diff --git a/lib/tjbot.js b/lib/tjbot.js
index a0c97dd..ffe6b76 100644
--- a/lib/tjbot.js
+++ b/lib/tjbot.js
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ TJBot.prototype.defaultConfiguration = {
         servoPin: 7 // corresponds to BCM 7 / physical PIN 26
     },
     speak: {
-        language: 'en-US' // see TJBot.prototype.languages.speak
+        language: 'en-US', // see TJBot.prototype.languages.speak
+        voice: undefined  // use a specific voice; if undefined, a voice is chosen based on robot.gender and speak.language
     },
     see: {
         confidenceThreshold: {
@@ -1067,13 +1068,22 @@ TJBot.prototype.speak = function(message) {
         throw new Error("TJBot tried to speak an empty message.");
     }
 
-    // figure out which voice to use
-    var voice = "en-US_MichaelVoice"; // default voice
-    for (var i in this._ttsVoices) {
-        if (this._ttsVoices[i]["language"] == this.configuration.speak.language &&
-            this._ttsVoices[i]["gender"] == this.configuration.robot.gender) {
-            voice = this._ttsVoices[i]["name"];
-            break;
+    // default voice
+    var voice = "en-US_MichaelVoice";
+
+    // check to see if the user has specified a voice
+    if (this.configuration.speak.voice != undefined) {
+        voice = this.configuration.speak.voice;
+    } else {
+        // choose a voice based on robot.gender and speak.language
+        // do this each time just in case the user changes robot.gender or
+        // speak.language during execution
+        for (var i in this._ttsVoices) {
+            if (this._ttsVoices[i]["language"] == this.configuration.speak.language &&
+                this._ttsVoices[i]["gender"] == this.configuration.robot.gender) {
+                voice = this._ttsVoices[i]["name"];
+                break;
+            }
         }
     }