Last time I spoke about Speech-to-Text (STT), also known as dictation, where you speak to a computer and it types your words.
This time I want to talk about Text-to-Speech (TTS) which reads text aloud to you using synthetic speech, turning your document into an instant audio book.
Text-to-Speech is actually the older sibling of these two technologies, but don’t let that fool you. While older versions sounded like robotic computers, recent breakthroughs mean it now sounds amazingly natural and human. Today, it’s built into almost everything we use, from phones and tablets to e-readers and smart speakers.
So how can you use it to help you study?
How to use Text-to Speech (TTS) with your writing and studies.
Every few paragraphs, pause and use the read-back or Text-to-Speech (TTS) facility to play your work aloud. Pay close attention to how it sounds, if a sentence feels awkward, clunky, or strange to your ears, hit pause immediately. Replay that section a couple of times and run it through a quick mental filter by asking yourself:
- “Is this actually answering the assignment question?”
- “Is this detail relevant to what I’m supposed to be writing about?”
- “Is this really what I wanted to say?”
- “Is this the best way I wanted to say it?”
If any answer is “no,” tweak the sentence on your keyboard before moving on. Listening back periodically acts like an instant reality check, keeping your tone clear, your main points tight, and your assignment strictly on track.
Google Docs
- Listen to Your Work (Text-to-Speech):
- Go to Tools > Accessibility > Turn on screen reader support
- Ctrl + Alt + X on Windows and Linux, or Cmd + Option + X on Mac.
- For a simpler hands-free option, popular browser extensions like ReadAloud let you play back text with a single click.
Microsoft Word
- Listen to Your Work (Text-to-Speech):
- Go to the Review tab and select Read Aloud.
- Ctrl + Alt + Space or Alt + Ctrl + M depending on version.
- Adjust the voice speed to listen through your work—it is the best way to catch weird phrasing and typos you’d normally miss while skim-reading!
The Hidden Trap of text-to-speech: The Science of “Visual Dominance”
Science shows that when your brain processes sights and sounds at the same time, your visual system heavily overrides what you hear.
While text-to-speech is an incredible tool for editing, watch out for a cognitive phenomenon known as Visual Dominance (or Visual Capture), supported by the famous Colavita Visual Dominance Effect.
When you read text on screen while listening to the computer speak, Bi-modal Reading Interference kicks in: your visual brain predicts what should be on the page and tricks your ears into “hearing” what you expected to write rather than what the machine actually read out.
The Hack to Fix It
To prevent your eyes from ‘lying’ to your ears, look away from the screen, close your eyes, or stare at a blank wall while listening. Removing the competing visual text forces your brain to rely 100% on auditory feedback, making typos and clunky sentences jump out instantly.
Something to think about.
More next week.