Gwinnett County Public Schools
GCPS Tech Tips
A few tricks to take you beyond
the basics of Microsoft Office
Microsoft Excel:
Excel can read to you.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
Proofreading is very important with anything you
write. The simplest form of proofreading is to
actually read out loud what you have written.
That can usually keep you from overlooking
typos and missing words.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
But if a document is extra important, you
would be wise to get another person to
read it out loud as you listen. Two sets
of eyes and ears are better than one.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
If there is no one available to proofread with
you, Excel will be happy to do it. That’s
right. Excel will read the words and
numbers in the cells of your worksheets.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
To use this function, you will need to have a
sound card and working speakers...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
or a headset plugged into the earphone
jack on your computer or laptop.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
With those in place...
and with your Excel worksheet open...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
click on “Tools” at the top of your screen.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
On the menu that drops down, click “Speech.”
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
If this is the first time you’ve tried this, your
computer may give you a message that
additional software needs to be loaded
from your Microsoft Office CD. If you get
that message and you want to load this
capability, click on “Yes.”
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
Word will tell you which CD
is needed to input the
additional software.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
Insert the required CD and click “OK.”
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
Microsoft Office will take over and
install the software.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
Once the installation is
complete, whenever
you click “Tools”...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
the menu drops down... and you
place your pointer on “Speech”...
you will see a couple of options.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
If you click on “Show Text To
Speech Toolbar”...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
a little toolbar will appear that you will
use to set up, start, and stop your
talking computer.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
You click here if you want
it to read a row of cells.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
You click here if you
want it to read a
column of cells.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
You click here to start it reading...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
and here to stop the reading.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
This button at the right end of the
toolbar toggles on and off to
control whether your computer
reads one cell right after another...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
or only reads another cell
every time you press the
“Enter” key.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
If you want to read a column...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
you select the cells
you want the
computer to read...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
and click here for Excel
to start reading.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
Excel will stop at the end of the selected
column... or... you can click here to stop the
reading at any time. So... if you hear an
error, you can stop and make the correction.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
If you want Excel to read a row...
you click here...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
and then select the row of cells
you would like Excel to read.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
Click to tell Excel to
start reading and...
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
Incidentally, you can grab the “Text to Speech”
toolbar here and drag it wherever on your Excel
document it is most convenient to use.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
And when you are finished with this
function, you close the little toolbar
by clicking this “X”.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
EXCEL: Excel can read to you.
That’s all there is to it. Now, if you would like a
copy of the step-by-step directions for having
Excel read to you, just print this last page. Have
fun listening to your computer talk!
Step-by-Step:
- Open your worksheet
- Click on “Tools”
- Click on “Speech”
- (Add software if required)
- Click on “Tools”
- Point to “Speech”
- Click on “Show Text To
Speech Toolbar”
For columns:
- Click on “By Columns”
- Select the column cells
- Click on “Speak Cells”
For rows:
- Click on “By Rows”
- Select the row cells
- Click on “Speak Cells”