Article overview
Get a question to sound like it's actually being asked, not just read aloud.
English relies on a lot of tonal variation to signal a question — often a rising inflection mid-sentence rather than right at the end. If a rendered question sounds flat, a few script and Cues adjustments can help guide it toward the right lilt.
Before you get started
- Cues require a Caruso voice.
Adjusting a question's inflection
Try these individually or in combination:
- Generate a few takes. Each render is a new prediction, so a different take may land the inflection better even without changing anything in the script.
- Adjust the punctuation. Add a comma before the final word, or drop the ending punctuation entirely, to help guide the inflection. Example: "How are you doing, today?" or "How are you doing today"
- Add emphasis with quotation marks. Wrap a word in quotation marks to cue vocal stress on it. Example: "How are "you" doing today?"
- Stack emphasis marks for more control. Combine commas, ellipses, and quotation marks to shape which words stand out. Example: "How are you doing, "today"?"
- Adjust Cues. On a Caruso voice, raising the pitch and loudness on the last word of the sentence can produce the rising intonation that signals a question. See Using Voice Cues for the steps.
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