> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.retellai.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Speech controls

> Customize how a Retell AI agent says parts of its response: add pauses with spaced dashes and spell out codes and account numbers with spell tags.

Speech controls are text the agent writes into its response to change how that part is spoken. You add them by prompting the agent to write them:

* A spaced dash (`-`) adds a [pause](#add-a-pause).
* `<spell>` tags [spell out a value](#spell-out-codes-and-numbers) one character at a time.

To have the agent say nothing at all, for example when the caller asks it to wait, see [Make the agent stay silent](/build/no-response).

## Add a pause

Prompt the agent to put a dash with a space on each side where it should pause. The spaces are required; a dash without them isn't treated as a pause.

```json theme={"dark"}
Let me pull that up - one moment.
```

To slow down the agent's speech everywhere instead of at specific points, change the [voice speed](/build/single-multi-prompt/configure-basic-settings).

## Spell out codes and numbers

To have the agent read a value one character at a time, such as a confirmation code, an account number, or the spelling of a name, wrap it in `<spell>` tags. Don't use dashes for this.

```json theme={"dark"}
Your confirmation code is <spell>B7X4KQ9</spell>. Did I get that right?
```

Each voice provider reads spelled values best in a different format, so Retell converts the tag to the format that works best for your agent's voice.

* **Only letters and digits.** The value can contain Latin letters, including accented letters like `ñ`, and the digits `0`–`9`. If it contains anything else, such as a space, punctuation, or a symbol, the tags are ignored and the value is read normally.
* **For a value with punctuation, tag each part.** For an email address, spell the parts and say the symbols as words:

  ```json theme={"dark"}
  Your email is <spell>jsmith42</spell> at gmail dot com.
  ```


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.