A table and a trained host on every street – blog by Imogen
Through Autumn we hosted hybrid Talkaoke Hosting session in collaboration with In Situ – our partners in Pendle. It was a brilliant opportunity for us to not only refine our teaching approach but also to reflect on our methodology – something we rarely have a chance to do. One of the participants and a new […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
The Aberfeldy Stories project 2025
This Spring and Summer we are shining a light on people’s stories in our Poplar neighbourhood and beyond, through workshops in creative writing, music making, podcasting, comedy, performance, radio and storytelling. Using our emergent approach, we are inviting you to co-design the programme with us. We want to know about your interests, skills you’d like […]
Climate Encounters at the Talkaoke Table with In Situ, Lancashire
We have written a blog for our long-term collaborators In Situ on climate change, inequality and climate emotions as part of Climate Lab Pendle. In our writing we explore factors that inform people’s views and feelings about the crisis, mis and dis-information, numbness, neutrality and understanding the barriers we encounter in climate engagement work. Read […]
Knowing AI, Knowing U and AIKONIC – Public Voices in AI
Was a project in collaboration with Manu Luksch & Mukul Patel (Ambient Information Systems) as part of the Public Voices in AI research program that ‘aims to ensure that public voices are front and centre in artificial intelligence research, development and policy’. We set out to understand and help articulate beliefs and concerns about AI […]
Artistic Residency with Bielefeld University – 2024
Between 22 and 25 August 2024, The People Speak team – Mikey, Margot and our multilingual host Timna – joined the University of Bielefeld, Germany as part of the public relations project Ö for the CRC1646 Linguistic Creativity in Communication. Over the next 4 years the CRC aims to investigate creativity of the German language. […]
