Interview with the Original Voice of Siri

Meet Susan Bennett, my dream Beck on Tech interview subject.

Ever since I started Beck on Tech, my dream interview was with Susan Bennett, the original voice of Siri, Apple's voice-activated virtual assistant. I am thrilled to host her here today.

Bennett was the voice of Siri from when the service was first introduced on the iPhone 4S on October 4, 2011, until the iOS 7 update was released on September 18, 2013.

Here is the backstory of how she became Siri, from the CNN article where Bennett revealed her identity (the whole CNN article is amazing - the journalist was actually interviewing Bennett about being the voice of the Delta terminals at the world’s busiest airport and suddenly put it together she might be Siri, too):

The story of how Bennett became this iconic voice began in 2005. ScanSoft, a software company, was looking for a voice for a new project. It reached out to GM Voices, a suburban Atlanta company that had established a niche recording voices for automated voice technologies. Bennett, a trusted talent who had done lots of work with GM Voices, was one of the options presented. ScanSoft liked what it heard, and in June 2005 Bennett signed a contract offering her voice for recordings that would be used in a database to construct speech.

Bennett was so generous to come to Beck on Tech today. What a thrill to feature someone who is such a huge piece of tech history. And she’s still doing lots of voiceover work, if you need an iconic voice for any projects.

Read on for our interview!

What was the process like for recording Siri’s voice?

The process took about four months in total, and I recorded four hours a day, five days a week, reading crazy phrases and sentences that were created just to get all of the sound combinations in the language. So…I was reading weird things like “Cow hoist in the tub hut today,” “Say shist fresh issue today,” “Cathexis feffa tully sexual ease stump!” It was interesting, to say the least!!

What was the biggest surprise about being the voice of Siri?

The biggest surprise about Siri was how much people loved and used her!! Also, it was a surprise that I ended up with a whole new career because of her…doing Siri speaker events for companies and conferences.

Did you have to record words individually, or was it more like full sentences?

The recordings consisted of both single words, phrases, and sentences, and they were all quite non-sensical.

When did you first realize you were Siri?

I first realized I was Siri when a fellow voice actor emailed me and said, “I’m listening to the voice on my new iPhone 4S…isn’t this you?” Surprised, I went on the Apple site, and yup….there I was!!

While you were the voice of Siri, did you use it yourself?

I’ll have to say that when my voice was on the iPhone as Siri, I did NOT talk to her. It was just too creepy to say something to her and hear my voice respond!!

Do people ever recognize your voice in real life?

Most people don’t recognize my voice as Siri, probably because my normal speaking voice is a little higher pitched than Siri’s. Only two people recognized me: one was a banker; and one was a waiter!!

Did being Siri make the demand for your other voiceover work go up?

Well, most people don’t know, and are shocked when they find out…that I did not get paid by Apple. I got paid for the actual recordings (an hourly fee), but not for my voice being on millions of iPhones. I tell people if everyone who ever spoke to Siri sent me a dollar, that would be about right!! :)

Where can people connect with you online, or hire you for their projects?

People can contact me for voice projects by reaching out to my agents, Wes Stevens and Tom Lawless at Vox, Inc. in Los Angeles. All of my voice and speaker work goes through them, so feel free to email them about Siri: wstevens@voxusa.net and tlawless@voxusa.net. I’d love to work with you!!

Thank you so much for stopping by Beck on Tech, Susan! What an honor.

-Molly Beck