For those of you who have been on my workshops and seminars, you'll already know one of my top tips for improving your writing is to read it out aloud, and then get someone else to read it back to you.
By using this technique I guarantee you will find all the gremlins that make your copy read weird. But what do you do when there is no one else around?
David Kittos, who was on my last workshop, has come up with the answer, and although I don't profess to understand any of it, he assures me it works.
Thanks for the contribution David. Computers that talk - whatever next.
Keep writing...
Brendan
Computer, please check my article
OK, this is a slight exaggeration, but while completing the article about
Puerto Galera, I managed to get my PC to read it aloud for me.
"Delegating" this task allowed my mind to focus on finding and correcting
flaws such as paragraph flow, grammar mistakes and repeated use of the same
word. I went through each paragraph about 10 times, fixing mistakes and
replaying it, until it sounded good.
I am using standard software which most people have - Windows XP and MS
Office 2003. I don't know how you can do this on a Mac - sorry!
So if you are getting a friend to read your articles aloud for you consider
this: your PC will not complain that it's bored or that it needs a break
for a cuppa and/or some nicotine. It just keeps doing as it's told!!
Now for the techie bit. This shouldn't take more than 20 minutes from
start to finish.
Prerequisites
- Windows XP SP2 with multimedia stuff installed (i.e sound card and
speakers)
In the Control Panel, find the Speech icon and double click on it. There
should be a "Text to Speech" tab with at least one item (voice) in the
"Voice Selection" menu. It may be called "Microsoft Sam" but there may be
additional voices you can choose. With a voice selected, click the
"Preview voice" button and you should hear a synthetic voice that sounds
like Stephen Hawkins. If this step didn't work, don't proceed with the
rest of the process.
- MS Office 2003 (SP2) full installation
How to do this.
1. This is the technical bit, and I am not claiming credit for this.
Follow the instructions in the URL below to the letter.
http://www.gmayor.com/word_text_to_speech.htm
If you can't find the bit about "Microsoft Speech Object Library" described
in the instructions, you may not have a full Office 2003 installation and
the rest of the steps will not work.
The only easy option here is to do a full MS Office 2003 installation.
Also if you are not familiar with the VBA editor, use the help facility
(it's very good).
2. After you have finished with the instructions in the website, you should
have a MS Word template with a new toolbar with two buttons: "Speak Text"
and "Stop Speaking".
Turn your speakers ON and make sure that the sound volume in NOT muted.
If you have attached the macros and toolbar to the Normal template
(normal.dot), then create a new document and type some text in it (or just
paste the contents of another document).
Select a paragraph using the mouse and click the "Speak Text" button - it
should start reading out your text.
The voice isn't really natural but you get used to it!!
Click the "Stop Speaking" button if you've had enough.
3. There are more natural sounding voices that can be added (from third
parties) but they are not free. Check the URL:
http://www.bytecool.com/voices.htm for more information.
Note that we are interested in SAPI5 voices (not SAPI4) . Also I haven't
tried any of these 3rd party products myself (yet).
Best of luck.
DK
