ElevenLabs has launched Expressive Mode for its ElevenAgents platform, introducing upgrades designed to make AI voice agents more responsive to emotional cues and conversational timing.

The release is built on two parallel developments: a new text-to-speech model and an improved system for determining when an agent should speak, pause, or wait.

Eleven v3 Conversational

At the core of the update is Eleven v3 Conversational, a TTS model optimized for real-time dialogue. The company describes it as its “most emotionally intelligent and context-aware” model to date, capable of maintaining context across turns and adjusting delivery based on intent and emotion.

Teams using the platform can guide agents toward calmer, more reassuring tones when a user sounds worried, or more direct delivery when clarity and speed are the priority. The goal is alignment with brand voice without sounding scripted or exaggerated.

Smarter Turn-Taking

The second upgrade involves the platform’s turn-taking system, which now draws on real-time signals from Scribe v2 Realtime, ElevenLabs’ transcription model. The system infers emotion from pacing, volume, and repetition—surges in speaking speed paired with rising volume, for example, are interpreted as acute stress or panic. Bright, rising intonation with short exclamations is read as pleasant surprise or relief.

These signals inform when the agent should hold space, respond, or remain silent. The company notes that timing is central to trust in conversation: interrupting too early breaks rapport, responding too late loses the moment.

Multilingual and Production-Ready

Expressive Mode scales across more than 70 languages, with the company highlighting improved nuance in languages where emotional delivery previously lagged, including Hindi and Argentinian Spanish. Audio samples provided in the announcement demonstrate the shift.

The feature is available within ElevenAgents, the company’s vertically integrated conversational AI platform, and is positioned for customer operations at scale—from pilot deployments to global rollouts. The announcement cites a partnership with Revolut, which selected ElevenLabs Agents to bolster customer support and reduced time to ticket resolution by 8x.

Availability

Expressive Mode is available now via live demo and documentation. The announcement also notes that ElevenLabs recently closed a $500 million Series D at an $11 billion valuation, though the funding is not directly tied to this product release.