General troubleshooting

If the application isn't hearing you at all, or if the recognition cuts in and out unexpectedly, it is usually related to your microphone settings or your physical environment.

Because you often move away from your device during a rehearsal or a final take, the distance can sometimes cause the microphone to lose your voice.

Below are the steps to ensure your setup is ready for a great performance.

1. Check your microphone

The most common issue is that your microphone doesn't record high quality sound. Please do a mic test. Ensure your mic isn't covered and is good.

2. Mind the gap (distance & volume)

When you are rehearsing or filming a final take, you often step back from the laptop/camera - which means that microphone might not be picking up your speech.

How to fix it:

• Project your voice: Speak clearly and slightly louder than conversational volume if you are far from the device.
• Test the distance: Before doing a full take, stand at your mark and say a few lines to ensure the audio bars on the screen are moving.
• Use headphones/External Mic: If possible, using Bluetooth earbuds (like AirPods) or a dedicated USB microphone closer to you will drastically improve accuracy.

3. Reduce background noise

Speech recognition tries to filter out noise, but loud fans, traffic, or echoes can confuse it.

• Close windows to reduce street noise.
• Turn off loud AC units or fans nearby.
• If the room is very echoey, try to face the device directly.

4. Is it just one specific line?

If the microphone works generally, but the reader keeps failing on one specific sentence or phrase, the issue isn't your hardware - it's likely the complexity of that specific line.

We have a specific guide for fixing tricky lines, homophones, and formatting issues.

See the Cue not recognized section below.

5. Download our mobile app

Do rule out the device problem - this happens in 90% of cases.

Read: Download our iOS app

• Refresh the page: This resets the recognition engine.
• Restart the browser: If a refresh doesn't work, close and reopen your browser completely.

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Still having trouble?

If you have checked your microphone, reduced noise, and refreshed the page but still can't get it to work:

• Check that your internet connection is stable.
• Try a different browser (Chrome and Safari are recommended).
• Contact support for further assistance.

Cue not recognized

The reader isn't perfect. While it works well for most scenes, certain tricky lines can trip it up. Fortunately, with a few small tweaks, you can usually fix the issue and keep your scene running smoothly.

Below are common reasons why a cue might not be recognized, and how to fix them.

Common causes

• Formatting differences

Words can be written in multiple ways. For example:

→ "Okay" vs. "Ok"

• Homophones

Words or phrases that sound similar can confuse the reader.

→ "Ice scream" vs. "I scream"

• Filler words

Sounds like "uh," "ah," or "hmm" may not register properly.

The good news? Most of these issues are easy to fix yourself.

Fixes & workarounds

1. Match what the reader hears

On the right, you'll see what the reader thinks you're saying:

Example:

To fix this, change your line to match what the reader hears. In this case, replace "cigs" with "secs".

2. Trim filler words

If you're using filler sounds like "uh..." or "hmm...", they may disrupt cue detection.

Example:

To fix it:

• Remove filler words from the cue line.
• Add a short pause (e.g. 1 second) to give yourself time to speak naturally.

3. Remove or simplify the line

You can delete unnecessary words, or even the entire line, and add a pause to keep the timing right.

Example:

4. Switch to timer-based turns

If speech recognition consistently struggles with certain lines or your environment, you can bypass it entirely by switching to timer-based turns. Instead of listening for your voice, the scene advances automatically after a set duration.

This is often the simplest fix when recognition issues persist. See pauses and timer-based turns for how to set this up.

5. Report the line

If you've tried the above and the issue persists:

• Tap Report on the line.
• We'll use your feedback to improve cue recognition for future runs.
• We'll use the feedback to improve the speech recognition algorithm in general.

My lines are skipped

Make sure your lines are formatted as dialogue. You can see the type of line by clicking on "Edit" and checking the line type on the left. Sometimes, for example when you paste a monologue, some lines might be incorrectly formatted as a direction.

If your lines are marked as non-dialogue lines, they will be skipped by the reader.

Please refer to the Script formatting guide to learn how to structure the script properly.