Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Tip 290
Make Your Mac Speak
Your Mac includes a high-quality speech synthesizer that sounds almost like
a natural voice.
Speaking Within Applications
In some applications, especially the built-in apps like Safari or TextEdit, you
can make your Mac read by selecting text, right-clicking the selection, and
selecting Speech→Start Speaking from the menu that appears. Some people
find this useful for proofreading, because hearing the words allows them to
pick up on errors their eyes might glide over.
Recording Speech Synthesis
You can also record your Mac's speech synthesis and turn it into an iTunes
track for downloading to an iPod/iPhone. In this way, you can turn long
articles into home-made podcasts that you can listen to while out and about.
Just select the text, right-click the selection, and click Add to iTunes as a
Spoken Track from the pop-up menu. A pop-up window will appear, asking
you to define a filename for the new file. Once you're done, click the Continue
button. iTunes will automatically start, and clicking the Spoken Text heading
on the left of the program window will reveal your new creation.
Changing the Voice
You can change the synthesis voice by selecting the Text to Speech tab in the
Speech pane within System Preferences (Apple menu→System Preferences).
Click the System Voice drop-down list. The built-in voices aren't very good,
but by clicking Customize in the System Voice drop-down list, you can
download several high-quality voices. Be aware that these come as very large
(multigigabyte) files, however, so they are perhaps best downloaded at home
rather than across public Wi-Fi in a coffee shop.
Speaking at the Terminal
Using the Terminal (open Finder, select the Applications list, and then in the
list of applications double-click Terminal within the
UTILITIES
folder), you can
