Speaking Of... Conversations on Voice, Speech, and Identity with Ryan O'Shea

In this episode I’m joined by my talented & deeply funny friend Tim Murray. Tim is an actor, comedian, podcast host and all-around wonderful performer. Tim and I both watched the Netflix film based on the Broadway musical, The Prom, at the same time, and his response to the film inspired a very specific question from me: “Why was James Corden’s performance in Netflix’s The Prom offensive to gay people?” 

This question opened up several other interesting pathways for our conversation, including the question of whether actors should play characters they don’t represent in real life, whether there is a “gay accent,” and how media depictions of certain groups of people can affect how they are treated in real life.

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.

In this episode, I’m joined by my longtime client and friend, Kevin Clayette. Kevin is an actor originally from the French-speaking island of New Caledonia. He’s also lived in Australia, England, and now the US and he asked the question, “Is there such a thing as a natural accent?” Like many people who have moved around the world, Kevin’s accent has changed over the years and while he can consciously change his accent to be “American” or “Australian” or “French,” he’s not quite sure how to describe his “natural” accent…that is, his accent when he’s not conscious of being *in* an accent.

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.

In this episode, I’m joined my friend, Dominick Bailey. Dominick is an actor, dancer, writer, and clinical pharmacist who asked the question, “How do I manipulate the volume of my voice?” Most of the time that I talk to clients about volume, it’s because they’re wondering how to have more volume, but Dominick asked the question because he’s sometimes gotten the feedback that he’s too loud. We talked about the ways in which our volume might be involuntarily affected by various circumstances, and I offered Dominick some tools to give him a better sense of how to consciously adjust his volume.

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.

On this episode of Speaking Of… I’m joined by my friend and colleague, Rachel Finley. Rachel is an actor, director, spoken-word artist, writer, and teacher specializing in acting, voice, and speech. Rachel is currently researching dialects of the African diaspora and I invited her as a follow-up to my last episode. I asked Rachel “What are your thoughts on the “So-Called African American Vernacular of English?” We talked about why AAVE is a useful term for linguists, but less so as a term to describe the accent of an entire race. Rachel shared her thoughts on what might be a better term, and offered perspectives on how she approaches researching and teaching accents of the diaspora (and beyond).

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.

On this episode of Speaking Of… I’m joined by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Brandon Piper. In this episode, Brandon asked the question, “Why do we make assumptions about people’s race based on how they sound?” We talk about the technicalities of accent including the dialect, African American Vernacular of English, and what linguists have to say about his question, but we also talked about our personal experiences related to the biases and assumptions we experience in our own lives.

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.

On this episode of Speaking Of… I’m joined by my colleague, Joanna Cazden. Joanna is a speech pathologist, with a specialty in vocal health. She’s also a singer and a certified teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, so she has a well-rounded approach of marrying health and technique in performance. In this episode, I ask Joanna questions from YOU, our listeners. We cover everything from which type of tea is best for your voice to what vocal nodules are to what tongue tension could be telling us.

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.

In this bonus episode, I'm a guest on The Modern Actor Podcast talking about the importance of actor training for breath and voice.

For more on The Modern Actor Podcast: https://www.the-modern-actor.com/podcast

For more on Speaking Of...Conversations on Voice, Speech, and Identity with Ryan O'Shea: https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast

In this episode of Speaking Of… I’m joined by my friend and colleague, Helena Walsh. Helena has a thriving voice studio in Dublin, Ireland, though her teaching covers so much more than voice. One of Helena’s current class offerings is called “The Actor’s Practice,” a 10 week advanced actor training practice using Fitzmaurice Voicework, Organic Intelligence and other leading voice and body methods. The class aims to “build resilience in the mind & body so that the imagination can be free to create a more energized and vibrant sense of self, character & storytelling. This resilience will make it easier to risk in life, in an audition, in the rehearsal room, on set & on stage.” Helena is a brilliant teacher and mentor, and I took the opportunity to ask Helena about how she developed her class, and what practices she recommends actors develop regardless of where they are in their career.

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.

On this episode of Speaking Of… I’m joined by my friend, actor-writer-photographer-editor, Jessica Barrett Denison aka Jess. Jess asked the question, “When I shut down, how do I come back?” The way I reframed Jess’ question was “How can I help myself be more present when I feel overwhelmed?” Her question is relatable to performers, especially if you ever have a feeling being “stuck” when the performance isn’t going the way you think it “should” be. And it’s also relevant for anyone with any degree of social anxiety. In the episode, we talk about some tools and concepts for helping you get present with what matters, whether you’re in performance or in conversation.

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.

On this episode of Speaking Of… I’m joined by my friend, voice and acting teacher, Scott Ferrara. Scott specializes in coaching voice as well as acting for classical texts. He joined me to talk about “Shakespeare voice”—the tone and accent that many actors often go to when first exploring Shakespeare in performance. We talked about why he believes this is so common, and he shared some tools and experience for how to guide actors toward their more authentic voice. (And it is far more advanced than saying “Hey, don’t do that voice.”) While the main conversation is from the context of Shakespeare in performance, the conversation is absolutely relevant for actors of all genres and mediums, and even for non-performers interested in finding their more authentic voice.

You can find complete show notes and links to everything we’ve mentioned in the episode on https://www.voiceandspeechwithryan.com/podcast.