diff --git a/hive-agent/src/stream_enrich.rs b/hive-agent/src/stream_enrich.rs
index 9f972a97..67c921c3 100644
--- a/hive-agent/src/stream_enrich.rs
+++ b/hive-agent/src/stream_enrich.rs
@@ -230,10 +230,13 @@ fn classify_assistant_content(content: &[Value], ctx: &mut ClassifyCtx) -> Vec<T
                 let text = c.get("text").and_then(Value::as_str).unwrap_or("");
                 if !text.trim().is_empty() {
                     // No separate summary line — the markdown body is the
-                    // whole row, matching the old `.text` row shape.
+                    // whole row, matching the old `.text` row shape. Speech
+                    // balloon distinguishes claude's spoken output from the
+                    // thought balloon on a "thinking" row just below.
                     rows.push(
                         TermMsg::new(Level::Info, String::new())
-                            .body(text.to_owned(), Some(BodyFormat::Markdown)),
+                            .body(text.to_owned(), Some(BodyFormat::Markdown))
+                            .icon("💬"),
                     );
                 }
             }
@@ -1388,6 +1391,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(m.summary, "");
         assert_eq!(m.body.as_deref(), Some("# hi"));
         assert_eq!(m.body_format, Some(BodyFormat::Markdown));
+        assert_eq!(m.icon.as_deref(), Some("💬"));
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -1420,6 +1424,7 @@ mod tests {
             &mut ctx,
         );
         assert_eq!(rows.len(), 3, "the unknown content block is skipped");
+        assert_eq!(rows[0].icon.as_deref(), Some("💬"));
         assert_eq!(rows[1].icon.as_deref(), Some("💭"));
         // The tool_use was recorded for later correlation as a side effect.
         assert_eq!(ctx.tool_name("t1"), Some("Bash"));