Voice-over Scriptwriting & Common Issues Support

Read through these tips to help you better sync your script, adjust emphasis and troubleshoot and overcome hurdles that come with the current state of AI voices.

Syncing your script/audio with visual elements, including text and images, can be challenging. As templates are built with visual elements that are fixed/cannot be moved, it may be easier to adjust your script to match.

The recommendations below will provide suggestions based on your Voice-over. To navigate to your Voice-over Toolbar to make these edits, be sure to review the instructions under the Editing the AI Voice-over Script article.

Add Pauses to better sync your audio with visuals

Pauses may be added to your script with the following syntax/code, added into your script.

<break time="[time]s" />

Example for a 1.5 second break: <break time="1.5s" />

Example for a 3 second break: <break time="3.0s" />

Once you navigate to your AI voice-over script in the Editor, you can include this code in your script and test different lengths.

Example in a script: "For three generations, our family's been baking heavenly Hawaiian pies with aloha in every slice. <break time="1.5s" /> From our treasured recipes since nineteen seventy-nine to your table today. Order yours at Hawaiian pie co dot com."

Please note:

Pauses can be as long as 3 seconds
Pauses may be used consecutively
Longer pauses or too many consecutive pauses may cause issues with the AI's ability to create a high-quality audio file.
Need a shorter pause? Shorter pauses or natural breathing time can be added with periods (.), commas (,), or ellipses (...).

Adding Emphasis to words or syllables

Emphasizing specific words or syllables can help punctuate parts of your script and push your message forward!

To emphasize certain syllables, add quotation marks (e.g., “Way”mark).
To emphasize an entire word, add quotation marks (e.g., “Waymark”).

Improving pronunciation

Missing the mark with your AI Voice pronunciation? Does the voice say CON-tent instead of con-TENT? Here are some tried and tested ways to adjust your phonetic spelling to better pronunciation.

Spell out difficult words phonetically. AI voices can recognize when words are spelled the way they sound. This is especially helpful for words with the same spelling but different pronunciations.
- i.e. Salina = Sah-lye-nah
If you want to hear each letter in an acronym, capitalize each letter and add spaces in between. If the acronym is used as a word, phonetically spell it out.
- i.e., TSA = T S A
For complicated long words, try splitting the word into phonetically spelled syllables.
Add diacritics or accent marks to have words sound correct.
Changing the AI voice may also provide you with an alternative pronunciation.

Numbers in your script

Including numbers in your script can help emphasize specific marketing messages, as long as they're said correctly! Here are a few tips to ensure your numbers sound great:

If you want to hear each number separately, add spaces between them.
Add a dollar sign ($) to the front of a number to hear dollar amounts (e.g., “$5” would be read as “five dollars.”
Decimals will be read in a natural way (e.g., “3.4” would be read as “three point four”).
Four numbers together will be typically identified as a year. To read 2015 as “two thousand fifteen,” type “2,015.”
The AI typically identifies phone numbers. If not, add spaces to hear each number individually.

Adjusting your pace

When using the AI voice library for your voice-over, you'll notice each voice has a specific pace associated with it. This provides flexibility when it comes to script lengths - if you have a short script, you can select a slower-paced voice to ensure it covers the length of your video. Alternatively, you can choose a faster-paced voice to keep your script and message intact if you have a long script.

But...how do you know which pace is best?

When you access the Voice-Over Editor tools, you'll notice help text below the script that shows you if the length of your script is a good match for the length of your video and the voice/pace you've selected.

A little long? Either reduce the length of your script or find a faster-paced voice.

Too short? Lengthen your script with more copy or add in pauses, or find a slower-paced voice.

Looks good? Pat yourself on the back - you're doing great!

Removing extra sounds/Artifacts Support

Infrequently, a voice-over file may be generated with extra sounds, words, or artifacts. If your voice-over seems to have these extras, here are some suggestions on how to adjust your file:

Make a small adjustment and re-generate/re-save the voice-over file
Choose a different voice-over speaker and save
Avoid the word "visit"
Avoid multiple uses of alliteration (e.g., "Clay Cooper")
Avoid repetitive verbiage

Eliminating unwanted pauses

Occasionally, extra pauses, not reflected in the script, may arise in your voice-over. This may happen between sentences that end in a period or with websites with a period in the script. Here are some ways to reduce those pauses:

Use the above syntax to explicitly add pauses where you would like
Use a comma or no punctuation instead of a period (you don’t need perfect grammar!)
Spell out "dot com" instead of ".com"