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Why it matters

A respondent who hears the same sentence twice, word for word, stops feeling they are talking to an interviewer. Surveys repeat things for good reasons — a question not heard, an FAQ detour, a battery with twelve items — so the survey gives you several places to supply other wordings, and the interviewer draws on them whenever it has to say something again. Every line that has variations is drawn fresh each time it is spoken. Nothing is fixed for the rest of the call once picked. Because each draw is independent, the same wording can occasionally come up twice in a row by chance; more variations make that less likely.

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Alternative phrasings on questions

Every question type except Display has Alternative phrasings in the question inspector — one per line, up to 20. The hint explains how they are used:
“One per line. The agent always asks the first time in the prompt above; when it has to ask again — after a question, or a re-read — it picks between the prompt and these, so it does not repeat itself word for word.”
  • The first ask is always the Voice prompt, exactly as written. This keeps the first reading identical for every respondent.
  • Every later ask — a re-read on request, the return to a question after an FAQ answer, or a re-ask after silence or an unclear answer — picks at random from the prompt and its alternative phrasings. Clarify and nudge lines are the interviewer’s own wording (see What re-asks sound like).
Two or three alternative phrasings on each Single choice and Rating question is a good target. Keep the meaning identical; change only the wording. Alternative phrasings can pipe earlier answers and variables just as the prompt can (see Survey variables and piping), and Readiness checks the tokens in them the same way.

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Longer forms on battery items

On a Battery, each item has Longer forms, used when the item has to be asked again. The hint reads: “The first ask always says the label. Each longer form has to fit the same sentence the label does — “the impact of artificial intelligence in your own life”.” The first ask of an item uses its short label (“And your own life?”). If the item has to be asked again, a longer form replaces the label, so the respondent hears the fuller meaning instead of the same two words. Up to 20 per item.
On the Gatekeeper, the Greeting is what a fresh call always hears. The Outbound Alternative phrasings are “the other ways of asking it, and one of them is drawn whenever the question is put again.” The Inbound pane has its own Alternative phrasings for the introduction. The full greeting is said only once. When the consent question has to be asked again — after an FAQ answer, a hold or an unclear reply — the interviewer asks just the consent question, not the whole introduction.

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Options lead-in

The Options lead-in on Single choice and Rating questions is “Spoken between the question and the first option. Leave blank for the default.” The default is “The options are:”. When many questions in a row read out options, vary the lead-in so the survey does not sound mechanical: “Would you say:”, “Is it:”, “Are you:”, “Would that be:”. For a battery, “For each one, just say:” works well.

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What re-asks sound like

The interviewer’s own lines come from shared sets of wordings used across every question type, so the respondent hears one consistent interviewer. For example: The exact interviewer lines are built in. How many re-asks, clarifies and nudges each question gets is set by its attempt caps — see Attempts and step levels.

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The moving-on line

After an answer is recorded, the interviewer can say a short acknowledgement — “Moving on.”, “Noted.”, “Got it.”, “Thanks for that.” — before the next question. It is off by default. Turn it on for the whole survey with Say a moving-on line in the Agent section, or per question with Say a moving-on line after it commits in the question’s Voice panel. Many surveys sound better without it: a moving-on line after every answer quickly becomes the most repeated sentence in the call. Praise words such as “Perfect” or “Great” are never used.

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Checklist

  • Two or three Alternative phrasings on every Single choice and Rating question.
  • Longer forms on battery items that might need to be asked again.
  • A few Outbound Alternative phrasings for the greeting’s consent question.
  • Different Options lead-in wording on neighbouring questions.
  • Asked again lines on FAQs that respondents are likely to ask twice, especially the catch-all (see FAQs).