“Read version IV at 03/04” looks compact. It also asks an AI voice to guess what you meant twice before the sentence is finished. Writing numbers, dates, and acronyms for AI voices is mostly the work of removing those guesses.
Keep the source document intact, but make a narration copy. The source preserves exact figures and spelling. The narration copy tells the engine how those facts should sound. A listener cannot inspect a slash, a superscript, or the difference between a product code and a quantity.
Should I use numerals or words in an AI voice script?
Use whichever form reliably produces the intended reading, then verify it aloud. Ordinary quantities may work as numerals. Years, identifiers, scores, decimals, and account references deserve closer attention because the same digits can represent different things.
“2026” might be a year, a room identifier, or part of a tracking number. Write “twenty twenty-six” when that is your intended year reading. Write individual digits when the identity of each digit matters. These are script examples, not rules about how every voice engine normalizes text.
Avoid an indiscriminate conversion of all numbers to words. It can conceal a copying error, and it makes comparing the narration with a technical source harder. Keep a review column containing the original value. For voiceover production, that small separation protects both accuracy and natural speech.
How should I write currency, dates, and ranges?
Say which currency you mean when the symbol is ambiguous. “Twelve dollars and fifty cents” is clearer than hoping a symbol and decimal will be interpreted as intended. If several currencies appear, name them explicitly rather than relying on the listener to remember a heading.
Write dates with a named month. Decide whether the audience expects “April third” or “the third of April,” then keep the pattern consistent. Add the year when it changes the meaning. Avoid making a global audience decode the regional order of a numeric date.
Replace a range mark with “to” or “through,” as appropriate. Preserve the meaning of endpoints: “before Friday” and “through Friday” are not interchangeable. When a range is a technical limit, check the rewritten sentence with the person responsible for the source. Good pronunciation cannot rescue an altered requirement.
What do useful before-and-after script lines look like?
These examples show intended readings, not automatic replacements to apply everywhere. The left column needs context; the right column supplies a particular interpretation. Confirm that interpretation before copying the wording into a project.
| Before: display or source text | After: intended narration |
|---|---|
| The fee is $12.50. | The fee is twelve dollars and fifty cents. |
| Meet on 03/04/2026. | Meet on April third, twenty twenty-six. |
| Use 5-8 kg. | Use five to eight kilograms. |
| The reading is 2.4 mm. | The reading is two point four millimeters. |
| Open the API settings. | Open the A P I settings. |
| NASA released the image. | NASA released the image. |
| Read Chapter IV. | Read chapter four. |
| Louis XIV appears here. | Louis the fourteenth appears here. |
| Call 555-0102. | Call five five five, zero one zero two. |
| Visit example.com/help. | Visit example dot com slash help. |
The unchanged NASA line matters. Some acronyms are spoken as words; forcing their letters apart would make them less familiar. The phone number is an illustrative placeholder, not a contact instruction. For a real number, verify every digit against the approved source after generation.
How do I handle units, decimals, and Roman numerals?
Write units as spoken words when abbreviations cause trouble. “M” can mean different things in different documents; “meters” cannot. Keep singular and plural natural, and check that converting notation has not changed magnitude. A decimal point needs an audible reading, especially when losing it would change an instruction.
For technical training, ask a subject expert to approve the spoken convention. Some teams expect a shortened unit name, while others want the full term. Don't silently replace specialist language with a more familiar phrase if it changes what the listener is supposed to do.
Roman numerals require the noun around them. A chapter usually needs a cardinal number; a monarch's name often needs an ordinal. A product may use a stylized name that follows neither pattern. The script-writing guide is useful here: write for the ear, but keep the underlying fact attached to its source.
How do I make acronyms and initialisms sound right?
Decide whether the abbreviation is a word, a sequence of letters, or a term the audience needs expanded. Then audition that exact sentence. Spaced letters can encourage an initialism, but engine behavior varies. Punctuation is not a guarantee of a particular reading either.
When an abbreviation is unfamiliar, expand it on first mention if that helps the listener. Later mentions can use the short form. Don't expand a familiar brand mechanically just because its name began as an abbreviation. Your audience's actual usage is a better guide than the typography.
Pay attention to the transition into the abbreviation. A voice can say each letter correctly yet rush the next word. Rewrite the phrase so the abbreviation sits comfortably within the sentence, or add an intentional pause where the thought genuinely needs one. Avoid scattering punctuation until the engine happens to behave.
Should I read phone numbers and URLs aloud?
Only when speaking them helps someone act. A long web address can be technically accurate and practically unusable. Prefer a short memorable destination, with the full clickable link in accompanying text. If the full address is essential, name the dots, slashes, and other meaningful characters deliberately.
For phone numbers, group digits in the way your audience expects and leave enough space to follow them. Decide whether to say “zero” instead of “oh,” then keep that choice consistent. International numbers need their country information preserved. Never assume a local dialing convention applies to everyone listening.
Test without looking at the script: can you write down what you heard? Ask another reviewer to do the same for contact details. That catches a different failure from reading along, where your eyes can quietly fill in a missing digit. For critical instructions, accuracy comes before conversational elegance.
When should I use a pronunciation dictionary instead of rewriting?
Use the pronunciation dictionary for a recurring name, brand, or technical term whose written form should stay consistent. Use a sentence rewrite for an ambiguous date, a one-off figure, or a phrase that needs more context. A dictionary should not become a pile of exceptions for unclear prose.
Keep entries specific. A short abbreviation might appear inside unrelated words or have a different meaning elsewhere, so test the replacement in realistic sentences. When changing an entry, regenerate affected passages deliberately and listen again. Our dictionary guide covers building a reusable pronunciation reference.
Finish with a meaning check and an audio check. Compare every rewritten quantity with the source, then listen to the exported passage without reading. Save the approved wording with the project so the next editor does not “correct” it back into ambiguous notation.
Give the voice fewer guesses to make.
The Vois Team