Deb. Could it be you are using the wrong tool? The way I understand it 'speech to text' is
voice recognition software, which turns your spoken words into text. It doesn't record sound the way a tape recorder does.
I've been fiddling around with a bit of free software called Audacity, which, once you've figured what does what and how to get the basic settings to suit yourself, will record your voice like a tape recorder and let you save it as a sound file. mp3 seems a popular choice.
But, just like word processing software, it can do a lot of things you probably don't need. Nerdy stuff which just confuses anyone who only needs a basic speech recorder. I'm still trying to get it how I want it
The recording I have over on the 'Let it be spoken' thread was made a few years back using an earlier and seemingly less complicated version of audacity,
Gyppo