diff --git a/ovos_workshop/skills/ovos.py b/ovos_workshop/skills/ovos.py
index 5de55375..1e2686a6 100644
--- a/ovos_workshop/skills/ovos.py
+++ b/ovos_workshop/skills/ovos.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 from ovos_bus_client.message import Message, dig_for_message
 from ovos_bus_client.session import SessionManager, Session
 from ovos_bus_client.util import get_message_lang
+from ovos_spec_tools import SpecMessage
 from ovos_config.config import Configuration
 from ovos_config.locations import get_xdg_cache_save_path
 from ovos_config.locations import get_xdg_config_save_path
@@ -1541,8 +1542,8 @@ def speak(self, utterance: str, expect_response: bool = False,
 
         # grab message that triggered speech so we can keep context
         message = dig_for_message()
-        m = message.forward("speak", data) if message \
-            else Message("speak", data)
+        m = message.forward(SpecMessage.SPEAK, data) if message \
+            else Message(SpecMessage.SPEAK, data)
         m.context["skill_id"] = self.skill_id
 
         # update any auto-translation metadata in message.context
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3ba78f73..9675c913 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ authors = [{name = "jarbasAi", email = "jarbasai@mailfence.com"}]
 requires-python = ">=3.9"
 dependencies = [
     "ovos-utils>= 0.7.0,<1.0.0",
-    "ovos_bus_client>=1.3.8a1,<3.0.0",
+    "ovos_bus_client>=2.2.0a1,<3.0.0",
     "ovos-config>=0.0.12,<3.0.0",
+    "ovos-spec-tools>=0.9.0a1",
     "ovos-yes-no-plugin>=0.3.0,<1.0.0",
     "ovos-option-matcher-fuzzy-plugin>=0.0.1,<1.0.0",
     "ovos-number-parser>=0.0.1,<1.0.0",
diff --git a/test/unittests/test_decorators.py b/test/unittests/test_decorators.py
index 59348005..d2506844 100644
--- a/test/unittests/test_decorators.py
+++ b/test/unittests/test_decorators.py
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def _assert_spoken(self, utterance: str) -> None:
         """Assert that a speak message with the given utterance was emitted,
         regardless of the active language tag."""
         spoken = [m for m in self.bus.emitted_msgs
-                  if m.get("type") == "speak"
+                  if m.get("type") == "ovos.utterance.speak"
                   and m.get("data", {}).get("utterance") == utterance]
         self.assertTrue(spoken, f"No speak message with utterance {utterance!r} found "
                                 f"in: {self.bus.emitted_msgs}")