Many thanks to my colleague Sharon O’Dornan for prompting me to check out PowerTalk. This is a powerful add-on for Microsoft PowerPoint that automatically speaks text included in a presentation.
PowerTalk (downloadable program) PowerTalk will read aloud the text included in any Windows PowerPoint (2000 or later) presentation, at least through Windows XP. (I haven’t had the opportunity to test it in VISTA yet, but I’ll have even more reason to be offended with VISTA if it does not work there!) PowerTalk is a wonderful tool for anyone who is unable to narrate his or her own presentations.
PowerTalk is straightforward to download and install, and it is just as easy to use. All you do is right-click on the shortcut to a presentation and then select “Narrate with PowerTalk“. PowerTalk reads both the text that appears on the screen as well as hidden text that is attached to images. Helpfully, PowerTalk waits for text to appear and for animations to run their course before speaking the text.
PowerTalk automatically uses your default Windows voice. So, if you use PowerPoint extensively, it might be worth your while to purchase a high quality voice. These readily available downloads normally cost about US$30.
PowerTalk is a completely free open source add-on that has been developed by Fullmeasure Open Source Assistive Technology Software.
July 13, 2007 at 11:02 am
Its amazing how computers evolve very fast. There is so much software that sometimes man just doesn’t have anything to do anything anymore but to click on his mouse and it will do everything.And now,with the PowerTalk,it will just be totally awesome to have these features
Angel and Daniel Gleed@7seo