> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.inworld.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pause Controls

Pause controls let you manage pacing in generated speech. Use **SSML break tags** to insert silences at specific points in the generated speech.

## SSML break tags

*Use when you need precise control over silence duration and position.*

You can insert silences at specific points in the generated speech. The TTS API and Inworld Portal support SSML `<break time="1s" />` in text input for streaming, non-streaming, and WebSocket requests, in all languages. You can specify silences in milliseconds or seconds. For example, `<break time="1000ms" />` and `<break time="1s" />` produce the same result.

**Constraints:**

* Use well-formed SSML: specify the slash and brackets—for example, `<break time="1s" />`.
* Tag names and attributes are **case insensitive**; for example, `<BREAK time="2s" />` works.
* Up to **20** break tags are supported per request. After the first 20 tags, the remaining ones will be ignored.
* Each break is at most **10 seconds**—for example, `time="10s"` or `time="10000ms"`.

**Example:**

```
One second pause <break time="1s" /> two seconds pause <BREAK time="2s" /> this is the end.<break time="500ms" />
```