Susan Bennett has made a career out of voicing robots. You may recognize her best as Siri, the voice coming out of your iPhone, but her voice tone has been used by airlines, banks and more as well. How does someone get such an odd job?
“This is many years ago when they used to do commercial jingles, and they would have groups of people recording in the studio at the same time, and I was one of those lucky folks” Susan tells Oprah: Where Are They Now? “One day the voice talent didn’t show up and the owner of the studio said, ‘Susan, you don’t have an accent. Come over here and read this copy.’”
Susan enjoyed the work, so she hired a voice coach and an agent and began a long and fruitful career. Her first gig voicing a machine came in 1974 for the First National Bank of Atlanta. “It was at a time when ATMs were just being introduced, and everyone was afraid to use them. No one wanted to get their money from a machine, so they got me to sing the jingle as Tillie the All-Time Teller.”
Listen as Susan reveals what it’s like being one of the most ubiquitous voices in the world.
Published 04/14/2016