Andy Naselli

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How to Make Your Mac Read Text Aloud

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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.”

SP

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

2. Select “Text to Speech.”

3. Check the box for “Speak selected text when the key is pressed.”

4. Optional: Tweak the settings.

      1. Current Key. The default shortcut for activating Text to Speech is Option+Esc, which is what I’ve been using.
      2. System Voice. I think the best system voice is Alex.
      3. Speaking Rate. If I were using this feature to listen to audiobooks, I’d set the speed to “Fast.” But for my purposes, I think that “Normal” (or slightly faster) is about right.

Text_to_Speech

5. Select (i.e., highlight) the text you want to hear, and press your “key” (e.g., Option+Esc) to listen.

Related:

  1. The above method doesn’t work for Logos Bible Software for desktop, but Logos has this feature built into it. On a Mac, the shortcut is ⌘+r. Or when you have a resource open, you can simply click on the book cover icon to expose the menu options and then select Read Aloud.
  2. How to Make Your iPhone and iPad Read Text Aloud
  3. How to Listen on Double Speed with an iPhone or iPod
  4. iPhone Resources
  5. iPad Resources
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  1. Thanks Andy! Text-to-Speech has been a very helpful Mac feature for me as well.

    Another related item in this sphere that has helped with my productivity has been CK’s Text-to-Speech to MP3.

    CK’s software is simple–highlight/copy some text, click the application, and let it work in the background until you hear the alert, “done” which means it has dropped the mp3 of that text into iTunes. The finalized audio will match both the chosen voice and speed that your Text-to-Speech is set at. This has been so helpful when I have large sections of text that I want to pour through while on the go. It’s essentially a free make-your-own-audiobook option that serves as a good alternative to some of the other features you might have on your Kindle or iPhone.