Gazette du Bon Ton Presents: Susan Bennett, the original voice of Siri

Have you ever wondered whose voice responds when you ask "Hey, Siri" a question? Intrigued by this, I embarked on a journey of research. I discovered that the voice behind Siri belongs to Susan Bennet. Not only does her voice provide answers to queries and engage in playful banter, but it also serves as a vital tool for visually impaired individuals and those struggling with depression. I had the privilege of sitting down with Susan to delve deeper into her story.

Giulia: I've learned that you became the voice of Siri through a stroke of serendipity. Can you share that story with us? How did it all begin?

Susan: Actually, it wasn’t really serendipitous….It was all planned, I just didn’t know exactly what my recordings were going to be used for. Keep in mind, Siri was the first of virtual voices, so there was no precedent for it.

Giulia: Did you know at the time that some day you'd be a big part of Apple products?

Susan: No. I had no interaction at all with Apple, and still haven’t to this day. I thought I was just doing recordings for messaging.

Giulia: How much was involved in recording your voice? What was the process like?

Susan: I recorded the initial work in July 2005, four hours a day, five days a week. I then did subsequent work for four months, working two hours per day. The process was very tedious, because the phrases and sentences I was reading were created for sound, not content, so they didn’t make any sense!

Giulia: When did you realize that your voice became famous?

Susan: I heard my voice as Siri on the very first day “she” appeared on the iPhone 4S….October 4, 2011.

Giulia: How do you handle requests 24/7?

Susan: I don’t!! 😆

Giulia: Do people often recognize your voice when you're in public?

Susan: No, almost never. In all the years my voice has been “out there” only two people recognized it. One was a waiter, and the other was a sales person.

Giulia: I've heard adults, kids as well give you an attitude from time to time. How do you cope with that kind of behavior? :)

Susan: Well, Siri has a bit of attitude as well. She gives as well as she gets!! Ha!

Giulia: How often do you ask yourself a question, do you use Siri yourself at all? :)

Susan: No, I don’t. When it was my voice on the iPhone, it was just too creepy for me to ask Siri a question and get the answer back in my own voice.

Giulia: What is your favorite Siri response of yours?

Susan: I once asked Siri, right at the beginning, what she was doing. She quite nastily replied, “I’m talk to you!!"

Giulia: What other major companies have you worked for? Where else can we hear your voice?

Susan: I used to do tons of commercials, but after Siri, I’ve mostly done narrations and messaging, so I never really know when my voice will show up! I always tell my friends to listen up for it; then I’d tell my agent about it, hopefully get paid, and I’d share the money!!

Giulia: I hope you know that your voice is doing great service to those who are visually impaired, and helps those who are depressed and lonely. There is a lot of positives you bring to people around the world. And I want to personally thank you for that. How does that make you feel ?

Susan: I’m very, very happy and grateful for that! In fact, I’ve had several visually impaired people contact me to thank me.

Giulia: What's been the most memorable part about being the most famous voice?

Susan: Probably all of the cool opportunities I got to travel and meet a lot of interesting people, including making TV appearances and meeting Queen Latifah, Anthony Anderson, etc.

Giulia: I read that you're into public speaking today. Can you share a bit about your present initiatives? Where do you speak?

Susan: I do speaker events for different groups and conferences, booked through my fabulous agents at Vox, Inc. in Los Angeles: Wes Stevens and Tom Lawless.

Giulia: What is next for Susan Bennett?

Susan: I have a virtual speaker event happening at the end of the month, and some music gigs with my guitar player husband, Rick Hinkle. Other than that….surprise me!! 😁