Step-by-Step Guide

How to Use ElevenLabs for Voiceovers (2026 Guide)

Create natural-sounding voiceovers for videos, podcasts, and presentations with ElevenLabs text-to-speech.

⏱ PT10M 📊 Beginner 📅 Updated May 2026
What you'll need
1
Open the Speech Synthesis tool

Log into ElevenLabs and click 'Speech Synthesis' from the left sidebar. This is the main text-to-speech interface.

2
Choose a voice

Browse the Voice Library — pre-built voices are organized by gender, age, accent, and use case. Preview voices by clicking the play icon.

💡 Tip: For corporate content, 'Rachel' (US, calm) and 'Josh' (US, deep) consistently rate highest for clarity and trust.
3
Paste your script

Type or paste your script in the text box. ElevenLabs handles punctuation, pauses, and emphasis automatically — no SSML tags required for most use cases.

4
Adjust stability and clarity

The Stability slider (0–100) controls consistency vs. expressiveness. 70–80 is ideal for professional narration. Clarity+Similarity at 75+ prevents robotic artifacts.

5
Generate and preview

Click 'Generate'. Preview the output before downloading. For long scripts, generate in 500-word chunks to catch pronunciation issues early.

6
Handle tricky pronunciations

If a word sounds wrong, use ElevenLabs' 'Pronunciation Dictionary' to add a phonetic correction. This persists across all future generations.

💡 Tip: Product names, acronyms, and non-English words most commonly need manual pronunciation fixes.
7
Download and add to your video

Download as MP3 or WAV. For video, import into your editor and sync to the video timeline. ElevenLabs output is 44.1kHz — broadcast quality.

Pro Tips
Ready to try ElevenLabs?

Free (10K characters/month)

Get Started Free →