Experiencing Speech is the introductory Knight-Thompson workshop, and is designed for actors, voice/speech teachers, clinicians, and coaches. A six-day intensive, Experiencing Speech delves deeply into the work laid out in Dudley Knight’s Speaking with Skill. The workshop is structured in two parts. The first three days focus on the physical actions that produce all the sounds of the world’s languages. (This section contains no phonetic transcription.) The second three days continue the exploration into even greater specificity through the use of narrow phonetic transcription. Participants then use these skills to explore formal and informal speech actions while maintaining complete intelligibility. These skills prepare the actor to move easily into any accent or vocal characterization that might be required onstage or in film, television or new media.
Suggested Texts:
- Speaking With Skill, Dudley Knight and Phil Thompson
- Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training, Andrea Caban, Julie Foh and Jeffrey Parker
PART ONE [Three days]
- Awareness and practice of precise articulation action
- Producing all the sounds in language—”Omnish”
- Vocal Tract Posture—the articulatory basis for the sounds in accents and languages
- No phonetic transcription will be used in this session of the workshop.
BREAK
We take a day off between the first and second parts. This is a chance to rest and process information, or to enjoy the pleasures of our host city.
PART TWO [Three days]
- The application of detailed phonetic transcription to the process of speech and accent work
- Using the entire IPA to research and teach speech
- The skills of formal and informal speech
Each day begins with a vocal warm-up based in Fitzmaurice Voicework.
Workshop Costs
VASTA and Union Members $850*
Non-members $950
* if you’re interested in repeating a workshop that you’ve already taken, contact us for special pricing deals.
In order to plan effectively for these workshops, it’s important to have a clear sense of the commitment of potential participants. For that reason we ask for a deposit of $200 to secure your place in the workshop. This is due six weeks prior to the start of the workshop. The full payment is due three weeks prior to the start of the workshop. If your plans change, and you are unable to attend, we will refund any payment less $75 if you inform us ten days prior to the start of the workshop. After that date, however, no refunds are possible. Please plan accordingly.