Jodi Krangle

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Jodi@VoiceoversAndVocals.com

smart speakers

Podcasting By Numbers: An Interview with Jeff Vidler – Part 2

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“Voice does communicate so much more meaning than what you can read. No matter how well written it is, it’s still the voice that really carries the meaning of the feeling of that, and you know as a voice actor how important that is and how much more it communicates.”

Jeff Vidler

This week’s the second part of my interview with Jeff Vidler, audio researcher, media analyst and the founder and president of Signal Hill Insights, as we discuss smartphones, Clubhouse, the future of podcast growth and marketing, and his latest audio studies.

 

The Problem of Downtime

We continue with a look at how much the audio industry has changed over the past ten years, especially as smartphones, smart speakers, and streaming audio have come to replace traditional radio. “One of the things that smartphones do,” Jeff explains, “is that they solve the problem of downtime when my mind is free but my eyes are busy and I’m bored.” Despite the changing technology, he notes that radio programming itself has turned out to be more resilient than we might have expected, with more 18-to-34-year-olds listening to the radio than reading newspapers or watching network television.

 

Clubhouse vs Podcasts

Jeff and I also talk about the emergence of Clubhouse as an entirely new form of audio media, and whether it’ll replace or enhance the role of podcasts. “Being part of something,” he notes, “interacting with something in real-time, is different than settling into a podcast and losing yourself in a podcast, in a story that’s being told.” We also discuss Apple’s recent change to its podcast language, and whether you “subscribe” or “follow” podcasts.

 

A Whole New Vista

We wrap up the interview with a look at the Megalab Truth Test and the surprising insights it offered about how well people can detect a lie, and some of the upcoming projects Jeff’s working on right now, such as the Radio on the Move study for the Canadian radio industry as well as commercial podcasts and radio contests. “For many years in radio research you weren’t finding many new things,” he says, “the last ten years… has opened a whole new vista in audio.”

 

If you’d like to know more about Brand Lift Studies for podcasts, radio, and streaming, you can visit Signal Hill’s Brand Lift Help page: https://signalhillinsights.com/brand-lift-help/ to access their free videos on Brand Lift Studies for audio,  as well as a checklist you can use to help set you up for success on your next Brand Lift Study.

 

Get your complimentary mini e-book and learn how to create your personalized and branded audio branding strategy with my Top Five Tips for Implementing an Intentional Audio Strategy.

Do you need a voice talent for your next project? Visit my voice-over website to find out more about how my voice can help you with your audio brand.  You can also subscribe to the Audio Branding Podcast on YouTube to watch the show’s latest episodes.

Please leave the Audio Branding Podcast a written review or a spoken review so others can find the show on their favorite podcast player!

This interview episode was very skillfully made to sound beautiful by the talented Humberto Franco.

Connect with Jeff

Website: https://signalhillinsights.com/

Follow Jeff Vidler on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JeffVidler

Connect with Jeff Vidler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffvidler/

Interview with #VoiceFirst Influencer, Physician, Speaker, Author and Podcaster, Dr. Teri Fisher – Part 2

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“The convenience and service AI Voice will afford is part of the power of this system.”

Dr. Teri Fisher

 

AI Vocal Biomarkers 

“When you take a digital photograph, in addition to getting the image, there’s data that’s captured by the camera.” Teri compares the digital photograph information to the type of data you can get from hearing a voice. Besides the actual words, you can also clue into the mood, context, tone, and other elements that give vocal information to the receiver. You can quantify this information and break down components in vocal sounds. 

“Putting these vocal samples into a computer, you can use artificial intelligence and machine learning with a computer to detect patterns in your voice.” Now the computer can detect emotion, changes in emotions, and other “metadata” when it hears someone speak. 

 

How Sound Impacted Teri at an Early Age

When Teri was growing up, his mother studied music to become a music therapist. He and his three brothers started taking music lessons at the age of three. Between the different instruments played, they had a built-in family string quartet in their home. At a very young age, Teri started using his personal computer to make music using a MIDI interface. “I started to write pieces of simple music using computers and I can still remember those sounds, and it was amazing to me that I could write music and control the computer to play my music.”

 

Applications for AI Vocal Biomarkers

We may be able to predict a potential suicide, catching COVID-19, cognitive decline, mortality rate, and possibly physical diseases. To ensure you have accurate voice authentication you have to make sure the system is able to compensate for changes in a voice due to aging. Voice biomarkers can detect a number of health conditions. “They are now using voice to predict the risk of someone having COVID-19.” 

 

Teri’s Prediction on the Future of AI Biomarkers

Dr. Fisher believes that, in the future, smart speakers will have the ability to ask you health questions based on the sound of your voice. The smart speaker could then use your answers to give an educated guess as to what illness you may have and send the appropriate test kit to your home. Your smart device could walk you through your test and could fill your prescription, delivering it to your home. “You could receive basic medical care in the comfort of your home through your voice.”

 

Personal Health Information and Data Privacy with AI Devices

Your smartphone most likely has the highest percentage of your personal information out of all the online places we use daily. But we aren’t willing to give up our phones.  “The convenience and service AI Voice will afford is part of the power of this system.” When we have virtual meetings with doctors online, we are losing our privacy but patients participate because this way of meeting is convenient.

 

Flash Briefing on Amazon

Dr. Fisher created a new online course, Flash Briefing Formula, for those who are looking to get their feet wet in the realm of voice technology from a business perspective. To find flash briefings you can ask your Amazon Alexa to play a flash briefing on a topic. You can also ask Alexa to subscribe to a flash briefing that you’d like to listen to daily. In addition to the ability to listen to the briefings, content creators have a way to be searchable on Amazon. 

 

AI Smart Speakers

According to the most recent statistics, smart speakers are the fastest adopted technology in history. People like the convenience of being able to ask questions and get an immediate answer from the speaker.

Make sure to listen in as Teri and I go into detail about the advantages AI will offer us in the future and why he believes that AI technology will quickly advance the healthcare industry.

Visit with Dr. Teri Fisher via his website, like Dr. Fisher on Facebook, and connect with Dr. Teri Fisher on LinkedIn. You can also chat with Teri by tweeting with him on Twitter and subscribe to Teri‘s feed on YouTube.

 

In the meantime…

Get your complimentary mini e-book and learn how to create your personalized audio branding strategy with my Top Five Tips for Implementing an Intentional Audio Strategy. 

Do you need a voice talent for your next project? Visit my voice over website to find out more about how my voice can help you with your audio brand.  You can also subscribe to the Audio Branding Podcast on YouTube to watch the show’s latest episodes.

Please leave the Audio Branding Podcast a review so others can find the show on their favorite podcast player!

This interview episode was very skillfully made to sound beautiful by the talented Humberto Franco.