Proofing Articles Just Got Easier

Using text-to-speech to proof your article text

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article explaining how to use the Medium text-to-speech function to pace your reading of articles written by others.

In the article, I listed some pros and cons of the new function. One of the cons I listed was:

Text-to-speech is not supported in the article editor, which too bad because it would be an excellent tool for detecting clumsy passages, spelling problems, etc. prior to publication.

I am very happy to report that Alex Benzer, director of audio at Medium got back to me with a workaround that makes it possible for us to listen to our stories before publishing them.

1. In your editor, click the ellipsis button (the three dots in the top right corner) and choose “Share draft link.”
2. Copy the link that appears.
3. Paste the link into your browser.
4. On the article screen that appears, click “Listen” to start a reading of your story.

Alex says they are working on making this process less circuitous, and results can be expected soon.

Why use text-to-speech to listen to your text before publishing?

I am a big proponent of listening to my writing before sending it out for publication.

My real-world job is translating Japanese to English. I almost always use text-to-speech to have my translations read back to me before submitting them to the customer. Clunky expressions and errors become much more apparent if you hear them.

Even before the advent of the current technology, I used to read my translations aloud before submitting them.

Text-to-speech eliminates the need for self-reading and the problem of going glassy-eyed and skimming past errors, which can happen when proofing one’s own writing.

I also continue to think that text-to-speech is a great way to ensure you spend adequate time reading the articles of others.

Give it a try!

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