Emily Banzhaf Shares Her Experience in the Music and Voice Industry (Episode 175)
Welcome Emily Banzhaf
Emily Banzhaf is a conversational AI designer with Strategic Education and she is doing a ton of work in the voice space! She has a background in music and is a violinist. She is coined as the “sonic connector.”
In this episode of the Voice in Canada podcast, we discuss Emily’s work with developing her own voice application and how she has transitioned her skills into creating incredible voice applications. She has also been doing work with the Open Voice Network and she is involved with Women in Voice and serves as a host for Voice Spark Live.
How Emily’s Music Background Influenced Her Work in the Voice Industry?
Emily creates sonic experiences for people; whether it is in voice or music, it is something she has been doing her entire life.
Are More and More People from Creative Backgrounds Coming into Voice?
Emily agreed that she has seen a lot of people coming from a more creative side vs. technical side.
How Did Emily Get Her Tech Experience?
Emily said that tech is pretty new to her, but she took a bunch of courses and entered a hackathon.
What Was the Outcome of the Hackathon?
Emily was paired with a group of 5 people from all over the world and they came together and decided to create a chatbot and voice assistant that educates people on their local elections, called Go Vote. They created a way for people to ask about the candidate’s ballot issues and their polling location.
Emily ended up winning the hackathon. Because they were able to incorporate a lot of different backgrounds it helped them get a lot of great feedback and they worked really well together as a team. This allowed them to create a comprehensive experience that included sonic branding and privacy aspects.
Emily Shares How She Became the Co-Host of the Voice Spark Live Podcast
Emily does a podcast with her co-host, Nick Sawka. Emily and Nick connected via Clubhouse, and he asked Emily to be a part of the show. They record a weekly show with the top influencers in the voice industry.
What is the Format of the Show?
Emily shared that when they have skill reviews, they have guests come in and host with them but usually they have a particular guest on the show. They first start with talking about voice news for the first 10 minutes and then they bring the guests on. From there it goes into what that guest is doing in the voice space. Emily also mentioned that they are thinking of changing the format to be a little bit more skill-based and having guests that have experience creating skills.
Emily’s Involvement with Women in Voice
Emily is part of two communities with the Open Voice Network, however, the main one that she focuses on is the ethical use task force that meets weekly. They are working on developing a framework of ethical principles and Emily has been assisting with writing the definitions out. They are working on 9 principles that they are working on condensing. The challenge lies in determining what isn’t covered and voice biometrics (which is evolving very quickly).
What Are Emily’s Plans for Her Future in the Voice Industry?
Emily shared that she is just riding the wave right now and evaluating what type of projects pop up. She is also working on Go Vote and planning towards testing it for the November election in New York. She is really enjoying what she is working on right now but is definitely open-minded to new opportunities.
Connect with Emily Banzhaf
Follow Emily on Twitter
Connect with Emily on LinkedIn
Visit Emily’s website
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