Text to speech needs much better controls I think...?

Mar 22, 2021

The voices read text too quickly and there are no controls that allow you to control how the voices pronunciate what they are saying, which also keep the closed captions in synch. E.g. pauses, emphasis on certain elements, silence, acronymns etc etc..

I saw a thread that was over 2 years old asking for these sorts of features, but nothing seems to have improved in this time. Is anything coming soon or are there any recommended workarounds?

3 Replies
Becca Levan

Hey Jonathan,

I appreciate you reaching out and sharing your ideas here!

We're actively tracking requests around additional text-to-speech options, including voice improvements, and I’m happy to share your thoughts with the right team! Here's a look into how we prioritize such ideas.

In the meantime, you can use punctuation, such as commas and semicolons, when you want to insert brief pauses. If you need longer pauses, convert your text to speech, then open the clip in the built-in audio editor and insert silence where it's needed.

I hope that helps—and we'll be sure to pop back in here when there are any changes to report!

Kelly Auner

Hi, Jonathan!

I have some great news to share. We just released another update for Storyline 360. In Update 83, we’ve included important fixes and new features!

One enhanced feature we’ve included:

Unlock new possibilities for text-to-speech audio. Use speech synthesis markup language (SSML) to adjust the speaking rate, modify pronunciation, emphasize words, add pauses, and more.

To take advantage of this update, launch the Articulate 360 desktop app on your computer, and click the Update button next to Storyline 360. You'll find our step-by-step instructions here!