15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable code embedded therein, which when loaded to and executed by a computing system causes the system to: record voice utterances of a user reading a pre-selected text; parse the recorded voice utterances into individual words and periods of silence; generate an XML-based speech synthesis document corresponding to the pre-selected text; record a synthesized speech output generated by a text-to-speech engine based on the XML-based speech synthesis document, the synthesized speech output comprising an audible rendering of the pre-selected text; parse the synthesized speech output into individual words and periods of silence; and annotate a XML-based speech synthesis document based upon a comparison of the recorded voice utterances and the recorded synthesized speech output, the annotating comprising inserting at least one of an XML emphasis element, an XML prosody element, or an XML break element into the XML-based speech synthesis document.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable code embedded therein, which when loaded to and executed by a computing system causes the system to: record voice utterances of a user reading a pre-selected text; parse the recorded voice utterances into individual words and periods of silence; generate an XML-based speech synthesis document corresponding to the pre-selected text; record a synthesized speech output generated by a text-to-speech engine based on the XML-based speech synthesis document, the synthesized speech output comprising an audible rendering of the pre-selected text; parse the synthesized speech output into individual words and periods of silence; and annotate a XML-based speech synthesis document based upon a comparison of the recorded voice utterances and the recorded synthesized speech output, the annotating comprising inserting at least one of an XML emphasis element, an XML prosody element, or an XML break element into the XML-based speech synthesis document. 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the comparison comprises determining whether a difference between a period of silence between a pair of words contained in the recorded voice utterances and a period of silence between a pair of corresponding words contained in the synthesized speech output exceeds a predetermined threshold; and wherein the annotating step comprises annotating the XML-based speech synthesis document with the XML break element to increase the period of silence between the pair of corresponding words if the difference exceeds the predetermined threshold.