How to Do Text-to-Speech on TikTok: A Complete Tutorial for Creators

Text-to-speech on TikTok turns your written captions into spoken audio, allowing an AI voice to narrate your content without requiring you to record a single word. The feature has become a signature element of the platform-that familiar "TikTok voice" you've heard in countless videos reading captions, delivering punchlines, or explaining tutorials.

Whether you want to add voiceovers without speaking on camera, make your content more accessible to viewers with visual impairments, or simply tap into a proven content style,TikTok’s

feature is easy to use once you know where to find it. This guide covers the basic process, voice selection, common troubleshooting tips, and advanced alternatives for cases where TikTok’s built-in voices don’t fully meet your needs.

What TikTok Text to Speech Does

TikTok's text-to-speech feature converts any text overlay you add to your video into spoken audio. The AI-generated voice reads your caption aloud, synchronized with your video content. Viewers see the text on screen while simultaneously hearing it read, which is especially useful for tutorials, storytelling, commentary, and accessibility.

The feature launched in late 2020 and has continued to grow in popularity. Research from the UBC Sauder School of Business found that creators using AI voice produced 24% more videos than those who didn't, suggesting the feature significantly reduces production barriers.

TikTok offers multiple voice options across different languages, accents, and character styles-from the popular "Jessie" voice (often called the "TikTok voice" or "Siri voice") to novelty options as Ghostface and Disney-themed characters.

Step 1: Record or Upload Your Video

Start by creating the video content that will accompany your TTS narration.

1. Open TikTok and tap the “+” button at the bottom center of your screen.
2. Either new footage or tap Upload to select an existing video from your camera roll.
3. Complete any initial trimming or clip arrangement if you're using multiple clips.

Your video doesn't need to include recorded audio-TTS works perfectly over silent footage, background music, or even existing audio that you want to supplement with narration.

Step 2: Add Text to Your Video

converts text overlays into speech, so you need to add text first.

1. After recording or uploading , tap the Text button in the right-side editing menu.
2. Type the words you want the AI voice to speak.
3. Tap Done to place the text on your video.

Text Tips:

● Keep individual text boxes to 1-2 sentences for better pacing.

● Proofread carefully-the AI will read exactly what you type, including typos.

● Punctuation affects delivery: periods create pauses, commas create brief breaks, question marks adjust intonation.

● For longer narrations, create multiple text boxes and apply TTS to each one.

You can adjust text position, font, color, and size. These visual settings don't affect the TTS audio, but they do influence how viewers read along while listening.

Step 3: Apply Text-to-Speech

This is where the magic happens.

1. Tap on the text box you just created.
2. Select Text-to-Speech from the menu that appears.
3. Browse the available voice options.
4. Choose the voice that fits your content's tone.
5. Tap Done to apply.

The AI voice will now read your text aloud when the video plays. Preview the result to make sure the timing and voice selection work well for your content.

Applying TTS to Multiple Text Boxes:

If you've created several text overlays, you can apply the same voice to all of them:

1. After selecting a voice, look for the option "Apply voice to all text in this video".
2. Tap it to use the same TTS voice across all text boxes.

This saves time and ensures consistent narration throughout your video.

Step 4: Choose the Right Voice

TikTok offers a variety of voice categories, though availability may vary by region and app version:

Standard Voices:

● Jessie — The original "TikTok voice," female, clear and slightly upbeat

● Joey — Male voice, commonly used for humor and narration

● Eddie — Male voice with a distinct tone

● Rocket — More robotic, distinctive sound

● Alex, Chris, Taylor, Kendall — Additional voice personalities

Character Voices:

● Ghostface — The villain voice from Scream

● Stitch — From Lilo & Stitch

● C-3PO, Stormtrooper — Star Wars characters

● Chewbacca — Distinctive growl-based speech

Seasonal and Special Voices:

● Santa Claus, Halloween-themes voices, and other rotating options

Voice Selection Tips:

● Match the voice tone to your content’s mood-Jessie works well for casual or upbeat video, while Ghostface suits dramatic or spooky themes.

● Character voices grab attention but can be distracting in instructional or educational content.

● Test multiple voices before committing-previewing each option.

● Popular voices are highly recognizable, which can help or hurt engagement depending on your goals.

Step 5: Set Text Timing (Duration)

Control when your

text appears and disappears:

1. Tap the text box on your video.
2. Select Set duration (or drag the text timeline at the bottom of the screen).
3. Adjust the start and end points to match your video timing.

The TTS audio will play when the text appears on screen. For multiple text boxes, stagger their timing to create a smooth, flowing narrative.

Timing Best Practices:

● Give viewers enough time to read along (even with audio, many people read simultaneously).

● Match text appearance to relevant visuals.

● Leave brief gaps between text boxes to create natural pacing.

Step 6: Adjust Audio Levels

Balance TTS volume with background music or other audio:

1. Tap Add sound at the top of the editing screen.
2. If you’re using background music, tap Volume.
3. Lower the original or background sound to ensure TTS is clearly audible.
4. Preview the audio balance before finalizing.

TTS typically needs to be louder than background music for clarity. A common guideline is setting to 100% and background music to 20-40%.

Step 7: Post Your Video

Once everything sounds right:

1. Tap Next to proceed to the posting screen.
2. Add your caption, hashtags, and any additional settings.
3. Tap Post to publish.

Your video will now play with the AI-generated voiceover, visible and audible to all viewers.

Troubleshooting Common TTS Issues

Text-to-Speech Option Not Appearing:

● Update your TikTok app to the latest version.

● The feature may be temporarily unavailable in your region.

● Try closing and reopening the app.

Voice Options Limited or Missing:

● Some voices are region-specific or rotated out periodically.

● Character voices may be subject to licensing limitations.

● Check for app updates-new voices are added on a regular basis.

TTS Audio Sounds Wrong:

● Check punctuation-missing periods can cause run-on speech.

● Abbreviations may be read literally ("Dr." vs "Doctor").

● Numbers and special characters can cause unexpected pronunciation.

Volume Too Low:

● Adjust background music volume down.

● Ensure your device volume is up during preview.

● Some voices are naturally quieter than others.

Using External TTS Tools for TikTok

TikTok's built-in voices work well for quick content, but they have limitations. The voices are recognizably "TikTok," customization options are minimal, and availability can vary. Creators who want more control over their voiceovers often choose to generate audio externally and import it into TikTok.

The External TTS Workflow:

1. Use a third-party TTS generator to create your audio file.
2. Download the MP3 or WAV file.
3. Import the audio into a video editor (such as CapCut, InShot, or similar app).
4. Align the voiceover with your video content.
5. Export the final and upload it to TikTok.

This approach takes more time but offers significant advantages, including more natural-sounding voices, consistent availability without reliance on TikTok’s rotating options, and advanced customization.

When External TTS Makes Sense:

For creators who need more expressive, natural-sounding voices-or who produce content in multiple languages- external TTS tools often deliver quality that TikTok's built-in options can't match.

t to work particularly well for TikTok content because the voices sound distinctly human rather than robotic, and the emotion tag system allows creators to adjust delivery without complex configuration.

The Fish Audio S1 model produces natural speech with emotion control through simple tags inserted into your text—such as (excited), (nervous), (confident)-that influence how individual lines are delivered. This is particularly useful for storytelling content where emotional variation keeps viewers engaged.

The platform supports eight languages with full emotion functionality: English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Korean, and Arabic. For creators making content for international audiences or bilingual videos, this coverage handles most common needs without requiring multiple tools.

Voice cloning is another option if you want a consistent voice persona.

requires as little as 10 seconds of reference audio to create a custom voice, making it possible to build a recognizable channel identity without manually recording every voiceover.

[IMAGE_PLACEHOLDER] Type: Product screenshot Position: After Fish Audio description Content: Fish Audio TTS interface with TikTok-style narration text Suggested action:

1. Visit fish.audio
2. Enter example TikTok narration text with emotion tags
3. Screenshot the interface Annotation: Show emotion tag syntax Suggested size: 1200x700 Filename: fish-audio-tiktok-voice-example.png

Other External TTS Options:

ElevenLabs offers highly expressive voices popular with professional creators. Murf AI provides strong customization options for educational and explainer-style content. Online generators such as Gesserit and TikTokVoice, making them useful for desktop-based editing workflows.

Creative TTS Ideas for TikTok

Storytelling: Use TTS to narrate stories while showing related visuals, B-roll, or text animations. The AI voice provides a consistent narrator without requiring voice acting skills.

Tutorial Content: TTS walks viewers through steps while your video demonstrates the process. This approach is particularly effective for cooking, crafts, and how-to content.

Reaction/Commentary: Add your thoughts via TTS while showing content you're reacting to. This works well when you don't want to appear on camera but still want to convey personality.

Duets and Stitches: Add TTS commentary to other creators' content for reaction-style posts.

Accessibility: TTS makes your content accessible to viewers with visual impairments or reading difficulties. It's a practical way to expand your potential audience.

Summary

Adding text-to-speech on TikTok follows a simple process: add text to your video, tap the text, select Text-to-Speech, and choose a voice. The feature removes recording barriers, adds accessibility, and taps into a proven content style that viewers recognize and engage with.

For creators who want voices beyond TikTok's built-in options-more natural, more expressive, or more consistent-external TTS tools like Fish Audio offer significant upgrades. The extra workflow step pays off in voice quality and creative control.

Start with TikTok's native TTS to learn the format, then expand to external tools as your content demands more sophisticated audio.

[INTERNAL_LINK] Anchor text: AI voice generator guide Target page: /blog/ai-voice-generator-guide/ Context: When mentioning external TTS tools

[INTERNAL_LINK] Anchor text: voice cloning tutorial Target page: /blog/voice-cloning-guide/ Context: When discussing voice cloning features