---
name: elevenlabs-v3-audio-tags
source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/elevenlabs-v3-audio-tags@1/SKILL.md
source_sha256: 5e1636869731
---

# ElevenLabs Eleven v3 audio-tag markup

## Contract

Enforces ElevenLabs' Eleven v3 audio-tag format on the text string you send to the model.
Emotion, vocal delivery, non-verbal reactions, and pauses are written as **inline,
lowercase, square-bracket directives** (`[whispers]`, `[laughs]`, `[short pause]`) — never
SSML, never parentheses, never asterisks, never capitalized stage directions. Apply whenever
the task is to produce the input text for ElevenLabs' Eleven v3 (`eleven_v3`) voice model.

## Rules

1. **Bracket form.** Every performance cue is a tag wrapped in square brackets with lowercase
   words inside: `[tag]`. The brackets and the lowercase interior are the convention.

2. **Inline placement.** Put the tag directly at the entrance of the phrase it should affect.
   A tag governs all following text until the next tag appears. Do not collect the cues into a
   legend, header, or trailing note.

3. **A tag is a directive, not speech.** The bracketed word is interpreted by the model and is
   not read aloud; everything outside the brackets is the spoken text.

4. **Emotion / tone tags** (real, non-exhaustive):
   `[excited]`, `[sad]`, `[angry]`, `[happily]`, `[curious]`, `[sarcastic]`, `[nervous]`,
   `[frustrated]`, `[calm]`, `[tired]`, `[mischievously]`, `[crying]`, `[cheerfully]`,
   `[playfully]`, `[deadpan]`, `[flatly]`, `[dramatic tone]`.

5. **Delivery-direction tags:** `[whispers]`, `[shouts]`, `[rushed]`, `[drawn out]`.

6. **Non-verbal reaction tags** (bracketed, never spelled out as narration):
   `[laughs]`, `[laughs softly]`, `[starts laughing]`, `[sighs]`, `[exhales]`,
   `[clears throat]`, `[gasps]`, `[gulps]`.

7. **Pauses.** Use `[pause]`, `[short pause]`, `[long pause]`, or an ellipsis. Eleven v3 does
   **not** support SSML `<break>`; pauses are bracket tags only.

8. **No SSML, ever, in v3 input.** Do not emit `<speak>`, `<break>`, `<prosody>`, `<emphasis>`,
   `<voice>`, `<say-as>`, or `<phoneme>`. Eleven v3 ignores or mishandles SSML.

9. **No stand-in notations.** Do not use `(whispering)` parentheses, `*laughs*` asterisks, or
   `WHISPERING:` capitalized directions — Eleven v3 reads those literally or drops them.

10. **This format is for `eleven_v3`.** The non-v3 models `eleven_multilingual_v2` and
    `eleven_flash_v2_5` are the reverse: they take SSML `<break time="1.5s" />` and do not use
    these audio tags. Keep the two worlds separate.

## Worked examples

Base default (left) → Eleven v3 conforming form (right):

- Whisper — `<prosody volume="x-soft">Come a little closer.</prosody>` → `[whispers] Come a little closer.`
- Laugh — `Ha! (laughing) Best day ever.` → `[laughs] Best day ever.`
- Pause — `Wait <break time="1.0s"/> for the drop.` → `Wait [short pause] for the drop.`
- Excited — `*excitedly* The results are in!` → `[excited] The results are in!`
- Sigh — `(he sighs) Fine, let's do it your way.` → `[sighs] Fine, let's do it your way.`
- Sarcasm — `<emphasis level="strong">Oh, brilliant.</emphasis>` → `[sarcastic] Oh, brilliant.`
- Throat clear — `Ahem. Ladies and gentlemen.` → `[clears throat] Ladies and gentlemen.`
- Chained emotions — `(curiously) What is that? (then, excited) It moved!` → `[curious] What is that? [excited] It moved!`

## Edge cases & exceptions

- **Non-v3 models are the exception.** If the target is `eleven_multilingual_v2` or
  `eleven_flash_v2_5`, switch to SSML: `<break time="1.5s" />` (up to ~3 seconds). Those models
  do not interpret the audio tags. This skill's bracket format applies only to `eleven_v3`.
- **Case.** Tags are case-insensitive to the model, but write them lowercase for consistency.
- **Multiple beats.** Chain tags in reading order; each affects the text after it until the next.
- **Sound effects** are bracketed too (`[applause]`, `[gunshot]`), but use them sparingly.
- **Do not stack** two conflicting delivery tags on the same span; pick one.

## Do / Don't

- DO write `[whispers] keep it down`. DON'T write `(whispering) keep it down`.
- DO write `[laughs]`. DON'T write `*laughs*`, `haha`, or `(laughs)`.
- DO write `[short pause]` or `…`. DON'T write `<break time="0.5s"/>`.
- DO keep the words inside the brackets lowercase. DON'T write `[WHISPERS]`.
- DO place each tag inline before its text. DON'T list all directions in a header.
- DO reserve SSML for the non-v3 models only. DON'T mix SSML into `eleven_v3` input.

## Common mistakes

- Reaching for SSML (`<prosody>`, `<break>`, `<emphasis>`) because it is the generic,
  best-known speech-markup standard — Eleven v3 does not use it.
- Encoding emotion as parenthetical or asterisk stage directions, which get spoken literally.
- Using `<break time="…"/>` for a pause in v3 instead of `[short pause]` / `[long pause]`.
- Gathering every cue into a legend at the top instead of placing each one inline.
- Narrating reactions as prose (`he laughs`, `she sighs`) instead of `[laughs]` / `[sighs]`.

## Quick checklist

- [ ] Every cue is a `[lowercase]` square-bracket tag.
- [ ] No SSML anywhere (`<speak>`, `<break>`, `<prosody>`, `<emphasis>`, `<say-as>`).
- [ ] No `(parentheses)`, `*asterisks*`, or ALL-CAPS directions.
- [ ] Pauses use `[pause]` / `[short pause]` / `[long pause]` or an ellipsis.
- [ ] Each tag sits inline, immediately before the text it affects.