> ## Documentation index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.tutorial.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Voice Tags — Add Pauses, Emotions, and Sounds to Narration

> Make AI narration sound less flat and more like a real presenter by inserting inline pause, sound, and emotion cues.

Section: Help Center › Effects & Styling

Voice tags can make an AI tutorial voice sound less flat and more like a real presenter. Instead of delivering every sentence with the same pace and emotion, you add small performance cues — a pause, a sigh, a curious lift — that shape how each line feels to the listener.

Use tags with intention: a well-placed cue adds personality, while too many cues distract from the message.

[Video: Tutorial AI - Voice Tags](https://embed.videoscripter.ai/video/01a0f81a-780c-7c5f-8582-c1fd6d4d34d3)

## Placing the cursor

Position your cursor in the script where you want to alter the tone of the narration. A purple **+** button appears to the left of the sentence.

![A narration paragraph with sighs, exhales, wheezing, 0.5s pause, and curious tags inline, the text cursor in its last line and the + button to the left](https://www.tutorial.ai/images/help/help-voice-tags-context-menu.d2e2523a.webp)

## Opening the tag menu

Click the **+** to open the context menu, then pick **Add voice tag** for a sound or emotion, or **Add pause** for a silence. The Voice tag menu is grouped into **Sounds & pacing** and **Emotions**.

![The + menu with Add zoom, Add slide, Add pause, and Add voice tag, and the Voice tag submenu open on Sounds & pacing with Exhales highlighted](https://www.tutorial.ai/images/help/help-voice-tags-picker.09469208.webp)

## Adjusting a pause

Pause tags open a duration slider — drag it to set the length. Pauses step in **0.25-second increments**. Click **Remove pause** in the popover to delete the tag.

![Narration with sighs, exhales, wheezing, and a 1s pause tag inline, with the Pause duration slider open and a Remove pause option](https://www.tutorial.ai/images/help/help-voice-tags-pause-slider.31e07f20.webp)

Click any existing tag in the script to edit or remove it.

## Adding tags with Ask AI

[Ask AI](https://www.tutorial.ai/docs/voiceover/ask-ai) can place tags for you, which is a quick starting point for a longer script.

1. Select the narration you want to tag.
2. In the Ask AI bar below the selection, describe what you want, for example *Add voice tags to narration to make it more exciting*, and send it.
3. Review the suggestion. Its tags are shown in square brackets, such as `[excited]` or `[curious]`.
4. Click **Update Script** to apply it. Use the refresh button next to it for a different suggestion, or **Cancel** to keep your script as it was.

![A selected narration paragraph, the Ask AI prompt Add voice tags to narration to make it more exciting, and the suggested script with [excited] and [curious] tags above Update Script and Cancel buttons](https://www.tutorial.ai/images/help/help-voice-tags-ask-ai.a1a9b879.webp)

Once applied, the tags work like ones you added yourself, so you can edit or remove each one. AI tends to add more expression than a tutorial needs: keep only the tags that support the line.

Typing a tag in square brackets yourself doesn't create a tag. Add tags from the **+** menu, or let Ask AI place them.

> ⚠️ **Legacy voices don't support voice tags.** If the voice you've selected is a legacy voice, an exclamation icon appears on the tag in the script and it's ignored at render time. Open the speaker tag at the top of the script and pick a voice from the enhanced catalog to make tags work.
>
> If a tag is read out as text, is skipped, or makes no audible difference, check the voice first. After switching voices, preview a short tagged line to confirm the tags work, and keep the same voice for the whole project so the delivery stays consistent.

## The available tags

### Pause

Insert silence for a specific duration anywhere within or between sentences. Useful for giving a viewer a beat to absorb a key point, breaking up dense narration, or pacing a punchline.

### Voice tag — Sounds & pacing

Drop in a short non-verbal sound where you place the tag. The voice plays it inline:

- **Laughs** — a single, brief laugh
- **Starts laughing** — a laugh that builds into the next sentence
- **Wheezing** — a held, breathless laugh
- **Whisper** — a hushed delivery for the next sentence
- **Sighs** — an audible exhale
- **Exhales** — a breath out
- **Gulps** — a swallow sound

### Voice tag — Emotions

Apply an emotional register to a sentence:

- **Curious** — slight upward inflection, engaged delivery
- **Excited** — energetic, higher pitch and pace

> 🎯 **Tag scope.** A tag typically applies to the sentence it's placed in. To carry a delivery cue across multiple sentences, place the tag at the start of each.

## Using voice tags well

Tags work best as performance direction. Reach for the ones that match what each line is doing — and leave lines alone that don't need a cue.

### Create a more human opening

The opening of a tutorial sets expectations for the rest of the narration. Natural-sounding openings often include slight imperfections or reactions a real presenter might make before speaking — cues that make the delivery feel candid rather than overly polished.

- Add a **sigh** when the script benefits from a thoughtful, relieved, or conversational moment.
- Use an **exhale** to soften the start of a sentence or suggest the speaker is gathering their thoughts.
- Apply **wheezing** sparingly when it supports a playful, breathy, or exaggerated character choice.
- Listen to the full sentence after adding a sound cue — it should support the meaning, not interrupt it.

### Control the pace with pauses

Pauses give listeners time to process an important point, recognize a change in topic, or anticipate what comes next. They also prevent narration from sounding rushed when a sentence contains several ideas.

- Place a pause after an important claim, instruction, question, or transition.
- Start with a short pause when you only need a brief moment of emphasis.
- Increase the length when introducing a new idea or letting a key takeaway land.
- Avoid pausing after every sentence — frequent breaks make narration feel fragmented.
- Preview surrounding lines together, not in isolation, to make sure the rhythm stays natural.

### Set the emotional tone

Emotion tags help the voice follow the meaning of each line instead of simply reading the words. They're especially useful in tutorials — they can make instructions feel welcoming, discoveries feel interesting, and closing remarks feel warm.

- Use **Curious** when introducing a question, possibility, unexpected result, or detail you want the audience to notice.
- Use **Excited** for high-energy moments — a big reveal, a launch, a "here it is" line.
- Match the emotional cue to the audience and subject matter — a playful cue may not suit a serious instruction.
- Use one dominant emotional idea per line so the intended delivery stays clear.

### Refine the complete narration

After adding tags, review the narration end-to-end. The goal isn't to make every line expressive; it's to make the overall delivery feel intentional and easy to follow.

- Read the script aloud without tags first to spot where natural breaths, pauses, and reactions belong.
- Add tags only at moments where they improve clarity, tone, or character.
- Keep important instructions direct, especially when the audience needs to follow an action.
- Listen for consistency so the voice remains believable across the whole tutorial.
- Make small adjustments to pause length and emotional cues until each line matches its purpose.

## Related controls

Voice tags work alongside the rest of the narration controls:

- **Pause tags vs. silence between sync markers** — for pauses inside or between sentences in the narration, voice tags are simpler. For pacing the *video* itself — slowing scenes down to match a longer narration, holding on a UI element — see [How do I add a pause or slow down my video?](https://www.tutorial.ai/en/articles/how-to-add-a-pause-slow-down-video).
- **Emotions vs. picking a different voice** — voice tags shape the delivery of the voice you've already picked. To change the underlying voice — language, accent, baseline speaking style — use the speaker tag at the top of the script.
- **Pronunciations** — for fixing how a specific word is said (brand names, acronyms), use the [Pronunciation Lexicon](https://www.tutorial.ai/en/articles/13618414-pronunciation-lexicon), not a voice tag.

Source: https://www.tutorial.ai/en/articles/voice-tags