An idea for the board shouldn't have to wait for you to type it. With Clavio you just say it: open Trello's add-card box, and while your cursor sits there, speak the card — the title first, then open the card and talk out the description. Keep going and the next one follows, so a backlog you've been turning over in your head lands on the list one card at a time. A casual polish keeps every card quick and readable, the way a Trello card is meant to sound — no stiff paragraphs, just a clean line your team can act on. And nothing files itself: Clavio drops the words into the card and stops, so you pick the list, add a label, set a due date, and hit Enter yourself. It's the same voice from the card to the comment to the checklist — your whole board runs on how you talk.
Trigger once, then talk cards straight onto the board
Trello moves fast, and the whole point of a board is to get a thing down before it slips away. Clavio keeps up. Give it a wake word or a hotkey, say it (or tap the key once), and start talking with your cursor already in the add-card box at the bottom of a list. There's no window to open first and nothing to hold down while you speak, so the gap between “we should do this” and “it's a card on the board” is about one sentence long. Trello has no name to talk to, so no app-name trick is needed — a wake word or a single key is the whole move, and the card title lands right where you're looking.
Casual polish, because a Trello card isn't an essay
A card title and its description are quick notes — a reminder to yourself, a heads-up to a teammate, one more line on the backlog. They're not a formal Doc, and they shouldn't come out sounding like one. So keep Clavio on a casual polish for Trello: it clears the “um,” the “so basically,” and the false starts, and leaves you with a light, clean line that reads the way people actually talk on a board — not stiff, not over-formatted, just tidy and clear. Add your board names, your list names (To Do, Doing, Done, and whatever your columns are really called), your label names, and teammate handles to Clavio's dictionary, and those come through spelled right instead of guessed at.
Dump a whole backlog onto a list, card after card
This is where dictating into Trello earns its keep. Open the add-card box on a list and just talk: say the first card, and because auto-send stays off, Clavio drops the title in and waits instead of firing it — you glance at it, hit Enter, and Trello's next add-card box is already open for the one after. Speak card after card and a backlog you've been carrying in your head becomes a real list in a single sitting. A card isn't a chat message you send and forget; it's something you'll give a list, a label, a due date, a member. That's exactly why auto-send stays off — Clavio fills the card and stops, so you set those and commit it when it's ready. Speaking the card is hands-free; deciding it lands on the board stays a deliberate keystroke, so nothing half-formed clutters your columns.
One voice for the whole board loop
The card is one stop on the loop. Speak the card when the idea's fresh, open its back and talk out the description, drop a comment when the work moves, add a checklist item — all in the same casual voice, right in Trello. Then, when a teammate pings you about it, switch to Slack and answer in that same casual tone; dictate the client email in a tidier one; speak your notes into your other apps. Clavio remembers the tone per app, so one wake word carries you from card to comment to checklist to chat — and because it only answers to your voice, someone talking nearby never adds a stray card to your board. That's the whole board loop, end to end, spoken instead of typed.
Recommended Clavio settings for Trello
| Setting | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Activation | Wake word or hotkey | Trello has no name to talk to, so trigger with a wake word or a single key — cursor already in the add-card box, then just speak the card. |
| Polish level | Casual | A card is a quick note, not a Doc — casual clears filler and leaves a light, clean line that reads the way people talk on a board. |
| Auto-send | Off | You're filling a card you'll give a list, label, and due date — not sending a message. Clavio drops the words in and waits so you hit Enter yourself. |
| Personal dictionary | Add boards, lists, labels, handles | Keeps board and list names, label names, and teammate handles spelled right instead of guessed at. |
| Quick capture | Card after card | Speak a card into the add-card box, hit Enter, and the next box is already open — dump a whole backlog onto a list in one sitting. |
Run your Trello board by voice with Clavio
Clavio is an AI dictation app for Mac. It sits in your menu bar and types finished text wherever your cursor is — a Trello card title, its description, a comment, a checklist item, plus Slack and email. For Trello you set a casual polish so cards stay quick and readable, and keep auto-send off so Clavio fills the card and waits while you pick the list, add a label, set a due date, and hit Enter yourself. A personal dictionary keeps your board and list names, labels, and teammate handles intact, and an on-device voiceprint means only your voice sets it off. Free to try: 3,000 words a month, no credit card, macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon. Pro is £12/month for unlimited.
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Common questions
Does Trello have its own voice input?
Trello has no built-in voice dictation, and its Power-Ups and Butler automations move cards around rather than take your speech into one. Your Mac has a dictation feature you can switch on, but it drops raw words into whatever box has focus with no cleanup and no sense of what a card is. Clavio adds a casual polish so cards stay quick and readable, keeps your board and list names straight, and leaves the list, label, and due date to you — so the card comes out ready to file.
Can I capture a card fully hands-free?
You can speak the whole card hands-free — trigger with your wake word or hotkey, then say the title and talk out the description, with nothing to hold down. Auto-send stays off on purpose, so Clavio fills the card and waits: you pick the list, add a label, set a due date, and hit Enter yourself. Speaking the card is hands-free; landing it on the board stays one deliberate keystroke.
Will it mangle our board and list names?
Casual polish tidies the filler and keeps your line light without rewriting what you meant. To keep names exact, add your board and list names, your label names, and teammate handles to Clavio's dictionary — then they come through spelled right instead of guessed at, whether it's a card title or a comment.
Can I dump a whole backlog onto a list at once?
That's what dictating into Trello is best at. Open the add-card box on a list, speak the first card, hit Enter, and the next box is already waiting — keep going and a backlog you've been carrying in your head becomes a real list in one sitting. Auto-send stays off, so each card waits for you to hit Enter, which keeps a fast brain-dump from firing off half-formed cards.
Can I use the same voice beyond Trello?
Yes — that's the point of a system-wide app. Clavio types into the card, the comment, and the checklist the same way it types into Slack, email, and your other apps, and remembers the tone per app: casual for Trello, tidier for a client email. One wake word carries the whole board loop.