Episode

How Experimentation Led Susan Bennett to Become the Original Voice of Siri

How Experimentation Led Susan Bennett to Become the Original Voice of Siri

by 
Susan Bennett

Episode Summary

You might now know her name but might have heard her voice. Susan Bennett is an American Voice Actress and is the Original Voice of Siri. She was initially a singer before she accidentally landed a career in voice acting. Learn all about her story and how experimentation has led Susan to become the original voice of Siri. 

“Life is a combination of hard work and luck. You can’t depend on luck but you can depend on hard work.” - Susan Bennett

According to Susan, music was a big part of her life. Even at the age of four, she could sit down and play the piano really well just by using her ear. Before she was a voice actress, she was a singer and a live performer in a studio. 

One day, a voice actor didn’t show up and she was offered to read a copy just because she didn’t have an accent. Surprisingly, she was very good at it. 

Experimentation

One of the biggest reasons for Susan’s success is that she is always open to trying new things. Even if you are not good at it, there is no harm in trying. Especially if you are young and you are trying to figure out what you want to do in life, you can take improv classes to accustom yourself from thinking on your feet. 

It can be scary at first, but improv classes are the best way to do it since everybody in your class has the same experience as you. Experimentation is what will allow you to discover your strengths, and potentially your next career. 

After discovering her talent in voice acting, she immediately started taking voice lessons and pursued her next career. 

What’s most surprising about her journey is that she didn’t know she was going to be the voice of Apple’s Siri. At the time, she was asked to read a bunch of lines that were very new and weird to her. How her voice will be used was never really discussed when she took the job offer. She was just surprised one day that her voice was used for Siri and ended up with millions of iPhones around the world. 

Perseverance

Though luck played a part in becoming the voice of Apple’s Siri, it wasn’t very glamorous at first. She didn’t get paid accordingly to be the voice of Siri, and her voice became ubiquitous which hurt her voice career. But with perseverance and determination, Susan was able to overcome that and used it as her strength. 

She decided to reveal herself as the voice of Siri and made a career out of it. She became a speaker and told people all about Siri and her experience as to how the recordings were done. There are a lot of things in life that you have no control over,but you can always control your effort. The key is to figure out a way how to make it work for you instead of against you 

Confidence

Lastly, whatever it is that you do in life, confidence is key. You have to figure out a way to think positive about yourself in any situation you are in. Sometimes, confidence has to be manufactured.

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