There is a great deal of variation in the encoding of spoken texts in electronic form, both with respect to the types of features represented and the way particular features are rendered. This paper surveys problems in the electronic representation of speech and presents the solutions proposed by the Text Encoding Initiative. The special tags needed for the encoding of spoken texts are discussed, including a mechanism for temporal alignment. Further work is needed on phonological aspects, parallel representation, and on the development of software which connects the systematic underlying representation with a workable format for input and display.