How To Get Better Results With ElevenLabs Text-To-Voice — Artlist Blog

Highlights

A solid script matters more than picking the perfect voice in ElevenLabs.

Small changes in punctuation and structure can make your voiceover sound more natural almost immediately.

If you write your script like it’s meant to be spoken, not read, it sounds much better when read by an AI voice.

What ElevenLabs text to voice does well

ElevenLabs gets closer to real speech than most text-to-speech tools. The voices feel more human, with better pacing and more range, so you could potentially use them in finished content.

And this is where your creative decisions might hold you back. It all comes down to your script. If your text reads like one long block, with no clear pauses or rhythm, the voice won’t know where to breathe or shift tone, and your finished result will be anything but natural or interesting.

While ElevenLabs is a really strong AI voiceover tool, it's still an actor at heart: you still have to give it the goods so that it can perform, not just read.

Why AI voiceovers sound unnatural

Interestingly, most AI voiceovers don’t sound unnatural because of the tool, or the settings being played around with. The most influential factor in how your AI voice sounds comes down to how you've written your script, punctuation and all.

Most creators might be creative across the board, but when it comes to writing an exciting script, it can be tricky. As a result, a lot of scripts are written like blog posts (at best) or academic essays (at worst).

How to find the right tone

Another common issue is tone-voice mismatch. For example, a casual script paired with a very formal voice, or an energetic message written in a slow, heavy way. If your script feels or sounds boring to read out loud, it will sound boring and/or unnatural when generated.

How to write scripts that sound natural in ElevenLabs

You don't need to be a writer to create a natural-sounding AI voice. You just need to write like you speak.

  1. Read your script out loud
    This is where you'll find most of the issues. If you read out loud and you find that you’re running out of breath, it means that the sentence is too long. If you’re stumbling over words, then your phrasing is off. If the whole thing feels boring, it’ll sound boring after generating.

  2. Use punctuation to control how it sounds
    Punctuation is more than just correct grammar. In this case, it's providing the model with direction. For example:

    • A comma adds a short pause.
    • A period gives the voice a reset.
    • A line break creates space and timing.

  3. Break up long text into short chunks
    Heavy, chunky paragraphs are hard to read, and even harder to say.

  4. Match the tone to what you’re saying
    Think about how you’d actually say it out loud. If the message is light and casual, keep the wording simple and direct. If it’s more serious, slow it down for emphasis.

  5. Fix tricky words manually
    The model will naturally stumble over some words. So, when that happens, don’t fight it, just adjust the text. Add a vowel, break the word up, or spell it in a way that’s easier to read, or phonetically.

When to adjust settings vs. rewrite the script

If your goal is to improve AI voice quality, start with the script before touching any settings. Sometimes, you’ll need to adjust the settings, but the trick is knowing when it's a settings issue rather than a script issue.

Getting the best from ElevenLabs: better script, better voice

Getting the best out of ElevenLabs is pretty straightforward once you know how the model works. The trick is to simply prompt it better.
Write and experiment with your script, find the right voice for your project, and see how ElevenLabs can give you a natural, human-sounding AI voiceover with Artlist’s AI Toolkit.

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About the author

Felicity Kay is an automation expert who writes about how AI fits into everyday creative work. She is the founder of Magipic.ai, an AI SaaS app for generating custom visual content at scale.