It appears you are setting the SpeechRecognizer to Legacy. In it's properties, uncheck that and try the tutorial
You might be happier with the approach demonstrated.
There are two versions of the native SpeechRecognizer. If you use Legacy, you use the original MIT version that displays prompts; if you un-check Legacy you do not get those prompts. The SpeechRecognizer itself will not take up any screen space (other than a Button you might use). Yes, you can provide a small image of a microphone if you like.
Does this help Jack?
Regards,
Steve