In a Manner of Speaking

The July 2023 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking" is all about William Shakespeare. Paul dives deep into the Bard, from iambic pentameter, to scansion, to scoring, to metre, to Original Pronunciation. It's a fun exercise for scholars and professionals but also actors just beginning their Shakespeare journey.

For the June 2023 podcast, Paul interviews Namecoach founder and CEO Praveen Shanbhag. They discuss name pronunciation in general while talking about Namecoach itself, which allows people to record their own name and embed that recording in their e-mail or social-media account.

For the May 2023 episode, Paul and his guest, former BBC Pronunciation Adviser Graham Pointon, attempt to answer the popular question "What's in a Name?" They discuss how one decides on proper pronunciations of people and place names.

Welcome to the April 2023 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking." This month's guest is Dr. Catherine Sangster, executive editor of pronunciations at Oxford Languages. She has been in charge of the Oxford English Dictionary's pronunciations for 11 years.

For the March 2023 episode, Paul takes an in-depth look at speed talking and singing. He examines world records and introduces us to people who are called upon to talk or sing quickly -- from actors to auctioneers to debaters to people who simply enjoy speaking at high speeds. For the full clips excerpted in this episode, plus more free content, visit the episode 62 podcast page at https://www.pau...

The Irish language is the podcast topic for February 2023, and Paul's guest is Professor Malachy O'Neill, Irish language scholar and director of Regional Engagement at Ulster University. Paul and Malachy discuss all aspects of the Irish language, including its history, dialects and status as an endangered language. For more information about Professor O'Neill, plus free content related to this top...

For the first podcast of 2023, Paul discusses whistled speech with Julien Meyer, linguist, acoustician, and professor at the European Institutes for Advanced Study at the University of Lyon, France. For more information and free content related to this topic, visit the podcast page at PaulMeier.com.

Welcome to the December 2022 podcast, in which Paul and his guests, Enrique Pardo and Linda Wise of Pantheatre, discuss the legacy of the intriguing and often controversial actor and vocalist Roy Hart (1926-1975). Pardo and Wise have spent decades building on the legacy of Hart, who is known for his almost superhuman vocal range, avant-garde performances, and work with German singing teacher Alfre...

For the November 2022 episode, Paul welcomes Gideon Burton, professor in the English Department at Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City, Utah, and creator of the website "Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric." Paul and Gideon discuss Shakespeare's use of rhetoric, in addition to rhetoric in general, which is often defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. For mor...

How do babies learn to talk? That's the topic of the October 2022 episode of Paul's podcast. And to help answer that question, Paul welcomes Jenny Saffran, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert in cognitive and linguistic sciences. For more info (and complementary content) on the topics discussed in this and all of Paul's podcasts, visit PaulMeier.com/in-a-manner-of-speaki...

For the September 2022 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking," Paul welcomes back renowned linguist and author David Crystal for his fourth appearance on the podcast. They discuss various topics related to David's 2018 book, "Sounds Appealing," including pronunciation, phonetics, phoneticians, speech melody, intonation, stress patterning. For information on David, visit his website, DavidCrystal.com...

Paul's guest for August 2022 is Nick Enfield, professor of linguistics at the University of Sydney. Inspired by Nick's 2022 book, "Language Vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists," Paul and Nick discuss how language is not always the best tool for conveying and representing reality. For more information on Professor Enfield, visit NickEnfield.org. And for more informa...

Patsy Rodenburg -- often considered the world's leading voice teacher and coach -- is Paul Meier's guest for the July 2022 episode of "In a Manner of Speaking." Paul and Patsy discuss a range of topics related to Patsy's forthcoming book, "The Woman's Voice." For more information about Professor Rodenburg, OBE, please visit the web page on PaulMeier.com devoted to this podcast, or https://patsyrod...

For the June 2022 edition of his "In a Manner of Speaking" podcast, Paul Meier welcomes the "Bard of Bath," Kevan Manwaring. The two discuss the ancient Bardic Tradition and how it is still relevant and powerful today. For more information on Kevan and the Bardic Tradition, visit PaulMeier.com/2022/06/01/episode-53-the-bard-of-bath/.

Paul's guests for May 2022 are Edda Sharpe and Jan Haydn Rowles, authors of "How To Do Accents" and leading figures in the world of voice, speech, and dialects. The three discuss dialects in the English National Opera revival of "My Fair Lady" (coached by Edda) and the film "Belfast" (coached by Jan). They also engage in a larger discussion of dialects and accents, including the ones featured in t...

The April 2022 episode is a celebration of the first 50 episodes of "In a Manner of Speaking," the podcast Paul began in February 2018. Reminisce with Paul about some of his favorite episodes and join him in thanking all his guests -- and YOU for listening. And, as always, visit the main podcast page (https://www.paulmeier.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking/) for more info. (Bach's Cello Suite #1 in G Ma...

Paul’s guest for March 2022 is Denise Woods, a successful Hollywood dialect coach, theatre professor at the California Institute of the Arts, and author of "The Power of Voice." The two discuss topics related to dialect coaching, including audiobook narration, accent modification or "reduction," and coaching Black actors.

Paul's guest for February 2022 is Lane Greene, language columnist and Spain correspondent for "The Economist." This month's episode takes its title from one of Lane's books, "You Are What You Speak," and Paul and Lane tackle a variety of topics related to linguistics, accents, and the myths, fears, and hopes surrounding language. For more information on Lane, visit LaneGreene.com.

Paul's first 2022 guests are Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher of “Vocal Process." The three discuss pitch, specifically the extremes of the human voice as it relates to both speaking and singing. For more information, including biographies of Gillyanne and Jeremy, and links to the full recordings excerpted here, visit the page devoted to this month's podcast on PaulMeier.com.

Paul's final guest for 2021 is Willem Hollmann, who has been generating headlines with his thoughts on how we teach grammar and dialects. A professor of linguistics and associate dean in the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at Lancaster University in England, Hollmann encourages a more robust discussion of regional English dialects and grammar in English education. But his views have also been di...

For the November 2021 podcast, Paul discusses the peculiarities of the English language with Arika Okrent, linguist and author of "Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don’t Rhyme." For more information on Arika, visit ArikaOkrent.com.

Paul's guest for October 2021 is professional audiobook narrator Elizabeth Wiley. The two talk about everything related to the art of audiobook narration and read from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and Andromeda Romano-Lax's "Annie and the Wolves," which is available at Audible.com. For more on Elizabeth, visit WileyVoice.com.

For the September 2021 podcast, Paul and his guest, legendary linguist David Crystal, converse about ... conversation itself.

For the August 2021 podcast, Paul discusses heightened language and Black playwrights with Professor Jacqueline Springfield of Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia. To learn about Professor Springfield, please visit www. JacquelineSpringfield.com.

Paul's guest for the July 2021 podcast is Professor Pamela Keller of the School of Law at the University of Kansas, where she teaches what she calls "lawyering skills." Appropriately, the topic of conversation is the spoken word as it relates to the law and, specifically, courtroom procedures and presentations. To learn more about Professor Keller, visit https://law.ku.edu/faculty/pamela-keller.