diff --git a/lib/tasks/say.js b/lib/tasks/say.js
index 2ed044fb..285b9bf3 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/say.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/say.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ class TaskSay extends Task {
     super(logger, opts);
     this.preconditions = TaskPreconditions.Endpoint;
 
-    this.text = this.data.text;
+    this.text = Array.isArray(this.data.text) ? this.data.text : [this.data.text];
     this.loop = this.data.loop || 1;
     this.earlyMedia = this.data.earlyMedia === true || (parentTask && parentTask.earlyMedia);
     this.synthesizer = this.data.synthesizer || {};
@@ -20,21 +20,23 @@ class TaskSay extends Task {
     await super.exec(cs);
     this.ep = ep;
     try {
-      let filepath;
-      const opts = Object.assign({
-        text: this.text,
-        vendor: cs.speechSynthesisVendor,
-        language: cs.speechSynthesisLanguage,
-        voice: cs.speechSynthesisVoice
-      }, this.synthesizer);
-
+      const filepath = [];
       while (!this.killed && this.loop--) {
-        if (!filepath) {
-          this.logger.debug('TaskSay:exec - retrieving synthesized audio');
-          filepath = await synthAudio(opts);
-          cs.trackTmpFile(filepath);
-        }
-        await ep.play(filepath);
+        let segment = 0;
+        do {
+          if (filepath.length <= segment) {
+            const opts = Object.assign({
+              text: this.text[segment],
+              vendor: cs.speechSynthesisVendor,
+              language: cs.speechSynthesisLanguage,
+              voice: cs.speechSynthesisVoice
+            }, this.synthesizer);
+            const path = await synthAudio(opts);
+            filepath.push(path);
+            cs.trackTmpFile(path);
+          }
+          await ep.play(filepath[segment]);
+        } while (++segment < this.text.length);
       }
     } catch (err) {
       this.logger.info(err, 'TaskSay:exec error');
diff --git a/lib/tasks/specs.json b/lib/tasks/specs.json
index d940e98a..14dc2413 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/specs.json
+++ b/lib/tasks/specs.json
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
   },
   "say": {
     "properties": {
-      "text": "string",
+      "text": "string|array",
       "loop": "number",
       "synthesizer": "#synthesizer",
       "earlyMedia": "boolean"
diff --git a/lib/tasks/task.js b/lib/tasks/task.js
index f9dc0c63..d9c1770d 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/task.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/task.js
@@ -117,21 +117,21 @@ class Task extends Emitter {
         const dSpec = specData.properties[dKey];
         debug(`Task:validate validating property ${dKey} with value ${JSON.stringify(dVal)}`);
 
-        if (typeof dSpec === 'string' && ['number', 'string', 'object', 'boolean'].includes(dSpec)) {
-          // simple types
-          if (typeof dVal !== specData.properties[dKey]) {
-            throw new Error(`${name}: property ${dKey} has invalid data type`);
-          }
-        }
-        else if (typeof dSpec === 'string' && dSpec === 'array') {
+        if (typeof dSpec === 'string' && dSpec === 'array') {
           if (!Array.isArray(dVal)) throw new Error(`${name}: property ${dKey} is not an array`);
         }
         else if (typeof dSpec === 'string' && dSpec.includes('|')) {
           const types = dSpec.split('|').map((t) => t.trim());
-          if (!types.includes(typeof dVal)) {
+          if (!types.includes(typeof dVal) && !(types.includes('array') && Array.isArray(dVal))) {
             throw new Error(`${name}: property ${dKey} has invalid data type, must be one of ${types}`);
           }
         }
+        else if (typeof dSpec === 'string' && ['number', 'string', 'object', 'boolean'].includes(dSpec)) {
+          // simple types
+          if (typeof dVal !== specData.properties[dKey]) {
+            throw new Error(`${name}: property ${dKey} has invalid data type`);
+          }
+        }
         else if (Array.isArray(dSpec) && dSpec[0].startsWith('#')) {
           const name = dSpec[0].slice(1);
           for (const item of dVal) {
diff --git a/test/data/good/say-text-array.json b/test/data/good/say-text-array.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..094caa4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/good/say-text-array.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "say": {
+    "text": ["hi there", "John"],
+    "synthesizer": {
+      "vendor": "google",
+      "language": "en-US"
+    }
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/data/good/say.json b/test/data/good/say.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1379e124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/good/say.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "say": {
+    "text": "hi there",
+    "synthesizer": {
+      "vendor": "google",
+      "language": "en-US"
+    }
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/unit-tests.js b/test/unit-tests.js
index 9caecca9..ecbe8d55 100644
--- a/test/unit-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit-tests.js
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ test('app payload parsing tests', (t) => {
   task = makeTask(logger, require('./data/good/pause'));
   t.ok(task.name === 'pause', 'parsed pause');
 
+  task = makeTask(logger, require('./data/good/say'));
+  t.ok(task.name === 'say', 'parsed say');
+
+  task = makeTask(logger, require('./data/good/say-text-array'));
+  t.ok(task.name === 'say', 'parsed say with multiple segments');
+
   const alt = require('./data/good/alternate-syntax');
   const normalize = require('../lib/utils/normalize-jambones');
   normalize(logger, alt).forEach((t) => {