Sometimes when you get really lazy you wish someone was there to read things from the computer screen to you.  If you have Excel 2007 your wish has come true!  Excel will read the cells to you!

First off, this only works in Excel, not Word…why?  I haven’t a clue.  There is a hack that you can use to share the Excel Speech utility with other Office Programs, but I have not tested the 2003 code on 2007 so use it at your own risk.  The instructions can be found here;

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287120

We have to add a command to the toolbar for this to work, so right-click on the Ribbon and select Customize Quick Access Toolbar.

Select All Commands from the Choose Commands Here drop down and scroll to Speak Cells.  Click the Add button and then OK.

You will now see a Speak Cells button in your toolbar.

Now select the cells you want read aloud to you in your spreadsheet.

To stop the reading just hit the Stop Speaking Cells button or switch to another program.

You obviously need speakers or a headset connected to your computer for this to work. 

You can also change the sound and speed of the voice by going into Speech Properties.  Go to Control Panel and double-click Speech.

Then select the voice you want to use, you can even customize the speed of the playback.  There are other voices available from Microsoft as well.

Tags | General, Microsoft, Windows Vista, Windows XP