Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training by Caban, Andrea; Foh, Julie; Parker, Jeffrey;

Short description:

Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training Second Edition is a beginner’s guide to Knight-Thompson Speechwork®, a method that focuses on universal and inclusive speech training for actors from all language, racial, cultural, and gender backgrounds and identities. 

Long description:

Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training, Second Edition is a beginner’s guide to Knight-Thompson Speechwork®, a method that focuses on universal and inclusive speech training for actors from all language, racial, cultural, and gender backgrounds and identities.

This book provides a progression of playful, practical exercises designed to build a truly universal set of speech skills that any actor can use, such as the ability to identify, discern, and execute every sound found in every language on the planet. By observing different types of flow through the vocal tract, vocal tract anatomy, articulator actions, and how these components can be combined, readers will understand and recreate the process by which language is learned. They will then be introduced to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and will practice using the IPA for narrow transcription of speech sounds. This revised second edition features: 

• New and updated exercises exploring vowel charts


• More pathways for connecting speechwork with acting work, including professional applications


• Updated images throughout


• Updated information for instructors and the use of the text in various courses


• New web resources, including additional exercise and video demos.

Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training is an excellent resource for teachers and students of speech and actor training, as well as aspiring actors looking to diversify their speech skills.

“Experiencing Speech is a fantastic book to awaken the art of speech work for actors at all training levels. It encourages deep learning while also developing learners’ understanding of the creative possibilities this work offers in a dramatic context. I highly recommend it.”

Kay Welch, Lead Voice Tutor, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), UK

“Experiencing Speech is full of tools that empower the actor to fully (and playfully) explore all speech sounds. It encourages individuality and curiosity while nurturing skills that allow the actor to embody text, no matter the character or genre. We use this book in our program, and our students have enthusiastically embraced the work. ”

Grace Zandarski, Head of Voice and Text, Associate Chair of Acting, Professor-in-the-Practice, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, USA

“Experiencing Speech is a treasure trove of transformative tools for actors and curious learners alike. This work is both rigorous and liberating—rooted in deep curiosity, practical application, and a global perspective. As a teacher, I return to it again and again for insight, clarity, and inspiration. It’s an indispensable companion for anyone training actors in voice, speech, and phonology.”

Jane Guyer Fujita, Head of Voice, NYU Graduate Acting, USA

Table of Contents:

Part 1: The Physical Actions of Speech  1. Experiencing Flow  2. Experiencing Articulators  3. Experiencing Shaped Flow  4. Experiencing Obstructed Flow  Part 2: The Possibilities in Language  5. Experiencing Obstruents in Language  6. Experiencing the Empty Charts – Consonants  7. Experiencing Language  8. Experiencing the Empty Chart – Vowels  Interlude – Experiencing Application  Part 3: Transcribing Speech  9. Experiencing Phones, Phonemes, and Phonetic Symbols (oh my!)  10. Experiencing the Consonant Symbols  11. Experiencing the Vowel Symbols  12. Experiencing Narrow Phonetic Transcription  Part 4: Speechwork is Acting Work  13. Experiencing Oral Posture  14. Experiencing Linguistic Detail & Fluency  15. Experiencing Circumstances  16. Experiencing Acting Choices