Several local Social Media consultants have recommended that I convert my blogposts into podcasts. Podcasting has been around for a number of years, and in many ways, it is “old” technology compared to the snazzy and snappy digitized recording. But many of us do not have the time to sit in front of a screen to watch images, yet we do have time when we’re in our cars, on the bus, or in a waiting room. Listen to your favorite blog by using a web application called Vocalyze, which converts text to speech. By downloading the app to your smartphone, you can listen to any blog that uses the Vocalyze app anywhere, anytime.
You’ll notice that I placed the Vocalyze app on this website on the right side, just under the Toucan bird icon. Download the Vocalyze app to your smartphone. Readers click the link on the app located on my website, and a list of my blogposts should pop up. Click on the article you want to listen to, and a computer-generated female voice reads the text using text-to-speak technology.
It’s pretty simple, and it’s free. The downside is that the rendering of the blog post is not always accurate. For example, the word “triage” is pronounced “trejj”, because the voice recognition rendering of the word “triage” has not been corrected to the proper pronunciation. That might be bothersome, but it won’t stop you from getting your blogpost read — and understood — when you need to keep your eyes somewhere else.
Now it’s your turn. What do you think of Vocalyze? Did you try to listen to one of my blogposts using the app on your mobile device? Were you able to understand enough of the post to find it valuable? Let me know what you think.