Text to Speech software

As for articulation, the examples of TTS I've heard over the past year or so and more recently have been capable of what appears to be only three levels of tone: the standard mid-tone, a slightly raised tone for emphasis, and a slightly lowered tone for endings of sentences. There are several occurrences in the Speech-Over sample where the incorrect syllable or word was emphasized. Despite these three levels of tone and the insertion of pauses, TTS is not even close to approaching compelling speech. (In my personal opinion, although he's a very smart guy, neither is that given by Bill Gates. The pauses in his talk were due only to his having to occasionally refer to the paper he was reading his speech from; they were not purposely placed for impact because what he was talking about at that time was not so enlightening as to warrant dramatic pauses.)

With regard to the proper placement of emphasis, I submit the following example. Read aloud each sentence, emphasizing the word in boldface, to hear how the meaning of the sentence changes from the previous.

"I never said she ate your sandwich." (Somebody else said it)
"I never said she ate your sandwich." (I definitely did not say anything)
"I never said she ate your sandwich." (I implied it)
"I never said she ate your sandwich." (I said someone else did)
"I never said she ate your sandwich." (I said she did something else with the sandwich)
"I never said she ate your sandwich." (I said she ate someone else’s sandwich)
"I never said she ate your sandwich." (I said she ate something else)

"The boss wants it" is motivation only enough to make someone do something. But people who are motivated by fear of consequences are still reluctant and, thus, will not totally commit. Yes, they might force themselves to sit through the lessons, but we can hardly call this being interested and engaged. They might even receive a passing grade at the conclusion of each lesson. But the real test is whether – six months down the road – they can remember and apply what they heard to satisfactory result.

Some comments of colleagues of mine who have heard TTS:

"If i had to listen to more than 60 seconds of this as employee training, i'd quit."

"A man spent years training his dog to walk on its hind legs. When he showed the trick to a friend, the observation was, 'Yes, very impressive... but tell me, why? It will only ever be a curiosity as a dog, and a pale and pointless imitation of a man.'"

"If people don’t benefit from the courses, those producers who are trying to skimp by using TTS will go out of business. The market will decide whether or not TTS is a viable option. I frankly don’t see a future for TTS for anything worth listening to."

Yes, the market will ultimately decide. But TTS still has a LONG way to go before it can be considered engaging enough to generate genuine enthusiasm in the listener. And genuine enthusiasm makes for great learning.