Lincoln Logs were invented by John Lloyd Wright after his father Frank Lloyd Wright refused to pay him a proper salary while they were in Tokyo building the Imperial Hotel together. John quit, flew home, and turned his father’s earthquake-proof interlocking beam design into a children’s toy.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed some of the most iconic buildings of the 20th century. His son looked at the blueprints, thought “this would slap as a kids toy” and made millions.

What’s in store:

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How I use Google Doc’s text-to-speech feature

When I need to just put my head down and write, I go to Google Docs. I open up a document, close out my other tabs, and just let the words flow.

But, more often than not, I have to stop, read everything back to myself, and figure out if I'm actually on the right track.

The problem is, I need another perspective... a different reader.

That's where Google's new text-to-speech feature comes in.

How text-to-speech works

Google Docs isn't new to text-to-speech (or speech-to-text), but this is a little different.

Go to Gemini in the top toolbar and click either "Listen to this tab" or "Listen to document summary."

(You can also get there by going to Tools → Audio (New) and selecting the same options.)

A small audio player pops up on your screen. Click the three dots to change the voice.

This is one of my favorite parts because instead of just "man" or "woman," Google describes the personality or mood. You'll see options like "Coach — lively, higher pitch" or "Persuader — engaging, low pitch."

How I use "listen to this tab"

This reads your document back to you almost exactly as it's written.

The only downside is that it only works for a certain number of words.

So I usually wait until I've written about a page before hitting play. If you keep writing, you'll have to refresh it before it reads the new text.

I especially like this for things that are meant to be heard:

It's amazing how quickly you notice awkward sentences or sections that don't quite flow once someone else is "reading" them.

How I use "listen to document summary"

This one is different.

Instead of reading your document, it creates a summary and reads that back to you—almost like the back cover of a book or the description of a podcast episode.

You can also change the voice depending on the kind of feedback you're looking for.

One thing I didn't love is that every time you refresh it, it generates a brand-new summary. I actually liked the first version better than the later ones, so that was disappointing. I had even tried opening another Google Doc and using voice typing to capture it before it disappeared...but no luck.

Still, I think this is the most useful feature.

It's a quick gut check to see if your writing is actually about what you think it's about.

If the summary makes you think, "...Wait, that's not really what this is about," chances are you need to go back to your draft.

Pro-tip: Google NotebookLM has a similar feature called Audio Overview, but instead of reading your document aloud, it creates a podcast-style discussion about it. I use Docs when I want to hear my exact writing, and NotebookLM when I want to hear the bigger picture.

Screenshot this

Until next time, may your first drafts be messy and your second drafts sound much smarter. -HL

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