#4 ReadPlease

ReadPlease - Downloads - Text-to-speech software that lets your computer talk

When you write a grant you are having a conversation with the evaluators. You want to talk with them, not write at them. It's easy, but disastrous, to fall into bureaucrat-speak.

I find that the best way to check myself is to have someone else read my copy outloud. (When I read it I can put the inflection just where I want it to go, so it's not a real test.)

Unfortunately, I don't always have someone handy who can drop everything to read to me. So I use ReadPlease.

ReadPlease has a free version that does just fine for me. The voice may be flat, but I can hear what is awkward or muddled. Or pompous. It's great for comparing versions, too.

Check it out.