dimmer, dictators and autocrats feel emboldened, and over time we become less safe. We shouldn’t be the world’s policeman, and we can’t eradicate every cruelty and injustice in the world. But America can be, must be, a force for good – discouraging conflict, fighting disease, promoting human rights, protecting the planet from climate change, defending freedom. That’s what Kamala Harris believes – and so do most Americans.

I know these ideas can feel pretty naïve right now. We live in a time of such confusion and rancor, with a culture that puts a premium on things that don’t last – money, fame, status, likes. We chase the approval of strangers on our phones; we build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves and then wonder why we feel so alone. We don’t trust each other as much because we don’t take the time know each other – and in that space between us, politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other and troll each other and fear each other.

But here’s the good news. All across America, in big cities and small towns, away from all the noise, the ties that bind us together are still there. We still coach Little League and look out for our elderly neighbors. We still feed the hungry, in churches and mosques and synagogues, and share the same pride when our Olympic athletes compete for the gold. Because the vast majority of us don’t want to live in a country that’s bitter and divided. We want something better. We want to  be  better. And the joy and excitement we’re seeing around this campaign tells us we’re not alone.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this these past few months because, as Michelle mentioned, this summer we lost her mom.

I don’t know that anybody has ever loved their mother-in-law any more than I loved mine. Mostly it’s because she was funny and wise and maybe the least pretentious person I knew. That and she always defended me with Michelle when I messed up.

But I also think one of the reasons we became so close was she reminded me of my grandmother, the woman who raised me as a child. On the surface, the two of them didn’t have a lot in common – one was a Black woman from Chicago, the other a white woman born in a tiny town called Peru, Kansas. And yet, they shared a basic outlook on life – strong, smart, resourceful women, full of common sense, who, regardless of the barriers they encountered, went about their business without fuss or complaint and provided an unshakable foundation of love for their children and grandchildren.

In that sense, they both represented an entire generation of working people who, through war and depression, discrimination and limited opportunity, helped build this country. Many of them toiled every day at jobs that were often too small for them and willingly went without just to give their children something better. But they knew what was true and what mattered. Things like honesty and integrity, kindness and hard work. They weren’t impressed with braggarts or bullies, and they didn’t spend a lot of time obsessing about what they didn’t have. Instead, they found pleasure in simple things – a card game with friends, a good meal and laughter around the kitchen table, helping others and seeing their children do things and go places that they would have never imagined for themselves.

Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or somewhere in between, we’ve all had people like that in our lives. People like Kamala’s parents, who crossed oceans because they believed in the promise of America. People like Tim’s parents, who taught him about the importance of service. Good, hardworking people who weren’t famous or powerful, but who managed, in countless ways, to leave this country a little better than they found it.

As much as any policy or program, I believe that’s what we yearn for – a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other. A restoration of what Lincoln called, on the eve of civil war, “our bonds of affection.” An America that taps what he called “the better angels of our nature.” That’s what this election is about. And I believe that’s why, if we each do our part over the next 77 days – if we knock on doors and make phone calls and talk to our friends and listen to our neighbors – if we work like we’ve never worked before – we will elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States, and Tim Walz as the next Vice President of the United States. We’ll elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful, forward-looking America we believe in. And together, we too will build a country that is more secure and more just, more equal and more free.

So let’s get to work. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

This article tagged under:

Mohamed Ashiq Faleel

Its time to think about Microsoft 365

Tag: Convert Speech to Text in Power Apps

Convert speech to text using openai whisper in power apps.

OpenAI has released a new neural network called Whisper , which is an open-source model that can convert speech to text with impressive accuracy. This model is specifically designed to transcribe spoken language into text with high precision and speed, making it an ideal tool for a variety of applications, such as virtual assistants and video captioning. Whisper relies on advanced machine learning algorithms to analyze audio signals from multiple languages and convert them into written text. OpenAI has recently made API endpoints available to the public since March 1, 2023, allowing developers to easily integrate this powerful technology into their own applications.

The Speech to Text Open API can

• Transcribe audio into whatever language the audio is in.
• Translate and transcribe the audio into English.

As of the date I am writing this post, this model is not available in Azure . In this blog post, I will cover how to use the Microphone control and File Upload control to convert speech to text using the OpenAI Whisper API in a Power Automate flow.

Download Link to the Sample App: https://github.com/ashiqf/powerplatform/blob/main/OpenAI-SpeechtoText.msapp . Replace the API Key in the Power Automate flow HTTP Action Authorization Header.

OpenAPI Speech to Text API:

The speech to text API provides two endpoints, transcriptions and translations. At present, the maximum file size allowed for uploads is 25 MB and the supported audio formats are mp3, mp4, mpeg, mpga, m4a, wav, and webm. In this blog post, I utilized the Translation API to demonstrate its capability to convert English audio into text, it can understand other languages as well

POST https://api.openai.com/v1/audio/translations

If you have not yet created an API key, please sign up/login for OpenAI and obtain it from there .

Integration with Power Apps:

I have used a Power Automate flow with the Power Apps trigger to invoke the Speech to Text API via the HTTP connector in Power Automate. Alternatively, you can achieve the same outcome by constructing a Custom Connector. This sample app can be downloaded from this github link.

Microphone Control:

The audio control captures audio input through the device’s microphone and will be sent to the Power Automate flow for conversion into text using the Whisper API. The audio format of the recording depends on the type of device being used

• 3gp format for Android.
• AAC format for iOS.
• Webm format for web browsers.

I’ve tested this control from the app accessed through the web browser. If you encounter an unsupported audio format for OpenAI, you can use utilities such as FFMpeg . Additionally, a .Net version of the control is available for download which can be used in Azure Function. John Liu (MVP) has written a sample Azure function that handles the conversion of audio formats using the aforementioned utility.

Step 1 : To add a microphone control to the canvas, insert the Microphone control from the command bar. To preview the recorded audio from the Microphone control, add an Audio control

Step 2 : Add a button to convert and to trigger the Power Automate flow. Find below the Power FX code

The Power FX code performs the following task

• Stores the audio captured by a Microphone control in a variable as JSON data, including binary data.
• Extracts the base64-encoded audio content from the JSON data using the string manipulation functions Split, Left, Mid.
• Determines the audio file type by parsing a string variable.
• Uses the extracted audio content and file type to call the Power Automate flow ‘SpeechtoText-OpenAIWhisper’ to obtain the corresponding text transcription which comes in later section of this post.
• Assigns the resulting text transcription to a variable named ‘audioText’, this is assigned to a Text Label to display the converted text from the OpenAI Whisper API.

Step 3 : Add a Label control to display the converted Text set to the variable audioText

File Upload Control

As of the day I am writing this post there is no file control that can handle all types of files in Power Apps, I have created a custom component utilizing the Attachment control to create a file attachment control. For further details, please refer to blogpost Uploading Files Made Easy: A Guide to Using the Attachment Control in Power Apps to add the control to the app.

Step 1: Add the file attachment control to the app from the component library. Set the input property for Maximum Attachments to 1 from the component.

Step 2: To extract the binary content of an audio file, add an Image control to the app. The Image control is capable of working with any type of file to extract its content.

Step 3 : Add a Button control to convert the Audio from the uploaded file. Find the PowerFX below

Step 4 : Add a Label control to display the converted Text set to the variable audioText

Power Automate Flow

Now, let’s create a Power Automate flow with the Trigger type Power Apps to invoke the OpenAI Whisper API and convert speech to text. Step 1 : Add two compose action (input parameters) to receive the audio format and content from either the recorded audio captured by the Microphone control or the uploaded audio file from the file attachment control in the Power Apps

Step 2 : Add a HTTP connector to make a request to the Whisper API endpoint. Refer to the blog post How to use form-data and form-urlencoded content type in Power Automate or Logic Apps HTTP action for handling multipart/form-data in the HTTP action

Request Body :

Step 3: Add the Respond to a PowerApp or a flow action to pass the converted text back to the app. To get the converted text, use the following expression

The expression was constructed based on the response of the Whisper API call. In the event that the response property changes in the future, please ensure to update the expression accordingly.

In this post, I’ve outlined a step-by-step guide on how to develop a basic app with Speech to Text functionality using Power Apps and a Power Automate flow leveraging the OpenAI’s Whisper API. The possibilities for using this technology are endless, from creating virtual assistants to generating audio captions and translations. Furthermore, the Whisper API can also be used to transcribe video files, adding even more versatility to its capabilities. It’s worth noting that while Azure offers its own Speech to Text service, it currently does not rely on the OpenAI Whisper Model. However, it’s possible that the two services will eventually integrate in the future. Hope you have found this informational & thanks for reading. If you are visiting my blog for the first time, please do look at my other blogposts.

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Read and watch Kamala Harris' full speech at the Democratic National Convention

Harris' speech was one of the shortest convention acceptance speeches ever, clocking in at a little over 37 minutes., by staff • published august 22, 2024 • updated on august 22, 2024 at 11:08 pm.

Editor's note: The text of the speech below is as prepared. Her actual delivery may have varied.

📺 24/7 Chicago news stream: Watch NBC 5 free wherever you are

Good evening.

To my husband, Doug, thank you for being an incredible partner to me and father to Cole and Ella.

And happy anniversary. I love you so very much.

To Joe Biden — Mr. President. I am forever grateful for your lifetime of leadership and your trust in me.

And to Coach Tim Walz, you are going to be an incredible Vice President.

Decision 2024

Biden administration to hit Russia with sanctions for trying to manipulate US opinion ahead of the election

Young voters harbor deep worries about inflation, debt and housing

And to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign — your support is humbling.

America, the path that led me here in recent weeks, was no doubt… unexpected.

Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter .

But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys. My mother Shyamala Harris had one of her own.

I miss her every day. Especially now. And I know she’s looking down tonight.

And smiling. My mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone. Traveling from India to California. With an unshakeable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.

When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage. But, as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris.

A student from Jamaica. They fell in love and got married. And that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and me.

Growing up, we moved a lot. I will always remember that big Mayflower truck packed with all our belongings.

Ready to go.

To Illinois.

To Wisconsin.

And wherever our parents’ jobs took us.

My early memories of my parents together are joyful ones. A home filled with laughter and music. Aretha. Coltrane. And Miles.

At the park, my mother would tell us to stay close. But my father would just smile, and say, "Run, Kamala. Run. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let anything stop you.”

From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless. But the harmony between my parents did not last. When I was in elementary school, they split up. And it was mostly my mother who raised us.

Before she could finally afford to buy a home, she rented a small apartment in the East Bay. In the Bay, you either live in the hills or the flatlands. We, lived in the flats. A beautiful working-class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers. All, who tended their lawns with pride. 

My mother worked long hours. And, like many working parents, she leaned on a trusted circle to help raise us.

Mrs. Shelton, who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother. Uncle Sherman. Aunt Mary. Uncle Freddy. And Auntie Chris. 

None of them, family by blood. And all of them, family by love.

Family who taught us how to make gumbo. How to play chess. And sometimes even let us win.

Family who loved us. Believed in us. And told us we could be anything.

Do anything. They instilled in us the values they personified. Community. Faith. And the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated.

With kindness. Respect. And compassion.

My mother was a brilliant, five-foot-tall, brown woman with an accent. And, as the eldest child, I saw how the world would sometimes treat her. 

But she never lost her cool.

She was tough.

Courageous.

A trailblazer in the fight for women’s health. 

And she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night — she taught us to never complain about injustice.  But…do something about it.

She also taught us — never do anything half-assed. That’s, a direct quote.

I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents had met at a civil rights gathering. And they made sure we learned about civil rights leaders, including lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley.

Those who battled in the courtroom to make real the Promise of America. 

So, at a young age, I decided I wanted to do that work. I wanted to be a lawyer. And when it came time to choose – he type, of law I would pursue – I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life.

When I was in high school, I started to notice something about my best friend Wanda.

She was sad at school.

And there were times she didn’t want to go home.

So, one day, I asked if everything was alright and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her step-father.

And I immediately told her she had to come stay with us.

And she did. 

That is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor.

To protect people like Wanda.

Because I believe everyone has a right to safety. To dignity. And to justice.

As a prosecutor, when I had a case, I charged it not in the name of the victim. But in the name of “The People.”

For a simple reason.

In our system of justice, a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. I would often explain this, to console survivors of crime. To remind them no one should be made to fight alone. We are all in this together. 

Every day in the courtroom, I stood proudly before a judge and said five words: “Kamala Harris, for the People.”

And to be clear, my entire career, I have only had one client. The People. And so, on behalf of The People, on behalf of every American. Regardless of party, race or gender. Or the language your grandmother speaks. 

On behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey. On behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with. People who work hard. Chase their dreams and look out for one another.

On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth. I accept your nomination for President of the United States of America.

With this election, our nation has a precious,  fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past.

A chance to chart a New Way Forward.

Not as members of any one party or faction But as Americans.

I know there are people of various political view watching tonight. And I want you to know: I promise to be a President for all Americans.

You can always trust me to put country above party and self.

To hold sacred America’s fundamental principles. From the rule of law. To free and fair elections. To the peaceful transfer of power.  I will be a President who unites us around our highest aspirations.

A President who leads and listens. Who is realistic. Practical. And has common sense and always fights for the American people.

From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work.

As a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland, I stood up for women and children against predators who abused them.  As Attorney General of California, I took on the Big Banks. Delivered $20 billion for middle-class families who faced foreclosure. And helped pass a homeowner Bill of Rights — one of the first of its kind. 

I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges. For workers who were being cheated out of the wages they were due. For seniors facing elder abuse. I fought against cartels who traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings. Who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities.

Those fights were not easy. And neither were the elections that put me in those offices.

We were underestimated at every turn. But we never gave up. Because the future is always worth fighting for. And that’s the fight we are in right now.  A fight for America’s future.

Fellow Americans, this election is not only the most important of our lives. It is one of the most important in the life of our nation. In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.

Consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office, but also the gravity of what has happened, since he lost the last election. Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes.                                                                    

When he failed, he sent an armed mob into the U.S. Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers.

When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames.

And now, for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans. And separately, found liable for committing sexual abuse.

And consider what he intends to do if we give him power again. Consider his explicit intent to set free the violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol.

His explicit intent to jail journalists. Political opponents. Anyone he sees as the enemy. 

His explicit intent to deploy our active-duty military against our own citizens.

Consider the power he will have — especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled he would be immune from criminal prosecution. 

Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.

How he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States. Not to improve your life. Not to strengthen our national security. But to serve the only client he has ever had: Himself. 

And we know what a second Trump term would look like. It’s all laid out in “Project 2025.” Written by his closest advisors. And its sum total is to pull our country back into the past.

But America, we are not going back.

We are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare.

We are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. When insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions.

We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools.

We are not going to let him end programs like Head Start, that provide preschool and child care.

America, we are not going back.

We are charting a new way forward. 

Forward — to a future with a strong and growing middle class.

Because we know a strong middle class has alway been critical to America’s success. And building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.

This is personal for me.

The middle class is where I come from. My mother kept a strict budget. We lived within our means. Yet, we wanted for little.

And she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us. And to be grateful for them. Because opportunity is not available to everyone.

That’s why we will create what I call an Opportunity economy. An Opportunity economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed.

Whether you live in a rural area, small town, or big city. As President, I will bring together: Labor and workers, small business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs. Grow our economy. And lower the cost of everyday needs. Like health care, housing and groceries.

We will provide access to capital for small business owners, entrepreneurs and founders. We will end America’s housing shortage and protect Social Security and Medicare.

Compare that to Donald Trump.

He doesn’t actually fight for the middle class. Instead, he fights for himself and his billionaire friends. He will give them another round of tax breaks that will add $5 trillion to the national debt.

All while, he intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax — call it, a Trump tax — that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year. 

Well, instead of a Trump tax hike, we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans.

Friends, I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives. Especially on matters of heart and home.

But tonight, too many women iin America are not able to make those decisions.

Let’s be clear about how we got here: Donald Trump hand-picked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom.

And now he brags about it.

His words: Quote – “I did it, and I’m proud to have done it.” End quote.

Over the past two years, I have traveled across our country. And women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared theirs. Stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot, getting sepsis, losing the ability to ever have children again, all because doctors are afraid of going to jail for caring for their patients.

Couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments.

Children who have survived sexual assault, potentially forced to carry the pregnancy to term.

This is what is happening in our country.

Because of Donald Trump.

And understand he is not done.

As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion and enact a nation-wide abortion ban with or without Congress.

And, get this, he plans to create a National anti-abortion coordinator, and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.

Simply put: They are out of their minds.

And one must ask: Why exactly is it that they don’t trust women?

Well. We trust women.

And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.

In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake.

The freedom to live safe from gun violence — in our schools, communities and places of worship.

The freedom to love who you love openly and with pride.

The freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.

And the freedom that unlocks all the others: The freedom to vote.

With this election, we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.

And let me be clear. After decades in law enforcement, I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border.

Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades.

The Border Patrol endorsed it.

But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign. So he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal.

Well, I refuse to play politics with our security. Here is my pledge to you: As President, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed. And I will sign it into law.

I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants — and reform our broken immigration system.

We can create an earned pathway to citizenship — and secure our border.

America, we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and our values abroad. 

As Vice President, I have confronted threats to our security, negotiated with foreign leaders, strengthened our alliances and engaged with our brave troops overseas. 

As Commander-in-Chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.

I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families. And I will always honor, and never disparage, their service and their sacrifice.

I will make sure that we lead the world into the future  on space and Artificial Intelligence. That America — not China — wins the competition for the 21st century. And that we strengthen — not abdicate — our global leadership.

Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Putin to invade our allies. Said Russia could — quote — “do whatever the hell they want.”

Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade. I helped mobilize a global response — over 50 countries — to defend against Putin’s aggression.

And as President, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.

With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock. Because now is the time to get a hostage deal and ceasefire done.

Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that the terrorist organization Hamas caused on October 7th. Including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.

At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again.

The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.

President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.

And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.

And I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim-Jong-Un, who are rooting for Trump because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors.

They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable — because he wants to be an autocrat.

As President, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals. Because, in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand — and where the United States of America belongs.

Fellow Americans, I love our country with all my heart.  Everywhere I go —in everyone I meet — I see a nation ready to move forward. Ready for the next step n the incredible journey that is America.

I see an America where we hold fast to the fearless belief that built our nation. That inspired the world. That here, in this country, anything is possible.

Nothing is out of reach. An America, where we care for one another, look out for one another, and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us. That none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed. And that, in unity, there is strength.

Our opponents in this race  are out there, every day, denigrating America. Talking about how terrible everything is. 

Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach: Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are. 

America, let us show each other — and the world — who we are and what we stand for: Freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness and endless possibilities. 

We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world.

And on behalf of our children and grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment. 

It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done.

Guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love. To fight for the ideals we cherish. And to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth. The privilege and pride of being an American. 

So, let’s get out there and let’s fight for it. 

Let’s get out there and let’s vote for it.

And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.

God bless you.

May God bless the United States of America.

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How can I use AzureTextToSpeech in PowerApps?

I selected the connector and put a button on the canvas.

On the OnSelect method I placed following code

The ConverTextToSpeech method returns a boolean (in my case True).

Where can I find the audio fragment to set on my Audio object?

Azure AI Speech An Azure service that integrates speech processing into apps and services. 1,657 questions Sign in to follow Follow

@Joël Simons Just following up to check if my suggestion helped. Please let me know if you have any further queries. I would be happy to help.

@navba-MSFT Your suggestion worked. Create a Power Automate flow with a request to the Text-to-Speech service. Thank you! But why do I cannot use the AzureTexttospeech component in my PowerApp? I can add it to an app (still in preview mode) but it seems I cannot use it. Can you explain this to me?

@Joël Simons Thanks for getting back. Could you please post this question in the below PowerApps support forum ?

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Get-Help-with-Power-Apps/ct-p/PA_General

The Power Apps Community experts should be able to assist you on this.

@Joël Simons Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum, Thank you for posting your query here!

The audio fragment generated by the Azure Text to Speech service is typically returned as a URL to an audio file. This URL can then be used to set the source of your Audio object in PowerApps.

The AzureTexttospeech.ConvertTextToSpeech method in PowerApps doesn’t directly provide the audio data. You would need to use Power Automate to call the Azure Speech Service and return the audio data.

How to call the Text-to-Speech and Audio Playback in Power Apps using Azure and Power Automate is explained here. Please follow this and let me know if you encounter any issues.

More info about Azure Text to speech (Preview) .

Hope this helps. If you have any follow-up questions, please let me know. I would be happy to help.

Read and watch Kamala Harris' full speech at the Democratic National Convention

Harris' speech was one of the shortest convention acceptance speeches ever, clocking in at a little over 37 minutes., by staff • published august 23, 2024 • updated on august 23, 2024 at 12:08 am.

Editor's note: The text of the speech below is as prepared. Her actual delivery may have varied.

Good evening.

24/7 New York news stream: Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are

To my husband, Doug, thank you for being an incredible partner to me and father to Cole and Ella.

And happy anniversary. I love you so very much.

To Joe Biden — Mr. President. I am forever grateful for your lifetime of leadership and your trust in me.

Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.

And to Coach Tim Walz, you are going to be an incredible Vice President.

Decision 2024

Biden administration hits Russia with sanctions over efforts to manipulate US opinion ahead of the election

Young voters harbor deep worries about inflation, debt and housing

And to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign — your support is humbling.

America, the path that led me here in recent weeks, was no doubt… unexpected.

But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys. My mother Shyamala Harris had one of her own.

I miss her every day. Especially now. And I know she’s looking down tonight.

And smiling. My mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone. Traveling from India to California. With an unshakeable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.

When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage. But, as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris.

A student from Jamaica. They fell in love and got married. And that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and me.

Growing up, we moved a lot. I will always remember that big Mayflower truck packed with all our belongings.

Ready to go.

To Illinois.

To Wisconsin.

And wherever our parents’ jobs took us.

My early memories of my parents together are joyful ones. A home filled with laughter and music. Aretha. Coltrane. And Miles.

At the park, my mother would tell us to stay close. But my father would just smile, and say, "Run, Kamala. Run. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let anything stop you.”

From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless. But the harmony between my parents did not last. When I was in elementary school, they split up. And it was mostly my mother who raised us.

Before she could finally afford to buy a home, she rented a small apartment in the East Bay. In the Bay, you either live in the hills or the flatlands. We, lived in the flats. A beautiful working-class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers. All, who tended their lawns with pride. 

My mother worked long hours. And, like many working parents, she leaned on a trusted circle to help raise us.

Mrs. Shelton, who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother. Uncle Sherman. Aunt Mary. Uncle Freddy. And Auntie Chris. 

None of them, family by blood. And all of them, family by love.

Family who taught us how to make gumbo. How to play chess. And sometimes even let us win.

Family who loved us. Believed in us. And told us we could be anything.

Do anything. They instilled in us the values they personified. Community. Faith. And the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated.

With kindness. Respect. And compassion.

My mother was a brilliant, five-foot-tall, brown woman with an accent. And, as the eldest child, I saw how the world would sometimes treat her. 

But she never lost her cool.

She was tough.

Courageous.

A trailblazer in the fight for women’s health. 

And she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night — she taught us to never complain about injustice.  But…do something about it.

She also taught us — never do anything half-assed. That’s, a direct quote.

I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents had met at a civil rights gathering. And they made sure we learned about civil rights leaders, including lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley.

Those who battled in the courtroom to make real the Promise of America. 

So, at a young age, I decided I wanted to do that work. I wanted to be a lawyer. And when it came time to choose – he type, of law I would pursue – I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life.

When I was in high school, I started to notice something about my best friend Wanda.

She was sad at school.

And there were times she didn’t want to go home.

So, one day, I asked if everything was alright and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her step-father.

And I immediately told her she had to come stay with us.

And she did. 

That is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor.

To protect people like Wanda.

Because I believe everyone has a right to safety. To dignity. And to justice.

As a prosecutor, when I had a case, I charged it not in the name of the victim. But in the name of “The People.”

For a simple reason.

In our system of justice, a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. I would often explain this, to console survivors of crime. To remind them no one should be made to fight alone. We are all in this together. 

Every day in the courtroom, I stood proudly before a judge and said five words: “Kamala Harris, for the People.”

And to be clear, my entire career, I have only had one client. The People. And so, on behalf of The People, on behalf of every American. Regardless of party, race or gender. Or the language your grandmother speaks. 

On behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey. On behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with. People who work hard. Chase their dreams and look out for one another.

On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth. I accept your nomination for President of the United States of America.

With this election, our nation has a precious,  fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past.

A chance to chart a New Way Forward.

Not as members of any one party or faction But as Americans.

I know there are people of various political view watching tonight. And I want you to know: I promise to be a President for all Americans.

You can always trust me to put country above party and self.

To hold sacred America’s fundamental principles. From the rule of law. To free and fair elections. To the peaceful transfer of power.  I will be a President who unites us around our highest aspirations.

A President who leads and listens. Who is realistic. Practical. And has common sense and always fights for the American people.

From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work.

As a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland, I stood up for women and children against predators who abused them.  As Attorney General of California, I took on the Big Banks. Delivered $20 billion for middle-class families who faced foreclosure. And helped pass a homeowner Bill of Rights — one of the first of its kind. 

I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges. For workers who were being cheated out of the wages they were due. For seniors facing elder abuse. I fought against cartels who traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings. Who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities.

Those fights were not easy. And neither were the elections that put me in those offices.

We were underestimated at every turn. But we never gave up. Because the future is always worth fighting for. And that’s the fight we are in right now.  A fight for America’s future.

Fellow Americans, this election is not only the most important of our lives. It is one of the most important in the life of our nation. In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.

Consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office, but also the gravity of what has happened, since he lost the last election. Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes.                                                                    

When he failed, he sent an armed mob into the U.S. Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers.

When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames.

And now, for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans. And separately, found liable for committing sexual abuse.

And consider what he intends to do if we give him power again. Consider his explicit intent to set free the violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol.

His explicit intent to jail journalists. Political opponents. Anyone he sees as the enemy. 

His explicit intent to deploy our active-duty military against our own citizens.

Consider the power he will have — especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled he would be immune from criminal prosecution. 

Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.

How he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States. Not to improve your life. Not to strengthen our national security. But to serve the only client he has ever had: Himself. 

And we know what a second Trump term would look like. It’s all laid out in “Project 2025.” Written by his closest advisors. And its sum total is to pull our country back into the past.

But America, we are not going back.

We are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare.

We are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. When insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions.

We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools.

We are not going to let him end programs like Head Start, that provide preschool and child care.

America, we are not going back.

We are charting a new way forward. 

Forward — to a future with a strong and growing middle class.

Because we know a strong middle class has alway been critical to America’s success. And building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.

This is personal for me.

The middle class is where I come from. My mother kept a strict budget. We lived within our means. Yet, we wanted for little.

And she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us. And to be grateful for them. Because opportunity is not available to everyone.

That’s why we will create what I call an Opportunity economy. An Opportunity economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed.

Whether you live in a rural area, small town, or big city. As President, I will bring together: Labor and workers, small business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs. Grow our economy. And lower the cost of everyday needs. Like health care, housing and groceries.

We will provide access to capital for small business owners, entrepreneurs and founders. We will end America’s housing shortage and protect Social Security and Medicare.

Compare that to Donald Trump.

He doesn’t actually fight for the middle class. Instead, he fights for himself and his billionaire friends. He will give them another round of tax breaks that will add $5 trillion to the national debt.

All while, he intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax — call it, a Trump tax — that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year. 

Well, instead of a Trump tax hike, we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans.

Friends, I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives. Especially on matters of heart and home.

But tonight, too many women iin America are not able to make those decisions.

Let’s be clear about how we got here: Donald Trump hand-picked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom.

And now he brags about it.

His words: Quote – “I did it, and I’m proud to have done it.” End quote.

Over the past two years, I have traveled across our country. And women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared theirs. Stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot, getting sepsis, losing the ability to ever have children again, all because doctors are afraid of going to jail for caring for their patients.

Couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments.

Children who have survived sexual assault, potentially forced to carry the pregnancy to term.

This is what is happening in our country.

Because of Donald Trump.

And understand he is not done.

As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion and enact a nation-wide abortion ban with or without Congress.

And, get this, he plans to create a National anti-abortion coordinator, and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.

Simply put: They are out of their minds.

And one must ask: Why exactly is it that they don’t trust women?

Well. We trust women.

And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.

In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake.

The freedom to live safe from gun violence — in our schools, communities and places of worship.

The freedom to love who you love openly and with pride.

The freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.

And the freedom that unlocks all the others: The freedom to vote.

With this election, we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.

And let me be clear. After decades in law enforcement, I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border.

Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades.

The Border Patrol endorsed it.

But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign. So he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal.

Well, I refuse to play politics with our security. Here is my pledge to you: As President, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed. And I will sign it into law.

I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants — and reform our broken immigration system.

We can create an earned pathway to citizenship — and secure our border.

America, we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and our values abroad. 

As Vice President, I have confronted threats to our security, negotiated with foreign leaders, strengthened our alliances and engaged with our brave troops overseas. 

As Commander-in-Chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.

I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families. And I will always honor, and never disparage, their service and their sacrifice.

I will make sure that we lead the world into the future  on space and Artificial Intelligence. That America — not China — wins the competition for the 21st century. And that we strengthen — not abdicate — our global leadership.

Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Putin to invade our allies. Said Russia could — quote — “do whatever the hell they want.”

Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade. I helped mobilize a global response — over 50 countries — to defend against Putin’s aggression.

And as President, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.

With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock. Because now is the time to get a hostage deal and ceasefire done.

Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that the terrorist organization Hamas caused on October 7th. Including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.

At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again.

The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.

President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.

And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.

And I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim-Jong-Un, who are rooting for Trump because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors.

They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable — because he wants to be an autocrat.

As President, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals. Because, in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand — and where the United States of America belongs.

Fellow Americans, I love our country with all my heart.  Everywhere I go —in everyone I meet — I see a nation ready to move forward. Ready for the next step n the incredible journey that is America.

I see an America where we hold fast to the fearless belief that built our nation. That inspired the world. That here, in this country, anything is possible.

Nothing is out of reach. An America, where we care for one another, look out for one another, and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us. That none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed. And that, in unity, there is strength.

Our opponents in this race  are out there, every day, denigrating America. Talking about how terrible everything is. 

Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach: Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are. 

America, let us show each other — and the world — who we are and what we stand for: Freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness and endless possibilities. 

We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world.

And on behalf of our children and grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment. 

It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done.

Guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love. To fight for the ideals we cherish. And to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth. The privilege and pride of being an American. 

So, let’s get out there and let’s fight for it. 

Let’s get out there and let’s vote for it.

And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.

God bless you.

May God bless the United States of America.

This article tagged under:

‘Stand up and fight': Read Tim Walz's full speech to the Democratic National Convention

Walz highlighted his small-town values and decades-long service in the national guard in a speech to the dnc in chicago, published august 21, 2024 • updated on august 21, 2024 at 11:53 pm.

Editor's note: The text of the speech below is as prepared. His actual delivery may have varied.

Free 24/7 Connecticut news stream: Watch NBC CT wherever you are

Thank you, Vice President Kamala Harris, for putting your trust in me and for inviting me to be part of this incredible campaign. Thank you to President Joe Biden for four years of strong, historic leadership. And it is the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States.

We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason—we love this country! So thanks to all of you here in Chicago and watching at home tonight—for your passion, for your determination, for the joy that you’re bringing to this fight.

Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.

I grew up in the small town of Butte, Nebraska, population 400. I had 24 kids in my high school class and none of ’em went to Yale. Growing up in a small town like that, you learn to take care of each other. The family down the road—they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do, they may not love like you do, but they’re your neighbors. And you look out for them, just like they do for you.

Everybody belongs, and everybody has a responsibility to contribute. For me, it was serving in the Army National Guard. I joined up two days after my 17th birthday and I proudly wore our country’s uniform for 24 years. My dad, a Korean War-era veteran, died of lung cancer a couple years later and left behind a mountain of medical debt. Thank God for Social Security survivor benefits. And thank God for the GI Bill that allowed both my dad and me to go to college—just like it has for millions of Americans.

Eventually, I fell in love with teaching, just like the rest of my family. Heck, three out of four of us even married teachers. I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mankato West High School. Go Scarlets! We ran a 4-4 defense, played through the whistle every single down, and even won a state championship. Never close that yearbook, people.

U.S. & World

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It was my students who first inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I hoped to instill in them—a commitment to the common good. An understanding that we’re all in this together. And a true belief that one person can make a real difference for their neighbors.

So there I was, a 40-something high school teacher with young kids, zero political experience, no money, and running in a deep-red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher.

I represented my neighbors in Congress for 12 years and I learned an awful lot. I learned how to work across the aisle on issues like growing rural economies and taking care of our veterans. And I learned how to compromise without compromising my values.

Then I came back home to serve as governor and we got right to work making a difference in our neighbors’ lives. We cut taxes for middle-class families. We passed paid family and medical leave. We invested in fighting crime and affordable housing. We cut the cost of prescription drugs and helped people escape the kind of medical debt that nearly sank my family. And we made sure that every kid in our state got breakfast and lunch at school. So while other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours.

We also protected reproductive freedom because, in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. And even if we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, we’ve got a Golden Rule—mind your own damn business.

That includes IVF and fertility treatments. This is personal for Gwen and me. Let me just say this—even if you’ve never experienced the hell of infertility, I guarantee you know somebody who has. I remember praying each night for a call with good news, the pit in my stomach when the phone would ring, and the agony when we heard the treatments hadn’t worked. It took me and Gwen years. But we had access to fertility treatments and when our daughter was finally born, we named her Hope. Hope, Gus, Gwen—you are my whole world. I love you all so much.

I’m letting you in on how we started our family because that’s a big part of what this election is about—freedom. When Republicans use that word, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. Corporations free to pollute the air and water. Banks free to take advantage of customers. But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean your freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people you love. The freedom to make your own health care decisions. And, yeah, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying they’ll be shot dead in the halls.

Look, I know guns. I’m a veteran. I’m a hunter. I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress and I have the trophies to prove it. But I’m also a dad. I believe in the Second Amendment. But I also believe that our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe. That’s what this is all about. The responsibility we have to our kids, to each other, and to the future we’re building together—a future in which everyone is free to build the kind of life they want.

But not everyone feels the same sense of responsibility. Some folks just don’t understand what it means to be a good neighbor. Take Donald Trump and JD Vance—their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives. They’ve spent a lot of time pretending they know nothing about it. But look, I coached high school football long enough, I promise you this—when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they plan on using it.

We know what they’ll do if they get back in the White House. They’ll jack up costs on middle-class families. They’ll repeal the Affordable Care Act. They’ll gut Social Security and Medicare. They’ll ban abortion across America, with or without Congress.

It’s an agenda that nobody asked for. It’s an agenda that serves nobody but the richest people and the most extreme voices in our country. An agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need. Is it weird? Absolutely. But it’s also wrong. And it’s dangerous. It’s not just me saying so. It’s Trump’s own people. They were with him for four years. And they’re warning us that the next four years would be much, much worse.

When I was teaching, we would always elect a student body president. And you know what? Those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a lesson about what it means to be a leader. Leaders don’t spend all day insulting people and blaming people. Leaders do the work. I don’t know about you all, but I’m ready to turn the page on these guys. So say it with me: “We’re not going back.”

We’ve got something better to offer the American people. It starts with our candidate, Kamala Harris. From her first day as a prosecutor, as a district attorney, as an attorney general, as a U.S. senator, and then, as our vice president, she’s fought on the side of the American people. She’s taken on predators and fraudsters. She’s taken down transnational gangs. She’s stood up to powerful corporate interests. She’s never hesitated to reach across the aisle if it meant improving lives. And she’s always done it with energy, passion, and joy.

Folks, we have a chance to make Kamala Harris the next president of the United States. But I think we owe it to the American people to tell them exactly what she’d do as president before we ask for their votes. So here’s the part you clip and save and send to that undecided relative.

If you’re a middle-class family or a family trying to get into the middle class, Kamala Harris is gonna cut your taxes. If you’re getting squeezed by the price of your prescription drugs, Kamala Harris is gonna take on Big Pharma. If you’re hoping to buy a home, Kamala Harris is gonna help make it more affordable. And no matter who you are, Kamala Harris is gonna stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life you want to lead. Because that’s what we want for ourselves. And that’s what we want for our neighbors.

You know, I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this one in my life. But I’ve given a lot of pep talks. So let me finish with this, team. It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense. We’re driving down the field. And, boy, do we have the right team to win this. Kamala Harris is tough. She’s experienced. And she’s ready. Our job is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling. One inch at a time, one yard at a time, one phone call at a time, one door knock at a time, one $5 donation at a time. We’ve only got 76 days to go. That’s nothing. We’ll sleep when we’re dead. And we’re gonna leave it all on the field.

That’s how we’ll keep moving forward. That’s how we’ll turn the page on Donald Trump. That’s how we’ll build a country where workers come first, health care and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of our bedrooms. That’s how we make America a place where no child is left hungry. Where no community is left behind. Where nobody gets told they don’t belong.

That’s how we’re gonna fight. And as the next president of the United States says, “When we fight, we win!” When we fight, we win! When we fight, we win! Thank you, and God bless America!

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