Did you know that your Mac can read text aloud? The feature is called “Text to Speech.”

I’ve been using it in three ways:

1. Listen to a relatively long blog post or email while doing something else that allows me to multitask.
2. Listen to something I’m copy-editing (whether it’s something that I or someone else wrote). This helps pace me, and it helps me spot typos. Sometimes my ears hear errors that my eyes miss.
3. Listen to an English Bible translation that I don’t already own as an audio-Bible. (On listening to audio-Bibles, see here and here.) This is especially helpful when you want to listen to a variety of English translations while looking at a particular passage in Greek or Hebrew.

So how do you do this on a Mac?

1. Open “System Preferences,” and select “Dictation & Speech.”

Update on 11/7/2016: macOS Sierra does not have a “Dictation & Speech” icon. For Dictation, select Keyboard. For Speech, select, Accessibility.

[Read more…] about How to Make Your Mac Read Text Aloud

I listen to a lot of audiobooks, lectures, and sermons on my iPhone. And I almost always listen on double speed. Here’s how to do it on an iPhone or iPod.

1. Import the audio into iTunes.

You can do this by simply dragging and dropping (i.e., copying) an audio file (like an MP3 file) into an iTunes playlist.

2. Change the “Media Kind” from “Music” to “Audiobook” in iTunes.

1. 

   Right-click the track(s) in iTunes.

2. Select “Get Info.”
3. Select the “Options” tab.
4. Next to “Media Kind,” change the category from “Music” to “Audiobook.”
5. Select “OK.” [Read more…] about How to Listen on Double Speed with an iPhone or iPod