Set the scene with Gemini TTS

Roll tape and prompt! In this episode of Two Voice Devs, Allen and Mark explore how Google’s new advanced prompting guidelines turn developers into voice directors for Gemini Text-to-Speech. Instead of coding rigid SSML tags, you can now establish a scene, write stage directions, and give "director's notes" to shape a base voice's gender, accent, style, and pacing.

Allen showcases a web app where he directs a single base voice—to play two entirely different characters: a rough Brooklyn cab driver and a classic Southern belle. The hosts discuss using natural language audio tags as cues for laughter, sighs, gasps, and more, and how these theatrical controls are coming alive in real-time with Gemini Live and Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS.

Learn more:

* https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/speech-generation

[00:00:05] Welcome to Two Voice Devs

[00:00:27] Intro to Gemini Text-to-Speech and Advanced Prompting

[00:01:57] Moving Beyond SSML to Flexible Base Voices

[00:03:07] Prompting Genders and Accents (The Storytelling Analogy)

[00:04:40] Web App Demo: Zephyr as a Brooklyn Cab Driver vs. Southern Belle

[00:06:50] Building Multi-Voice Conversations with Stage Directions

[00:08:41] Using Natural Language Audio Tags for Expressive Cues

[00:11:02] Gemini Live Integration and Dynamic Tone Selection

[00:12:27] Model Details: Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview and Release Info

[00:13:53] Wrap-up and Call for Feedback

Hashtags:

#GeminiTTS #TextToSpeech #GenerativeAI #GoogleDeepMind #GeminiLive #GeminiFlash #AIStudio #DeveloperTools #SpeechSynthesis #VoiceFirst #AdvancedPrompting

Episode 275