---
title: "Voice narration — SimplifyGuide docs"
description: "Talk while you record. The audio is saved with the guide, and with a voice provider set up, your words become step notes."
url: "https://simplifybase.com/product/simplifyguide/docs/voice-narration/"
---

# Voice narration

Talk while you record. The audio is saved with the guide, and with a voice provider set up, your words become step notes.

With **Narrate** on, the recorder records your microphone alongside the steps. What you get depends on whether a transcription provider is set up:

| Setup | What happens to your voice |
| --- | --- |
| No voice provider key | The audio is saved with the guide and used as the voice-over of video exports. |
| A voice provider with a key | The same, and your speech is transcribed and written into the step notes. |

Narration is optional and off by default.

## Recording with narration

1.  Open the recorder. See [Recording](https://simplifybase.com/product/simplifyguide/docs/recording/).
2.  Tick **Narrate** in the bar.
3.  Press **Start recording**. Your browser asks for microphone access the first time; allow it.
4.  Talk as you work. Say what you are about to do, then do it.
5.  Press **Finish**.

**Pause** pauses the audio too, so the narration always lines up with the steps. If you decline microphone access, or the browser cannot record audio, recording carries on without narration.

**Narrate** needs permission to upload files, like screenshots do.

## Choosing a microphone

By default the browser’s default microphone is used. To pick another:

1.  Go to **SimplifyGuide → Settings → Voice narration**.
2.  Press **Allow microphone access**, so the browser can show device names.
3.  Choose your device under **Microphone**. A level meter shows it is picking up sound.

![The Voice narration settings tab, with the Transcribe with provider, its status, and the Microphone picker](https://simplifybase.com/_astro/settings-voice.ChQPUQ6H_1IXaOb.webp)

The choice is stored in this browser only — device IDs differ between browsers and computers — and takes effect straight away, without saving the settings. If the chosen microphone is unplugged, the recorder falls back to the default one.

## Where the audio goes

When you press **Finish**, the audio is uploaded to your Media Library and attached to the guide, under a random file name. Browsers record WebM, Ogg or MP4 audio, depending on which they support.

-   A guide has **one narration**. Recording more steps with **Narrate** on replaces the earlier audio.
-   The narration file can be at most **25 MB**, the common limit of transcription services. Your server’s upload limit applies too; below 8 MB, long narration may not upload.
-   The editor shows a **Narration** player above the steps. **Delete narration** removes the audio file; step notes stay.

## Turning speech into step notes

Transcription sends the audio from your server to the provider you choose. Set it up under **Settings → Voice narration**:

1.  Under **Transcribe with**, choose OpenAI, Groq or **Custom (OpenAI-compatible server)**. OpenAI is the default.
2.  Add that provider’s key under **Settings → AI writing → Providers** (see [AI providers](https://simplifybase.com/product/simplifyguide/docs/ai-providers/)). The transcription model is set there too (`whisper-1` for OpenAI, `whisper-large-v3` for Groq).
3.  Save changes. The Voice narration tab should say **Ready: narration is transcribed by …**.

The voice provider is separate from the provider that writes step text: you can write steps with Claude and transcribe with OpenAI, for example.

Once it is set up, pressing **Finish** transcribes the narration straight away.

### How speech is matched to steps

People usually describe an action and then do it. So each spoken sentence goes to the first step recorded at or after the moment you started saying it, and anything said after the last step goes to the last step. Several sentences before one click are joined into one note.

A transcribed note fills a step’s note only if the note is empty or was itself written by voice or AI. Notes you typed by hand are never overwritten.

### Transcribing later

If a guide has narration but no transcription — you set up the provider afterwards, or transcription failed — press **Transcribe into notes** next to the **Narration** player in the editor. It reloads the steps, so save any changes first. The button appears only when a voice provider is ready.

### Who can transcribe

Transcription counts as an AI request. It is available to users who can publish posts (Authors and above) and shares the per-user hourly limit on AI requests. Others can still record narration; it is saved as audio only.

## Privacy

The audio is stored in your Media Library. It leaves your site only when transcription is set up, and then only to the provider you picked, straight from your server. Like all WordPress media, anyone with a file’s exact link can open it.

[← Previous Recording](https://simplifybase.com/product/simplifyguide/docs/recording/)[Next → Automatic titles](https://simplifybase.com/product/simplifyguide/docs/auto-titles/)

Last updated 27 September 2026