diff --git a/src/timmy/voice_loop.py b/src/timmy/voice_loop.py
index 24e632b..6058e42 100644
--- a/src/timmy/voice_loop.py
+++ b/src/timmy/voice_loop.py
@@ -369,15 +369,33 @@ class VoiceLoop:
 
     # ── Main Loop ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-    def run(self) -> None:
-        """Run the voice loop. Blocks until Ctrl-C."""
-        self._ensure_piper()
+    # Whisper hallucinates these on silence/noise — skip them.
+    _WHISPER_HALLUCINATIONS = frozenset(
+        {
+            "you",
+            "thanks.",
+            "thank you.",
+            "bye.",
+            "",
+            "thanks for watching!",
+            "thank you for watching!",
+        }
+    )
 
-        # Suppress MCP / Agno stderr noise during voice mode.
-        _suppress_mcp_noise()
-        # Suppress MCP async-generator teardown tracebacks on exit.
-        _install_quiet_asyncgen_hooks()
+    # Spoken phrases that end the voice session.
+    _EXIT_COMMANDS = frozenset(
+        {
+            "goodbye",
+            "exit",
+            "quit",
+            "stop",
+            "goodbye timmy",
+            "stop listening",
+        }
+    )
 
+    def _log_banner(self) -> None:
+        """Log the startup banner with STT/TTS/LLM configuration."""
         tts_label = (
             "macOS say"
             if self.config.use_say_fallback
@@ -393,52 +411,50 @@ class VoiceLoop:
             "  Press Ctrl-C to exit.\n" + "=" * 60
         )
 
+    def _is_hallucination(self, text: str) -> bool:
+        """Return True if *text* is a known Whisper hallucination."""
+        return not text or text.lower() in self._WHISPER_HALLUCINATIONS
+
+    def _is_exit_command(self, text: str) -> bool:
+        """Return True if the user asked to stop the voice session."""
+        return text.lower().strip().rstrip(".!") in self._EXIT_COMMANDS
+
+    def _process_turn(self, text: str) -> None:
+        """Handle a single listen-think-speak turn after transcription."""
+        sys.stdout.write(f"\n  👤 You: {text}\n")
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+
+        response = self._think(text)
+        sys.stdout.write(f"  🤖 Timmy: {response}\n")
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+
+        self._speak(response)
+
+    def run(self) -> None:
+        """Run the voice loop. Blocks until Ctrl-C."""
+        self._ensure_piper()
+        _suppress_mcp_noise()
+        _install_quiet_asyncgen_hooks()
+        self._log_banner()
+
         self._running = True
 
         try:
             while self._running:
-                # 1. LISTEN — record until silence
                 audio = self._record_utterance()
                 if audio is None:
                     continue
 
-                # 2. TRANSCRIBE — Whisper STT
                 text = self._transcribe(audio)
-                if not text or text.lower() in (
-                    "you",
-                    "thanks.",
-                    "thank you.",
-                    "bye.",
-                    "",
-                    "thanks for watching!",
-                    "thank you for watching!",
-                ):
-                    # Whisper hallucinations on silence/noise
+                if self._is_hallucination(text):
                     logger.debug("Ignoring likely Whisper hallucination: '%s'", text)
                     continue
 
-                sys.stdout.write(f"\n  👤 You: {text}\n")
-                sys.stdout.flush()
-
-                # Exit commands
-                if text.lower().strip().rstrip(".!") in (
-                    "goodbye",
-                    "exit",
-                    "quit",
-                    "stop",
-                    "goodbye timmy",
-                    "stop listening",
-                ):
+                if self._is_exit_command(text):
                     logger.info("👋 Goodbye!")
                     break
 
-                # 3. THINK — send to Timmy
-                response = self._think(text)
-                sys.stdout.write(f"  🤖 Timmy: {response}\n")
-                sys.stdout.flush()
-
-                # 4. SPEAK — TTS output
-                self._speak(response)
+                self._process_turn(text)
 
         except KeyboardInterrupt:
             logger.info("👋 Voice loop stopped.")
diff --git a/tests/timmy/test_voice_loop.py b/tests/timmy/test_voice_loop.py
index e888699..809bd15 100644
--- a/tests/timmy/test_voice_loop.py
+++ b/tests/timmy/test_voice_loop.py
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ class TestHallucinationFilter:
     """Whisper tends to hallucinate on silence/noise. The loop should filter these."""
 
     def test_known_hallucinations_filtered(self):
+        loop = VoiceLoop()
         hallucinations = [
             "you",
             "thanks.",
@@ -243,33 +244,35 @@ class TestHallucinationFilter:
             "Bye.",
             "Thanks for watching!",
             "Thank you for watching!",
+            "",
         ]
         for text in hallucinations:
-            assert text.lower() in (
-                "you",
-                "thanks.",
-                "thank you.",
-                "bye.",
-                "",
-                "thanks for watching!",
-                "thank you for watching!",
-            ), f"'{text}' should be filtered"
+            assert loop._is_hallucination(text), f"'{text}' should be filtered"
+
+    def test_real_speech_not_filtered(self):
+        loop = VoiceLoop()
+        assert not loop._is_hallucination("Hello Timmy")
+        assert not loop._is_hallucination("What time is it?")
 
 
 class TestExitCommands:
     """Voice loop should recognize exit commands."""
 
     def test_exit_commands(self):
+        loop = VoiceLoop()
         exits = ["goodbye", "exit", "quit", "stop", "goodbye timmy", "stop listening"]
         for cmd in exits:
-            assert cmd.lower().strip().rstrip(".!") in (
-                "goodbye",
-                "exit",
-                "quit",
-                "stop",
-                "goodbye timmy",
-                "stop listening",
-            ), f"'{cmd}' should be an exit command"
+            assert loop._is_exit_command(cmd), f"'{cmd}' should be an exit command"
+
+    def test_exit_with_punctuation(self):
+        loop = VoiceLoop()
+        assert loop._is_exit_command("goodbye!")
+        assert loop._is_exit_command("stop.")
+
+    def test_non_exit_commands(self):
+        loop = VoiceLoop()
+        assert not loop._is_exit_command("hello")
+        assert not loop._is_exit_command("what time is it")
 
 
 class TestPlayAudio: