Get Pointaloud.

Free forever with the Apple voices. For any Mac with macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel.

Set up in a minute.

Move it to Applications
Open the download and drag Pointaloud onto the Applications folder.
Open it
Pointaloud lives in your menu bar, as a small icon with sound bars. A short setup window opens the first time.
Allow Accessibility
This is how Pointaloud sees the text under your mouse and what you highlight. It is the one permission it needs.
Allow Screen Recording, if you like
Only for apps that draw their text as pictures, like Google Docs. It takes one still image when you press the key and keeps nothing.
Point and hold
The backtick key, just below Esc. Let go to stop. No backtick on your keyboard? Pick another key in Settings.