Listen

Listen is the free, default way to run a scene in ActOnCue. There's no speech recognition and no microphone required: the app reads through the scene at its own pace, and you decide how your own lines are handled, read aloud for you, left as a silent gap for you to fill in, or both.

Looking for the speech-recognition mode instead, where the app listens for your voice and cues the next line automatically? See Rehearse (Perform mode).

Step 1: Review voices (and optionally, pick your character)

ActOnCue assigns a voice to every character automatically, so you don't have to pick voices before you can start listening. If you'd like a different voice for someone, open the Characters tab in the right sidebar and change it there. See Understanding voice types if you're not sure which voice type to pick.

Picking which character you're playing is optional in Listen. If your "My lines" pattern is Read (the app reads every line, including yours), no character is needed at all. Only the gap-based patterns, Leave a gap, Read then gap, and Gap then read, need to know which lines are yours, so picking a character is required for those; if you start a session with one of them selected and haven't picked a character yet, ActOnCue will ask you to choose one.

Step 2: Choose how your own lines are handled ("My lines")

Open the Settings icon in the control panel at the bottom of the screen and find the Listen group, or use the panel's quick "My lines" button. Pick one of four patterns:

• Read - the app reads your lines aloud for you, just like every other character
• Leave a gap - a silent gap plays instead, so you say the line yourself
• Read, then gap - hear the line once, then get a gap to say it back
• Gap, then read - try the line from memory first, then hear it

Gap length

When a pattern includes a gap, you can size it from Settings: open the Settings in the control panel and find the Listen group (the quick "My lines" dock button only lets you pick the pattern, not the gap length). Gap length is set as a multiple of how long the line naturally takes to say:

• Tight (0.75x) - a shorter gap, for a faster read or quick drilling
• Snug (1x) - matches the line's natural length
• Relaxed (1.5x) - extra room for a slower delivery
• Roomy (2x) - the most time to respond

Step 3: Start listening

Above the control panel at the bottom of the screen, Listen is selected by default. Tap the Play button in the middle of the panel to begin. While the session runs, the status readout above the panel shows what's happening: Generating audio while a line's voice is prepared, Reading while a line plays aloud, or Gap during your silent gap.

Step 4: Repeat and adjust

Stop the session at any time and change the drill pattern, gap length, or your character before starting again. Because Listen has no session fee, you can run through a scene as many times as you like at no extra cost (standard per-line voice generation still applies, and is free once a line is cached or you're using your own recordings).

Troubleshooting: voice & audio