# ElevenLabs v3 Audio Tags List & Examples | Make AI Voice Source page: https://www.makeaivoice.com/elevenlabs-v3-audio-tags > Every ElevenLabs v3 audio tag by category, how to add pauses ([pause] vs ), and ready-to-use scripts for audiobooks, ads, games and podcasts. Try each one free. Plain-text version of this page for AI assistants and readers. Site overview: https://www.makeaivoice.com/llms.txt Prices and plan details change; the current ones are on https://www.makeaivoice.com/pricing --- # ElevenLabs v3 Audio Tags List & Examples Every documented v3 audio tag, grouped by what it does — and a dialogue editor right here to hear each one. Click a tag to copy it, paste it into a line, and generate. ## Emotions Set how the line feels. ## Delivery & pacing Change volume, speed and intensity. ## Human reactions Non-verbal sounds a person makes. ## Accents & character Shift the voice's character without switching voices. ## Conversation flow Make multi-speaker dialogue feel real. ## Sound effects Short effects inside the audio. ## Try tags in a conversation [Voice Isolator](https://www.makeaivoice.com/voice-isolator)[Voice Cloning](https://www.makeaivoice.com/voice-cloning) 0 / 1,000 Free credits on sign-up · no card needed · Turbo costs 3 credits per 1,000 characters ## Audio tag examples by use case Ready-made scripts you can copy. Click Try this script to load one into the editor above, then change the words and voices. ### Audiobook & fiction narration A narrator plus a character, with the emotion carried by the character's lines. Hank: The letter had been under the door all night. She read it twice before she let herself breathe. Arabella: [whispers] He knew. [pause] All this time, he knew. Hank: [slowly] Outside, the rain had finally stopped. Keep the narrator mostly untagged so the tagged lines stand out. One [pause] inside a line does more than several in a row, and [slowly] on the closing line gives the scene an ending. ### Podcast & YouTube banter Two hosts who sound like they're actually talking to each other. Liam: So I tried making sourdough this weekend. Laura: [laughs] Oh no. How did it go? Liam: [sighs] It's less of a bread and more of a doorstop— Laura: [interrupting] Wait, wait, you brought it today, didn't you? Reactions like [laughs] and [sighs] at the start of a reply make the timing feel live. Cut the previous line off with a dash and open the next one with [interrupting]. ### Ads & promos A short, punchy read that builds up to the offer. Phil: [excited] This weekend only, every pair of running shoes is forty percent off. Phil: [rushed] Online and in store, while sizes last. Phil: [shouts] Don't miss it! Use one voice and change the energy line by line: [excited] for the offer, [rushed] for the small print, [shouts] only on the last line. Shouting the whole script just sounds flat at a higher volume. ### Game characters & villains Dialogue for a cutscene, trailer or tabletop session. Brock: [shouts] Hold the gate! Nobody gets through! Aria: [laughs] Brave. [softly] And so very foolish. Brock: [gasps] How did you get behind us? Contrast is what makes a villain land: the soldier shouts and the villain gets quieter. [softly] after a laugh comes across as more menacing than any amount of [angry]. ### Meditation & sleep A slow, calm guided script. Allison: [softly] Let your shoulders drop. [pause] Breathe in through your nose. Allison: [slowly] And let it go. [pause] Notice how heavy your hands feel. Pick a voice that's calm to begin with, then add [softly], [slowly] and [pause]. Tags can soften a voice, but they can't turn an energetic announcer into a meditation guide. ### Comedy & sarcasm Deadpan delivery and a laugh at the end. Marshal: [sarcastically] Oh good, another meeting that could have been an email. Lutz: [big laugh] You say that every Monday. Sarcasm depends on the words. [sarcastically] works when the line is already ironic and does almost nothing on a neutral sentence. ## How audio tags work Tags sit inline in your script, in square brackets, and direct how the next words are performed. You can stack them — “[excited] [shouts] We won!” — and change them mid-line. They're directions, not guarantees: the result depends on the voice, so a naturally deep, calm narrator will interpret [shouts] differently from an energetic announcer. On this site, tags work in [Dialogue mode](https://www.makeaivoice.com/ai-voice-generator), which runs Dialogue v3 at 7 credits per 1,000 characters. Tags count toward the characters. ## How to add pauses in ElevenLabs The syntax depends on the model. v3 has its own pause tags and doesn't support the SSML break tag; the older models work the other way round. Eleven v3 (Dialogue mode on this site) [pause] [short pause] [long pause]Put the tag where the gap should go: "I opened the door. [long pause] Nobody was there." These tags only work in v3. Don't use here — ElevenLabs says v3 and v4 don't support it. Multilingual v2, Turbo v2.5 and other older models Set the length in seconds, up to 3s. Keep it to a few per script: ElevenLabs warns that too many break tags in one generation can make the voice speed up or add artifacts. Punctuation also works as a softer option on any model: a dash (- or —) for a short break, an ellipsis (…) for a hesitant trailing pause. It's less consistent than a tag, so use a tag when the timing matters. ## Common mistakes - A tag on every sentence. The voice ends up sounding overacted, and the tags start cancelling each other out. Tag the lines that matter and leave the rest plain. - Asking a voice for something it can't do. A soft, calm voice asked to [shouts] may read the tag out loud instead. If a tag gets spoken, change the voice before you change the tag. - Using tags outside v3. Turbo 2.5 and Multilingual v2 read the brackets as text. On this site, tags only work in Dialogue mode. - Expecting the same take twice. v3 performs a little differently every time. Generate two or three takes of an important line and keep the best one. Looking for a calm voice to start from? See the [meditation voices](https://www.makeaivoice.com/voices/meditation-voice-generator) or the [narrator voices](https://www.makeaivoice.com/voices/narrator-voice-generator). ## FAQ ### How do I use audio tags? Put the tag in square brackets right before the words it should affect: "[whispers] Don't turn around." Tags are case-insensitive; lowercase is the convention. ### Why did the voice read my tag out loud? v3 reads a tag as text when the voice can't perform it — for example asking a soft, calm voice to [shouts] repeatedly. Pick a voice with a wider emotional range, or use a gentler tag. ### How do I add a pause in ElevenLabs? In v3, write [pause], [short pause] or [long pause] where the gap should go. Other ElevenLabs models (such as Multilingual v2 and Turbo v2.5) use the SSML break tag instead, like , for pauses up to 3 seconds. v3 does not support break tags. ### Do tags work with Turbo 2.5 or Multilingual v2? No. Audio tags are a v3 feature. On this site they work in Dialogue mode, which runs v3. ### Is this list complete? It lists the tags ElevenLabs documents. v3 understands many other natural-language directions too — try your own, like [nervously] or [trying not to laugh]. ### Is this site affiliated with ElevenLabs? No. We're an independent service that runs ElevenLabs models among others. ElevenLabs is a trademark of its owner. Tag list based on ElevenLabs' published documentation. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ElevenLabs.