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Chip Edwards
(Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes)
Voice Notes
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[
To have Amazon Alexa read this blog post to you, just say "Alexa, Ask Create My Voice to Read Blog Post 21".
To have Google Assistant read this blog post to you, just say "Hey Google, Ask Create My Voice to Read Blog Post 21".
]

Both Amazon and Google are racing to make their Voice technology to be the smartest speaker on the block.  Recently, Amazon stated they have over 10,000 employees working on Alexa.  It’s clear both Amazon and Google are committed to being within earshot of everyone.  And to convince people to use their brand of Voice Technology, Amazon and Google are rapidly making Smart Speakers, smarter.  In addition, they have made a way for you to add your own brand of smarts (or capabilities) to Smart Speakers as well. 

To add your smarts (or capabilities) to Google Assistant, you create a Google Action.  For Amazon Alexa, you create an Alexa Skill.

Chip Edwards
(Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes)
Voice Notes
Hits: 6114

Smart Speakers are leading a change in how we consume information. It's easier to just ask Alexa or ask Google, than it is to log into the computer (or smartphone) and type in the question. But is voice just for Smart Speakers?

 

Chip Edwards
(Reading time: 3 - 6 minutes)
Voice Notes
Hits: 5377

[
To have Amazon Alexa read this blog post to you, just say "Alexa, Ask Create My Voice to Read Blog Post 19".
To have Google Assistant read this blog post to you, just say "Hey Google, Ask Create My Voice to Read Blog Post 19".
]

As I mentioned in a previous blog post titled "New Voices for Smart Speakers", the voices used in smart speaker dialog are getting better.  The good news is there are now more voice options available for both Amazon Alexa as well as Google Assistant. While the additional voices open up many possibilities to engage your audience, the ability to use alternative voices does not address the problem of branding.

Chip Edwards
(Reading time: 4 - 7 minutes)
Voice Notes
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[NOTE: Amazon Alexa devices are capable of dynamically processing multiple voices, so if you listen to this blog post on an Amazon Alexa device, you will hear the voices change.  If you are listening on a Google device, the post will be read by a single voice.  This post is an example of how a blog post could be turned into a dialog. The 4 voices in the following post are: the default voice introduces and wraps up the post. Voice 2 is Diya, a female voice from India. Voice 3 is George, a male voice from the UK. And Voice 4 is Nancy, a female voice from the US reading for Pam from Create My Voice.  You can hear this blog post by saying: "Alexa, Ask Create My Voice to Read Blog Post 18"]
Chip Edwards
(Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes)
Voice Notes
Hits: 3089

[NOTE: This post was updated on Jan 8, 2019.  I enhanced the Google voice options after building a Google Action.]
 

Both Amazon and Google now have the ability to use more than the default voice on their Smart Speakers.  If you are using the Google Assistant, there are eight user-selectable voices.  In addition to the default user-selected voice, Google Actions can specify one of 14 different voices.  And Amazon recently enabled Alexa Skill developers to use 27 of the Amazon Polly voices in their skills.

More Articles …

  1. How Might You Use a Smart Speaker?
  2. So What Exactly is a Smart Speaker?
  3. 5 Reasons Your Mom Needs an Alexa
  4. Voice Technology is Coming
  5. The Voices of Voice Technology
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