diff --git a/bin/mycroft-say-to b/bin/mycroft-say-to
index 964e16eb0c..4ae597f306 100755
--- a/bin/mycroft-say-to
+++ b/bin/mycroft-say-to
@@ -21,5 +21,9 @@ DIR="$( pwd )"
 # Enter the Mycroft venv
 source "$DIR/../venv-activate.sh" -q
 
+# Sets var 1 to stdin if no args were given
+set -- "${1:-$(</dev/stdin)}" "${@:2}"
+
 # Send a message to be spoken
-output=$(python -m mycroft.messagebus.send "recognizer_loop:utterance"  "{\"utterances\": [\"$@\"], \"lang\": \"en-us\"}")
+data="$@"
+output=$(python -m mycroft.messagebus.send "recognizer_loop:utterance"  "{\"utterances\": [\"$data\"], \"lang\": \"en-us\"}")
diff --git a/bin/mycroft-speak b/bin/mycroft-speak
index 51facf2918..d80f0e75b1 100755
--- a/bin/mycroft-speak
+++ b/bin/mycroft-speak
@@ -13,13 +13,15 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-
 SOURCE="${BASH_SOURCE[0]}"
 cd -P "$( dirname "$SOURCE" )"
 DIR="$( pwd )"
 
+# Sets var 1 to stdin if no args were given
+set -- "${1:-$(</dev/stdin)}" "${@:2}"
 # Enter the Mycroft venv
 source "$DIR/../venv-activate.sh" -q
 
 # Send a message to be spoken
-output=$(python -m mycroft.messagebus.send "speak"  "{\"utterance\": \"$@\"}")
\ No newline at end of file
+data="$@"
+output=$(python -m mycroft.messagebus.send "speak"  "{\"utterance\": \"$data\"}")