Text-to-Speech Mac Keyboard Shortcut

Siri may not be synonymous with Dictation, but it can still help you compose short messages like email and text messages. If you're using macOS Sierra or higher, you can ask Siri to 'turn on Dictation' for you. When prompted, select the microphone you'd like to use from the pop-up menu below the microphone icon. You'll also need to choose your keyboard shortcut for starting dictation.

Some languages, such as English, have multiple dialects - take my Southern accent, for example. Additionally, you can opt to use Enhanced Dictation, which allows you to dictate without an internet connection.

To access these features, navigate to Apple menu > System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation. You'll find that Mac support for the product was discontinued in October 2018, several years after Apple introduced its built-in Dictation feature via its own Dictation app, which converts spoken words into text.

The history of dictation software on Macs dates back to September 20, 2010, when Nuance Communications released a new version of MacSpeech Dictate, rebranded as 'Dragon Dictate for Mac.' The original MacSpeech Dictate was first released in March 2008 after being showcased at the Macworld Conference & Expo and winning the Macworld 2008 Best Of Show award.

Now, you can use dictation capabilities right out of the box on your Apple desktop or laptop.

Text to speech mac keyboard shortcut