Audio Prompt

Calm Narrator Voice — Audiobook Prompt

This ElevenLabs v3 text-input formatting produces calm, measured narration suitable for audiobooks and meditation content. The formatting controls pace (with commas/periods), emotion (with stage directions in asterisks), and clarity (with ALL-CAPS emphasis on key words). A 5-minute narration on Oakgen costs about $0.20.

The prompt

280 chars

*In a calm, measured voice.* The forest had grown quiet. Only the distant rustle of leaves remained, soft as a whisper. She paused, listening...

*Slightly warmer tone.* The path ahead curved gently through the trees, and for the first time in days, she felt something like peace.

elevenlabs-v3

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Why it works

Stage directions in asterisks (*In a calm, measured voice.*) shape the delivery — the engine treats these as acting instructions.
Ellipses (...) produce longer reflective pauses than periods.
Short sentences after stage directions enforce the tone before adding longer narrative beats.
Two stage directions separated by paragraph breaks let you shift mood naturally between sections.

Variations to try

Dramatic narrator
Change '*In a calm, measured voice.*' to '*In a dramatic, urgent whisper.*' for thriller narration.
Children's book
Change tone directions to '*In a warm, playful storyteller voice.*' and add more energy to the text.
Male voice
Pick a male cloned voice or stock voice ID — the stage directions work identically across voice IDs.

FAQs

Do stage directions work with all ElevenLabs models?

They work best with v3. Older models interpret them inconsistently. MiniMax Speech HD does not support stage directions — use punctuation-only formatting for that model.