A recurring character shouldn't have to be retyped on every line. Forty lines of the same mentor used to mean forty chances to spell her name differently or pick last week's portrait, and changing that portrait meant editing all forty. Speakers fix that: a Dialogue step names a speaker from the adventure's cast, and the name and portrait are read from the cast every time the line is shown.
Naming a Speaker on a Dialogue Step
In the Edit Step window for a Dialogue step, the Who is speaking menu lists the adventure's published speakers:
- Pick a speaker and a preview shows their name and portrait ("Name and portrait come from the Speakers page"). The step's own Character Name and Character Image fields are hidden, because they're no longer used.
- Custom — set a name and portrait below keeps the old behaviour: type a name and choose an image for this line only. Use it for a one-off character who never speaks again.
Character Position (on the left, on the right, or no one) still belongs to the step, so the same speaker can stand on either side of the scene. If the adventure has no cast yet, the menu says so and links to Add a speaker.
Only Dialogue steps show a speaker. System Message steps are narrator text and never display a character.
Change It Once, Every Line Follows
The step stores a reference to the speaker, not a copy. Rename a speaker or swap their portrait and every line they speak updates at once, across every Milestone, without touching a single step.
The Speakers Tab in Manage Content
Manage Content has a Speakers tab for the cast. Its header counts how many are in the cast and how many have dialogue, and New Speaker opens the full speaker editor. Each row shows:
- the speaker's portrait, with their first and last name editable right in the row (a rename saves as you make it, and every line follows)
- a Draft badge if they aren't published, and their company if one is set
- how many lines they speak (the number of steps that name them), or "No lines yet"
- Edit for everything else about the speaker, View for their public speaker page, and Trash
The toolbar searches the cast, filters to With dialogue or Not used yet or by status, and sorts by name or by lines of dialogue.
Trashing a speaker doesn't silence them. Lines that already name them keep speaking; the speaker just stops being offered on new steps. The Trash button's tooltip tells you how many lines that affects, and trashed speakers sit in their own Trashed section with Restore and Delete Forever.
What a Speaker Holds
The speaker editor has a Speaker Picture (required), First Name and Last Name, Company, Website, LinkedIn and a Speaker Bio, plus an optional Connect to Player link to a user account. Dialogue only uses the name and picture; the company, links and bio appear on the speaker's own page.
Speakers Also Run the Event Schedule
The same cast is the speaker list for your event schedule. When you build a session you tick which speakers are on it, the schedule shows who's speaking at each session, and each speaker's page lists the sessions they're in. When the adventure's Speakers feature is on, players also get a Speakers page in the menu. So one speaker record can narrate your story and headline your live session. See How to Build an Event Schedule.
Templates, Cohorts and Duplicating
Speakers belong to the template adventure, so every cohort shares the same cast and a portrait changed on the template changes it everywhere. When you duplicate a Milestone within the same adventure family, its lines keep their speakers. Duplicate it into an unrelated adventure and the speaker links are cleared, because that adventure has its own cast; re-pick the speakers there.
Related
- How to Build a Milestone, Step by Step
- The Full Step Library — the Dialogue step in context
- How to Build an Event Schedule
- Adventure Templates & Cohorts