Talkaoke

    Talkaoke

    Talkaoke is a pop up talk show that has been gaining popularity in festivals, clubs, galleries, theatres, conferences and on the street. it consists of an illuminated round table with a host sitting in the middle on a swivel chair. Participants sit around the outside and are passed the microphone whenever they want to talk, […]

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    Podcasts

    Podcasts

    It’s a natural development of the Talkaoke format. We have in house audio and video equipment and expertise to produce podcasts and empower others to create their own. We work with local sound artists and audio editors. Speak to us about your idea and we can help you come up with the best format. We […]

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    Who Wants to Be...?

    Who Wants to Be…?

    Who Wants to Be…? is the ask-the audience game show, where the audience asks the questions, comes up with the answers, and sets the rules! Using two visualisation systems, some gameshow glitz and a visual voting system, a large audience can brainstorm, feedback, and generate the most incredible ideas together. In its simplest form each […]

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    Talkaoke Skills Lab

    Talkaoke Skills Lab

    Talkaoke Skills Lab is a structured creative development programme, where we share our 25 years of experience in creative facilitation, non-hierarchal spaces, emergent development, co-creation and use of technology. Talkaoke Skills Lab is open to artists, students, community leaders, young people and everyone interested in socially engaged creative practice. The sessions cover: facilitation, creative thinking, co-creation […]

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    One Night Grandstand

    One Night Grandstand

      One Night Grandstand: stadium for a night! One Night Grandstand infuses a regular kick-about with the excitement of a football stadium. Games have a live, amplified commentary, floodlighting and stadium style screens above the pitch, complete with sound effects, live motion graphics and action replays. Watch the One Night Grandstand promo video to see […]

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    Creative Facilitation Workshops

    Creative Facilitation Workshops

    In an age of social media polarisation and digital echo chambers, we urgently need skills to engage authentically across differences. The People Speak’s  Creative Communication workshops harness 28 years of expertise in creative communication to equip participants with tools for meaningful dialogue in our fragmented world. Our signature Talkaoke format – a television-style interactive talk […]

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    Aberfeldy Stories: A People’s Art School on the Street

    “Come in and chat” – that simple sign on our studio door in Aberfeldy Street has sparked something extraordinary. Over six transformative months, curiosity turned into creativity, conversations became performances, and neighbours became storytellers.

    200 People. 5 Films. 20 Podcasts. One Anthem and a Computer Game

    Between March and September 2025, Aberfeldy Stories showed what happens when you give people the space, skills, and support to share their narratives. The results? Over 200 residents stepped through our doors and left with:

    • 5 short films that capture the heart of our neighbourhood
    • 20 podcasts brimming with local voices and perspectives
    • Stand-up comedy routines that turned personal experiences into laughter
    • Written and performed stories shared with courage and creativity
    • A computer game designed by local imaginations
    • The Aberfeldy Anthem — written and performed by residents

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    How we (almost) married Pedro and Viola at the Barbican Summer Party

    Why letting conversations flow naturally reveals the heart of a community

    A Perfect Day for an Impromptu Wedding

    Everything was ready: the bride and groom, the dress, the sunshine, and plenty of willing guests. What we didn’t expect was that our afternoon discussion about the future of the Barbican and Golden Lane estates would turn into wedding poetry and creative neighbourhood activation. But that’s exactly why we love The People Speak approach – you never know where genuine conversation will take you.

    We were invited by the Barbican and Golden Lane Neighbourhood Forum to their annual Summer Party to chat with residents about the future of their estates. Armed with our Talkaoke setup, we spent the afternoon discovering what makes these iconic London neighbourhoods truly special.

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    Creative Courses for Beginners

    We run beginners friendly creative short courses and one-off taster workshops in community settings, responding to curiosities and interests of our participants. We believe that everyone is creative and the skills you learn through our workshops are easily transferable to everyday and professional life. Our sessions can be tailored to all ages, needs and levels of experience. Whether you drop in to one session or commit to the whole course – you will come away with confidence, new skills, ideas and friendships.

    Our workshops include: podcast making, talk show hosting, public speaking, music making & singing, storytelling through theatre and film, and using digital technology creatively.

    Aberfeldy Stories workshops, Poplar

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    “More ways to skin a cat”: Quacktion Time, The Wedding and Heal the Net – New participatory formats at The Pleasance Theatre

    At The People Speak we have many strings to our bow. In May 2025 we had the opportunity to create brand new participatory structures at the Pleasance Theatre for The Critical Conversations series commissioned by Sage and Jester production company. The aim was to involve the audience in discussing misinformation, truth and build dialogue around different perspectives. We followed our principles of creating participatory performance:

    • Non-hierarchy: facilitators and participants are all equals
    • Structure without content: the content is developed spontaneously by the participants using an accessible structure
    • Co-creation: it is about creating performance collectively

    Mikey as Brother Read-the-Room in ‘Heal the Net’ at The Pleasance Theatre, Photo by John Williams

    ‘Quacktion time’: using satire as a way to shed light on the truth (13 May) 

    We recreated the format of the talk show Question Time, with a twist! We called it Quacktion time and had participants in the audience wearing animal masks. They could channel their inner political animal and discussed serious quacktions concerning the general welfare of the burrows of London, represented by six animal panelists. Through a series of provo-cat-ions, the animals got caught in the game and discussed topics such as: which animal would be the best ruler? The duck argued that due to their ability to be on the ground, the water and in the sky, they could offer different perspectives of the world. The elephant (in the room…) claimed that it was their God-given duty to be the ruler, implying their superiority in the kingdom. The lamb explained that they occupied the moral high ground due to their sacrificial position. We invited the animals to be daring and to disrupt the expected direction of the conversation rather than focus on the dynamic of exchanging facts and demonstrating knowledge on the subject that happens on television discussion programmes. Pushing them to have provocative ideas and answers is part of The People Speak’s mentality as it’s about challenging different world views.

    ‘Quacktion Time’ at the Pleasance Theatre, Photo by John Williams

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    Part and parcel of engagemen in Pendle – 15 years of collaboration with In-Situ and Building Bridges

     

    “Talkaoke is part and parcel of engagement in Pendle”

    – Paul Hartley, In-Situ

    The People Speak have been collaborating with In-Situ and Building Bridges for 15 years, helping the residents and stakeholders of Pendle Borough envisage a better and more connected borough of the future. As part of this ongoing project we have done a number of residencies, trained new Talkaoke hosts and produced events in the areas overlooked by the famous Pendle Hill: from Walkaoke – Talkaoke on the move, to Pendle Under The Hammer – a series of creative consultations with the residents of Colne, Nelson, Barnoldswick and Brierfield to inform the borough council’s corporate plan. Talkaoke is a regular feature of the annual Pendle Festival of Culture.

    “Talkaoke helps us create the space to have challenging, difficult, fun and creative conversations with residents in Pendle. We’ve done hundreds of them in a variety of places – its mobile and flexible to fit into many scenarios. We’ve used Talkaoke in town centres, Council venues, shops, pubs, schools and colleges, outside McDonald’s and online. It’s a really effective tool for exploring all kinds of themes in our embedded work in Pendle; youth voice, climate engagement and psychology, racism, cohesion, creative careers and future of work, Covid and grief, health and wellbeing, mental health. Our ambition is to continue to train up local people who can host it within the community. It enables us to make sure our programme is relevant; we develop the ideas that come up around the table and these continually inform our practice in Pendle”

    – Anna Taylor, Critical Engagement, In-Situ

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