Patent ID: 6990452

Claim:
A method of customizing a multi-media message with emoticons, the multi-media message being created by a sender for a recipient wherein the multi-media message comprises an animated entity audibly delivering a text message, the method comprising: storing emoticons related to actions associated with the animated entity; providing to a sender at least one button option for choosing emoticons to insert into the text message at a location of a cursor; and upon the sender choosing an emoticon using one of the at least one button options, inserting an emoticon into the text message at the location of the cursor, wherein when the animated entity delivers the text message, the animated entity exhibits the actions associated with the inserted emoticons beginning at a point corresponding to a first predetermined number of words before a respective one of the emoticons and ending at a second point corresponding to a second predetermined number of words after the respective one of the emoticons, wherein the first predetermined number of words and the second predetermined number of words are associated with respective word lengths of words before and after a position of the respective one of the emoticons within the text message.