Objective: Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) can be elicited to stimuli generated from different parts of speech. The aim of this study was to compare the phoneme/s/from word medial and word initial positions and its influence on the CAEP. Design: Stimuli from word medial positions were found to have shorter rise times compared to the same phonemes from word initial positions. A repeated measures design was carried out with CAEPs elicited using/s/from a word initial and a word medial position. Study sample: Sixteen individuals with audiometric thresholds within normal limits participated in the study. Results: Stimuli/s/from a word medial position elicited CAEPs with significantly larger amplitudes and shorter latencies compared to/s/from a word initial position (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Findings from this study, incorporating naturally produced speech sounds, suggest the need to consider spectral and temporal variations when choosing stimuli to optimize the amplitude and latency characteristics of the CAEP. Overall, findings illustrate good test-retest reliability of CAEP measures using speech stimuli with clinical equipment. © 2012 British Society of Audiology, International Society of Audiology, and Nordic Audiological Society.