Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training

Andrea Caban is an Associate Professor of Speech and Accents at University of California, San Diego, and Co-Director and Master Teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork® where she leads the KTS Teacher Certification Program. She co-wrote the companion text to Experiencing Speech, Experiencing Accents: A Knight-Thompson Speechwork® Guide for Acting in Accent. She holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of California, Irvine.Julie Foh is an Associate Professor at Yale University and a Master Teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork®. As a professional voice, dialect, and text coach, she has worked in film, television, theatre, and podcasts. She holds an M.F.A. in Voice Pedagogy from the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University and a B.A. in Theater Studies from Duke University, and is an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework.Jeffrey Parker is a Professor of Voice and Speech at Metropolitan State University of Denver and serves as the Director of Voice and Text for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. He has worked at theaters across the United States, both as an actor and a voice, dialect, and text coach. He is a certified teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork® and holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of California, Irvine.

“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

• 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