Monday, July 15, 2013

Learning Every Day - Speak Command on Word


First, a little information that has nothing to do with writing.

Happy Anniversary to me!
On July 15, 1978 my husband and I were married.
Thirty Five years have flown by.

I am learning every day - in my married life and in my writing life.

Now on to writing!

I just found out from reading a post on Facebook that Word has a speech command! (I have Word 2010) I didn't know that. Of course,  it is a computer voice and sounds a little different  at  times, but I am  so glad I found it.


For those of you who don't know how to use it, here are my instructions.

At the very top left hand section of your Word document there is a little row of icons - save, undo, repeat, print/ print preview and spelling and grammar check (that is what mine are, yours may be a little different) and then there is a small line and a down arrow. Press on that and it says Customize Quick Access Tool Bar. Go down to More Commands and click. In the box that comes up, where it says Choose Commands from - pick All Commands and click on it. Scroll down until you find 'speak' and click on it and then click on OK.

That is all there is to it.

The speak  icon is now at the top of your Word document. When you have your Word document up,  highlight the text you want it to 'speak,' then click  on the speak icon at the top of your Word document. Voila - it speaks your highlighted section to you.

I was having fun with this program. I highlighted different sections of my manuscript and listened to it. I even found a few mistakes I had made by listening to her speak. Great!

Now here is the really neat part of this post.

The female voice kept saying January when it came to the girl's name of Jan in my manuscript. I guess the program thought Jan was the abbreviation for January. I laughed and thought it was funny. But, the more I listened to it, the more I liked the idea of her name being January.

Guess what. I changed the name of my character to January, and I really like it.

Do you use this option of Word when editing or writing your manuscripts?

If not, give it a try. You never know what might happen.

Posted by Janet Smart  on Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch.



21 comments:

  1. Happy anniversary! I knew Word had a speech command but I admit I don't use it much. Often I forget it exists. Thanks for the post.

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  2. Thanks Clarissa. I have been playing with the speech command all evening. It is amazing at the small mistakes I am finding in my manuscript while the computer reads it to me. I love it!

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  3. Hi Janet,
    Happy anniversary, and I wish you many more years of love and happiness. July must be a hot month for weddings. My hubby and I celebrated ours on July 12.

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    1. Thank you, Donna! Hope you had a nice anniversary, too.

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  4. First let me say, I hope you both had a nice anniversary. I have Word 2010 and I never knew this. That sounds so neat. I'm going to check it out as soon as I get done here. I've wrote your instructions down. Thank you so much for the info..

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  5. Happy 35th anniversary! How exciting! :)

    I have never used the speak option on Word and didn't know it existed. Can't wait to check it out! Thanks for sharing. I love learning new things.
    ~Jess

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    1. Thanks, DMS. I hope you find Speak' helpful.

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  6. I just have the starter program, so it may not be on it, but thanks for sharing. I'm going to look for it. I've already wished you Happy Anniversary, but I would love to wish it to you again. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. Cher'ley

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    1. Hope you find it Cherley. Thanks for wishing us Happy Anniversary.

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  7. Happy Anniversary and many more.

    I did not know Word had a speech program. Will try it tomorrow. Sounds like fun. Thanks.

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    1. Hi Beverly. Thanks and I hope you find the program useful.

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  8. I use an older version of Word, but I'm going to see if it has a speak command. Thanks.

    Happy Anniversary!

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    1. Thanks, Carol. I hope you find the speak command.

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  9. Hi Janet! I became your newest follower a couple of days ago. I didn't have time right then to leave a comment, so I'm back this morning. I've already forgotten how I happened upon your blog, but I see that you and I know some of the same bloggers! Happy Anniversary!

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    1. Thanks Becky. I'm always glad to get new followers!

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  10. Hi Janet, thanks for this information. Now I am going to seek and find.

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    1. If you seek, you shall find. :o) Have fun!

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  11. Happy anniversary, Janet.
    Thanks for sharing the information about the speech command on Word. I didn't know about that. I'm so glad you've shared this very important information with us. I'll have to try to find it on my computer.

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  12. Janet, I am thrilled to find this addition to my tools in Word!

    Thanks so much for sharing this tip! Glad you found RhyPiBoMo! Angie

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    1. Hi Angie. You are quite welcome. Glad I could help. And - thank you for RhyPiBoMo!

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Thank you for your comments. I love comments!