The Voice in Our Heads

Say it loud: "DOORS CLOSING!" Say it dorky: "Doooors Cloooooosing!" Say it sultry, say it breathy, say it Iraqi, but however you say it, lay it down on a CD or tape and mail it in to the folks who run the subways here in D.C.

The search is on for a new voice of the Washington Metro. The current automated voice, the one that haunts many of us on the 13th floor each morning and evening, is sort of feminine-androidish. A few years ago, I remember hearing that Metro had tweaked her tone a bit because commuters complained that she sounded too bitchy for the morning rush: "PLEASE stand clear of the DOORS...Thank you." Sayonara, Miss Robo-Nag!

Metro's official audition rules ask for an "authoritative voice," a "polite voice" and a "serious voice." Getting the tone right is important, and not something that transit systems take lightly, as I once wrote in Governing (scroll to the last item). My fingers are crossed for something soothing, a bit like the earnest-sounding guy from Milwaukee who is the voice of Chicago's El. Thanks to the magic and weirdness of the Internet, you can hear him here. (Go to the "Automated Announcements" section.)