This months session was a lot of fun with talk about conspiracy theories, dreams, whether or not it was good to have a gun, noisy neighbors and relationships.

Click here to watch the two videos of the evening

Talkaoke returned to bar 93 Feet East for another evening of discussion, debate & general chat with the opening theme being around how to build a 3d university. This led to conversations about Universities, education politics and community cohesion.

Click here to watch the videos

Get yourself in the middle of the table. You'll learn every minute!

The agenda is that there is no agenda

One of the key elements to Talkaoke is that there is “no agenda” This means that it is difficult for participants to defend entrenched positions. Participants more easily make new and different connections. This doesn’t mean that your Talkaoke event cannot have a theme or context. It always will. Don’t limit the discussion to what you think is important, go where the participants want to go and you will learn how things look to them.

It’s essential to be tangential

What’s the most interesting assumption in the statement a person has just made?

Smaller the question, bigger the answer

Remember the child’s game where he asks “why” to every answer. Get into the frame of mind where you know very little and are really keen to learn. Try to think of questions (not just “why”) that will open up the discussion rather than close it down. Try to avoid questions where you have assumed what the answer will be.

Help to create an atmosphere

Hosting Talkaoke is a performance

People do not naturally have conversations with more than 5 people. It is your job to make this possible by amplifying the feedback and cues from other participants. If you are sitting in the middle of the table, people will look to you for cues as to how to behave/ perform / react in the unfamiliar situation of a talk show. If you are uncomfortable, so will they be. If you are disinterested, so are they. If you are enthusiastic, calm, relaxed or enjoying yourself, well?

Keep going, keep talking, stay relaxed

Sometimes, something will go wrong. The Table may run out of batteries, everyone might get up and leave the table at once, it might start raining. Just keep going. It may seem pointless, but even if you’re just there chatting to one person for an hour, keep going. Eventually, it will pick up again – as long as there is at least one punter around -you just need to keep trying. If you’re comfortable with the thought of sitting in the table talking to one person, then every extra punter is a bonus.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t work

It might sound confusing. Different techniques work better in different circumstances. After a few goes you’ll get the hang of it. Talkaoke is the sum of you, your team and the audience. If you give it all your energy and it doesn’t work out – don’t worry. You did your best. There are moments when it’s the wrong time to talk.

You are not the expert!

in fact the opposite. Try not to give facts or correct other people even when you know them to be wrong. That is the privelege of someone else around the table. You can throw a statement out to the audience you think might be dubious, but if nobody corrects it, hey it must be true!

Don’t worry about getting it wrong

Although knowledge of any given subject is always useful for hosting Talkaoke, because you know what stupid question to ask, it is not essential. In a community of experts, everybody should be able to explain what they are talking about. If they can’t it’s a very good challenge for them to try and they will certainly learn. In a mixed field it’s more important.

If you do know about a field, it doesn’t mean you need to demonstrate that knowledge; better to let those around the table achieve a consensus on what is factually correct or right. You can still question inaccuracies. Only as a last resort is it necessary to come in with your own opinions or facts. This may happen if you are questioned directly and nobody else around the table knows the answer. Or you might be asked about the process of talkaoke itself. Generally talking about Talkaoke itself makes for a very dry conversation.

Remembering people’s names

See above. I’m not sure how I remember people’s names. I often get it wrong. It doesn’t matter.

I kind of spin round and remember the names geographically according to where people are sitting.

It’s good anyway to “do a round of names” just to keep everybody involved.

I forgot what I was going to say

If someone forgets what they were going to say, generally they will remember if you “rewind” This involves doing a one sentence sum up of what people have said back into the past. Don’t worry if you have forgotten some things. you are not a tape recorder. You will be surprised how well this works.

Look around

Try to continually look at everybody around the table, not just the speaker

This is the one single most important piece of advice for Talkaoke. Talkaoke has a 360 degree architecture. Make sure you keep looking around to see how people are reacting to what the person on the mic is saying. Do they look bored, interested, annoyed, excited? Your job is to maximise engagement. By all means look at the person speaking, but look around too. I know that’s a lot of looking but it is more important to keep everybody engaged. Looking at participants on the table will keep them hooked, and reassure them that you are not ignoring them. Looking at participants around the table will encourage them to sit down and/or take part.

Look for points and people that interest other people

One of the important reasons to keep looking around is that it tells you who is interested. Look at people when they’re listening to other people. It’s amazing how honest their expressions are! Bored people look really really bored, even if they’re too polite to say so. Take advantage of this. If someone is talking and everyone looks bored, get the mic moving again.

Sum it up

The “sum up” is a very important skill in Talkaoke. It is used for 3 things.

Quite often people will make a point and then make the same point in a slightly different way and the make the same point in a slightly different way. you get the picture? What they are actually looking for is a response and that’s where you can help. If you sum up their point in as few words as possible and give it some gravitas that will make them feel better. Every now and again you can ask for a round of applause if you need even more response.

Sometimes there are many themes going around the table. If you some up the key points on the table it will add coherence to the conversation.

If you turn the “sum up” into a question it is a good way to invite people to the table, because it saves words, performing at least three functions at once.

eg. Andy is saying how she thinks smoking should be banned in public spaces. You have noticed someone standing around the table who is interested in the conversation. Perhaps you have already briefly made eye contact with him a number of times. Ask him “are you a smoker?” or “should smoking be banned in public?”

Invite people in

In public gig this is the crux of the matter. People may be reticent to engage because of lack of confidence, shyness, unfamiliarity with talkaoke. Maybe they just want to listen to the conversation. Here are some tips.

The more people there are sitting around the table the easier it is to get more to come. Conversely the first person is the hardest to come sit down. If you are new to Talkaoke you might want to arrange it so that a couple of “stooges”- people who will support the project- are there from the off. Don’t be too familiar with these first people. you don’t want to give the impression it is a closed shop.

You need to time your invitation well. Do it too soon and you may scare them away. Make eye contact and acknowledge their presence a few times if possible before engaging them.

Refer back to the art of the sum up. If you have some discussion on the table, hit potential participants with a question they have to answer. It will be more effective to say “do you live in a nanny state?” than “would you like to come and sit down on this table of chat and talk about smoking law?”

You might get some interaction while they are still standing up but your goal is to get them sitting down, as body language of the participants is all important to other potential participants.

Give them a big round of applause

Use positive peer pressure to encourage a reluctant person to sit down. If there is any doubt, the expectant applause of other participants will usually work.

Ask three times

Have you noticed that people will politely decline something they want to do but are feeling shy until you ask three times? So ask once. Carry on the conversation a while. Ask the question in a different way if they are still hanging around. Rinse and repeat.

Don’t get too desperate

If you are not successful in getting a potential participant to sit down/interact, carry on the conversation for a while before trying again. If other people see the rejection, they are much more likely to follow suit.

Can’t hear the hecklers ’til they sit down

As noted earlier, body language is important. If people heckle from the sidelines – that’s great. At first, it injects energy into the debate. If it goes on for too long, it can become a distracting dialogue between host and heckler. Engage at first, then pretend you can’t hear them until they sit down.

Cultivate conflict

Do this in a fun way, eg.: ‘I bet people around the table have views other people don’t agree with’. Sometimes people that don’t know each other will keep to subjects they think everyone agrees with. Give them permission to bring up their ‘controversial’ views. If you can help them feel that Talkaoke is a safe place to do that, you’ll be amazed at the energy that it can release. But be ready to hear things you might disagree with too!

Get personal to make it more interesting. Get general to make it less offensive

Sometimes people react to Talkaoke by speaking in generalisations, or trying to speak ‘factually’, rather than from their own perspective. You can break this down by sharing a personal story or opinion of your own. It’s not the host’s job to give their own personal opinion, except at the start when they want to warm things up, but it can be a good tactic for personalising the chat.

People are more likely to react to other people’s stories if they’re told in the first person. Encourage people to talk about their own experience BUT generalise potentially difficult questions aimed inappropriately across the table at an individual. If the person wants to answer them they will, but you must give them the means of escape.

Encourage the quieter people

Believe it or not, some people are a little nervous or shy to talk. It is important not to intimidate these people, but if they have sat down at the table, that’s a first step. Maybe ask them their name in a “round of names” Don’t pressure them at first. Let them get comfortable, but if they go an extended time (15-30 minutes) without talking, then it’s time to bring them in. You might go around the table asking each person a simple question they can easily answer. A recent one from last week was “what would you loot from a shop?” Or you could ask for a show of hands over a contentious topic and ask them why they raised/ didn’t raise their hand.

Quite often the quieter people have more considered things to say.

Ask a stupid question

Sometimes people speaking assume that everyone knows what they’re on about – especially in contexts with groups of shared expertise or interest. This can exclude people from the table, so someone needs to ask the stupid questions. As the host – that’s one of your jobs. Funny acronyms? Ask what they mean. Long complicated words? Ask what they mean. Sometimes, people are interesting but just hard to understand. Take a leaf out of newscaster Amy Goodman’s book – whenever she thinks a guest isn’t being clear about something, she just asks ‘what do you mean?’ politely but repeatedly, until they explain it clearly. It’s a good question!

If you’re having fun then you’re probably doing the right thing

If you're having fun you're probably doing it right

Opening of the democracy doorbell

Yesterday was just another day at the People Speak. I was asked to make a short speech for the opening of a doorbell at the V2 electronic arts centre in Rotterdam. The reason was that the doorbell had been commissioned as the result of our unique game show decision making format,  “Who Wants to Be…?” which was put on by The People Speak. Somehow, the participants decided to spend their collected money on a doorbell, after rejecting other great ideas such as a brewery for kids, a guerilla nut tree campaign, or an artists’ bootcamp for politicians.

In a great example of how democracy works, two ideas; a commemorative plaque and an artists’ doorbell were merged to produce the plaque commemorating the doorbell.

Zapraszamy do udziału w warsztatach prowadzonych przez grupę The People Speak w Galerii Awangarda we Wrocławiu.

Jeśli jesteś zainteresowana/y metodami prowadzenia dyskusji, chcesz dowiedzieć się jak poprowadzić talk show lub po prostu przyłączyć się do rozmowy wyslij maila do asia@thepeoplespeak.org.uk lub zadzwoń tel. +48 71 790 25 89

Bezpłatne warsztaty Talkaoke

Data: 1, 2, 4 i 5 Maja 2012

Czas: 14.30 – 18.00 (16.00-16.30 przerwa)

Miejsce: BWA Wroclaw, Galeria Awangarda ul. Wita Stwosza 32, 50-149 Wrocław

Warsztaty prowadzone w języku angielskim. 

Osoby które wezmą udział w warsztatch będą miały możliwość poprowadzenia samodzielnej dyskusji przy okrągłym stole w Galerii Awangarda pomiędzy 7 Maja a 17 czerwca

Warsztaty są częścią projektu OUT OF STH vol.3  Les Fleurs du Mal – New Art from London
 / Kwiaty zła – nowa sztuka z Londynu. 
wystawa zbiorowa
, galeria Awangarda, BWA Wrocław
 30.04 – 13.06.2012

WIECEJ O TALKAOKE

Stół Talkaoke oraz metodologia Talkaoke zostały zaprojektowane, by służyć jako zabawny i spontaniczny think thank, podczas którego ludzie mogą swobodnie wymieniać się doświadczeniami i dyskutować. Okragły kształt stołu umożliwia wszystkim uczestnikom równoprawny udział w dyskusji. Jest to idealny format do zaangażowania ludzi w interaktywną, prowadzoną przez nich samych dyskusję oraz do generawania nowych idei.

Pozwolenie przypadkowo zebranym wokół stołu osobom, by sami zdecydowali o tym, co jest dla nich ważne czyni całe przedsięwzięcie niezwykle spontanicznym, otwartym i pouczającym.

Wyposażony w mikrofon moderator, który siedzi w środku stołu na obrotowym krześle, ułatwia, ale nie kontroluje rozmowy. Pomaga stworzyć przestrzen, w której uczestnicy czują sie komfortowo i wystarczająco pewnie, by przyłączyć sie do dyskusji. 

Click to Enlarge

Robert R Smith explains the spectrum of life from extreme play to extreme rules.

The event came to a climax with a powerful presentation by Deborah Frances White. Her message was that if you are having fun then you are being productive. Play enhances work. Through her stand up expertise, she had the audience energised. The message is that in order to be more productive, one must play more. I was inspired. The next day, back at work at the People Speak, I had a great time, having a laugh with my colleagues, and generally messing around. But I didn’t get much done. I am still catching up with the backlog.

Let’s get things straight. Humour is essential in what we do at the People Speak, and play, and creativity. But so is writing emails, filling out forms, and updating websites. Being on the phone to the tax offfice, it’s hard to make it fun. I have tried my best, and if anyone has any suggestions please comment.

Just as in the previous Fo;rem, which dealt with the subject of time, but gave the speakers strict time limits, the space to play was limited in the event. It is limited in our lives in general, not because we are self-conscious, business minded adults, which was implied, but because we have other stuff we need to do. Any spare time and space we have, we use for fun, or spiritual awakening or creative practice. Right now I have got a whole bunch of emails to write. I would like to be able to play more and write the emails at the same time.

Thanks to The People Speak and all participants who were responsible for a remarkable democratic decision on December 1 last year, we will unveil a plaque celebrating democracy and commemorating Test_Lab: Who Wants to Be …? on the facade of V2_ at Friday, April 13, 16:30.

On December 1, 2011 the participants of the game show Who Wants To Be …?, organized by V2_ and The People Speak, decided to spent their collective money on a plaque bearing their names in memory of the evening and in celebration of democracy in general. They also voted for a proposal to solve the problem of V2_’s not very reliable doorbell. Roel and Micha, students of the Willem de Kooning Academy, who came up with the winning proposal, spend the recent months working closely with the best typographers and illustrators. 

The search for different materials and techniques led to a collaboration with the Rotterdam Snijlab. After three months, the plaque is ready! We will organize a small but festive unveiling ceremony on Friday, April 13th 2012 at 16:30. The ceremony will take place on the sidewalk in front of V2_. Have a drink with us this Friday, the door will be open. In case the doorbell in the future fails again you can now find the telephone number of V2_ at the bottom of the new official plaque!

http://www.v2.nl/lab/blog/celebrating-democracy

Talkaoke is the latest craze to sweep the nation. A modern twist on Karaoke but without the singing, it’s gaining fame in the trendy areas of London and abroad.

It’s based on one simple rule which is that the participants or ‘Talkaokeyists’ make the agenda. Talkaoke is a modern form of open debate where practically no topic is off bounds. Participants debate whatevertakes their interest with people they know or have never met before. Things can get quite heated, especially when people disagree with each other but this just adds to the fun and appeal.

Talkaoke is all about drawing participants in and creating a platform where people feel inspired to talk about what’s important to them and then comment on what others have to say. Pauline Wu, a local student, says that “it’s like a night at the pub but without the beer and is a great way to make new friends. It’s also a great way for student sof English to practise their vocabulary”. Whereas, Philippe Gomez finds it addictive because “it’s the only place I know where I can really talk about important issues in a serious but enjoyable way”.

For an onlooker it could appear a little bizarre as the debaters sit around a large doughnut-shaped pink table nicknamed the “flying saucer of chat”. In the centre is the host who manages discussions. Thanks to his/her microphone, some large speakers and a video projector, the audience can watch and listen to the whole event. A recent upgrade has introduced a ‘heckle’ system where images are projected onto the screen which represent the exact words from the discussion.

Invented by a London art student called Mikey Weinkove in 1997, Talkaoke has been gaining followers in the UK and abroad ever since. Recent saucers have been spotted in the National Theatre and the London Science Museum and bookings have been made for Brazil, Italy and even Saudi Arabia.

Thanks to Sarah Morrison of the Independent on Sunday for writing a very nice news feature about Talkaoke.

Sunday, 26 February 2012

A Slice of Britain: It’s a simple formula – just 10 people round the ‘flying saucer of chat’, debating whatever issues they choose. And it is taking the world by storm.

photo by Justin Sutcliffe 

Pensioner Maureen Ukairo, 72, is finding it hard to hold her tongue. As she listens to a man almost 50 years her junior debate the ethics of atheism, she whispers: “Sometimes you haveto be very patient here.” A quick glimpse around the doughnut-shaped table she is sitting at tells you why. Ten expectant faces all look back, each bursting to speak up. The host,  swivelling in the middle, does his best to share the microphone around. Faces are projected on to a giant screen behind us and jazz plays smoothly in the background. This is the world of Talkaoke and these are the “talkaokeyists” – an eclectic group of men and women, who have come to a studio in east London to debate anything and everything with people they either know or have never met before. The pink-lit table with speakers and voice control fitted on the side might be more Nineties than Noughties, but the home-grown Kilroy-inspired “mobile talk show”, the baby of a London art student, is in global demand.

The number of Talkaoke events has more than doubled in the past year, while takings have gone up by 30 per cent. The “flying saucer of chat”, will be visiting half a dozen countries this year, including a trip to Brazil – at the request of a professional female footballer keen to debate gender equality in the sport – and an appearance at the Arab Thought Foundation in Lebanon. New projects are lined up in Italy, France, Denmark, Poland and Norway, with interest from the US, Ireland and Saudi Arabia.

Its founder, Mikey Weinkove, 37, who set up Talkaoke 15 years ago, is building 10 new tables – at £10,000 a pop – and training additional people in more languages, to ensure his new contracts can be met. “I think the increased interest is down to a user-led web culture throughout the world and a social shift we’re seeing – people want to participate more. This is almost live social media: it is about creating a space where no one person controls.” He adds that the main focus of Talkaoke has never changed. “It’s about engaging you, getting you interested and getting you talking about all sorts of ideas.” In the past year, Talkaoke has moved into major commercial locations, including the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and the Science Museum. It now includes a “heckle” system, where words and phrases from the conversation are typed live on to the screen behind the table and Google images are selected to visualise the discussion. It is a far cry from where it started: Weinkove and a table made out of two pieces of MDF board nailed together.

Founded on one rule – the participants set the agenda – the 30 or so people who fill this training session seem intent on lightening the tone. As people take turns to sit at the table, conversations flow from garden gnomes to bad Christmas gifts, to the Ten Commandments and then back to romance in the workplace. Saul Albert, a 24-year-old PhD student and Talkaoke volunteer, says most people are “aware that they’re performing”. Regulars mix with newcomers, while potential participants nervously approach the circle, designed to look like a campfire, aware that they are being filmed for an online archive. While posited as social media “in action”, the attraction for many lies in its presence in the offline world. Ross Pepper, 28, a part-time special needs tutor from Clapham, south London, attending for the first time, says it is “cathartic” to meet people and share views. “People don’t really live in communities any more. Here, you find people with similar beliefs; it’s a bit like going to church on a Sunday.”

The host, Steven Eastwood, a 41-year-old film-maker, says the gatherings are a “deliberate play on pop culture” designed to “make decisions more democratic”. He adds: “It can be hard to facilitate opinions; culturally, we struggle for a format to do that – we have Question Time with a panel of professionals, but here there is no hierarchy and people are on a level playing field.”

While Weinkove insists his idea is “simple”, Ukairo says it is “not like anything you could do in your living room”. Encountering the round-table talk four years ago when she attended a Southwark council meeting where a table was being used, she insists that its “uniqueness” comes not from the table, but the added extras – the trained host, the lights, the microphones, and the digital screen. Rarely missing a monthly session, she adds: “I’m hooked” and hurries back to the table.