How do i get Pages to use Text to Speech in Mavericks?

Mavericks 10.9.1 and Pages v5.0.1

System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts. Click + sign to add a specific application, in this instance Pages v5.01, from the pop down Application list.

Menu Title: Start Speaking

Keyboard Shortcut: Your choice, I chose command+7.

Click Add. Exit from System Preferences. Click inside your Pages v5.01 document to give it focus. Press command+7 and listen to the computer voice. Your text need not be selected.

Forget about Dictation & Speech settings for Page v5, unless you want to change the voice.

From Apple's knowledgebase:

OS X Mavericks: Hear your Mac speak text

If you have trouble reading text on your screen, you can have your Mac speak text that’s on the screen when you press a key or set of keys.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Dictation & Speech, then click Text to Speech.
2. Select the “Speak selected text when the key is pressed” checkbox.By default, speaking is enabled when you press Option-Esc. To choose a different key, click Change Key, press one or more modifier keys (Command, Shift, Option, or Control) together with another key, then click OK.
3. To have your Mac start speaking, press the specified key. To stop the speaking, press the key again.If text is selected when you press the key, the selected text is spoken. Otherwise, available text items in the current window are spoken; for example, if Mail is the current window, an email message is read. If no text items are available, you hear a beep.

You can also use VoiceOver, the spoken interface for OS X, to hear descriptions of every item on the screen and to control your Mac using the keyboard.

Peter

In Pages 5

select the text > Menu > Edit > Speech > Start Speaking

The shortcut option esc seems to be used by something else. It looks like spelling or grammar.

You could try changing the shortcut to something else in System Preferences.

Peter

I am stumped as well.

Menu > Pages > Provide Pages feedback

Pages 5/Mavericks is turning into a PITA.

Mavericks just totally crashed on me. I have not had an OSX lock screen for years that I can remember.

Peter