. The Mac Reads to You So far in this chapter, you've read about the Mac's listening ability. But the conversation doesn't have to be one-way; it's even easier to make the Mac talk | . The Mac Reads to You So far in this chapter you ve read about the Mac s listening ability. But the conversation doesn t have to be one-way it s even easier to make the Mac talk. Some Mac OS X programs come with their own built-in speaking example Mail can read your messages a loud just Control-click or right-click inside a message window and from the pop-up menu choose Speech Start Speaking. Most Cocoa programs can speak when you use the Start Speaking Text command in the Services menu. You can add a Speak command in FileMaker Pro scripts. Mac OS X s Chess and Calculator programs can talk back too. But that s kid stuff. Truth is the Mac can read almost anything you like text that you pass your cursor over alert messages menus and any text document in any program. It can speak in your choice of 24 synthesizer voices ages 8 to 50. The Mac s voice comes out of its speakers. Most read with a twangy charmingly Norwegian accent all but Alex who makes his debut in Leopard and sounds scarily like a professional human voice-over artist. Note This reading-text business is not the same thing as the Mac s VoiceOver feature. VoiceOver is designed to read everything on the screen including pop-up menus buttons and other controls to visually impaired Mac fans and to permit complete control mouse-free of everything . Details begin on Section . . Setting Up the Mac s Voice To configure the way the Mac talks revisit the Speech pane of System Preferences. Click the Text to Speech tab at the top of the window. As you can see in Figure 15-14 you can control which of the Mac s voices you want your computer to use as well as how fast it should speak. Tip Five of the voices sing rather than speak. Good News sings to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance otherwise known as the Graduation March. Bad News sings to the tune of Chopin s Prelude in C minor better known as the Funeral March. Cellos sings to the tune of Grieg s Peer Gynt suite. Pipe Organ sings to the
