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

    We have in house audio and video equipment and expertise to produce podcasts and empower others to create their own. Speak to us about your idea and we can help you come up with the best format. We also deliver podcast making workshop, which cover: idea development, hosting and interviewing techniques, production including audio editing, […]

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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

    Our creative facilitation taster workshop aims to give participants the confidence and creative communication skills useful in any situation. A typical workshop runs for about 1.5 hrs but can be flexible. Quite often a taster workshop will be followed by a regular public Talkaoke session, where workshop participants will get a chance of putting their […]

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    Talkaoke visits Knowle West for Futures Festival!

    In August and September 2023, we have been collaborating with Knowle West Media Centre in Bristol. We explored Knowle West’s past, present and future as part of Future Festival. We celebrated with an exhibition of archival footage and local voices. Together, we honoured the rich history of Knowle West and shared our hopes for the years ahead.

    Read a fragment of the blog post by Knowle West Media Centre, which you can find it in its entirety on their wesbite.

    The day before Knowle West Fest 2023, The People Speak rocked up to Knowle West Media Centre in their van full of props to train up some Knowle West residents to be Talkaoke hosts. They ran two workshops to build confidence in talk show skills – one with young people and one with adults.

    As part of the workshop, everyone tried out a practice-run of Talkaoke. The topics were entirely chosen by the workshop participants, ranging from the housing crisis to ‘where in Knowle West would you hide from zombies?’ A few of the adults enjoyed it so much that they even chose to join the young people’s workshop in the afternoon. It was great to see people coming out of their shells and into the swivel chair, sparking lively conversations across multiple generations.

    Armed with their newfound skills and props, our new hosts could be found spinning in the middle of the Talkaoke table the next day at Knowle West Fest. Throughout the day, all sorts of topics were covered by the people of Knowle West – from the Levelling Up Fund to party busses to communication between generations.

    A few weeks later, The People Speak visited us again. This time, they were shown around Knowle West by Frank – an active member of the community and recently trained Talkaoke host. Frank showed them a few key parts of our area, from Broadwalk to Inns Court Gardens. Together, they gathered audio of nearby sounds and interviews with residents.

    This audio was combined with recordings of the previous Talkaokes at KWMC and Knowle West Fest then edited by sound artist Jo Elise. The final audio tells the story of various topics close to the hearts of local people:

    To share these stories, we hosted a ‘Back to the Future’ themed exhibition and listening party at Filwood Community Centre. The event explored our rich history, current reality, and hopes for the future. The audio played at various listening stations and people were invited to write down their responses. These responses included “bring back community spirit with shops” and “bring back ‘Queen of Knowle West’!”.

     

    Photo by The People Speak

    Photo by Ibi Feher

    End of life conversations with St Helena Hospice

    Between May and August 2023 we collaborated with St Helena Hospice in Colchester, Essex on a project that got people talking about one of the most difficult and sensitive subjects – end of life care. Turns out that many people found it easier to talk about the actual moment of death rather than preparation and planning for it.

    We spoke to communities reflecting the diversity of  Tendring and Colchester –  from Lion’s Walk shopping centre in Colchester, Dovecourt Firestation in Harwich, St James’ Church in Clacton to Sir Martin Frobisher’s Primary School in Jaywick and Rice and Spice Festival at First Site. Each conversation was visualised and you can see all of them on our Flickr page. Some of recurrent themes running through many conversations included concern about the NHS, generational divide and fear of losing connection with younger generation, local project that bring people together through gardening or charity work, end of life rituals in different cultures and pressures connected with fulfilling family’s expectations, children’s definition of a ghost and many more.

    St James Church, Clacton
    
    St Helena Hospice, Colchester
    
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    Europe – a new home for Talkaoke!

    We are delighted to announce our European partnership with ABBIT – Meeting Innovators based in Beerse, Belgium! This means that you can book our beautiful freshly designed Talkaoke pop up talk show table for your live event wherever you are in Europe. Whether you’re planning an opening party at a festival, networking session at your conference, a knowledge exchange or skill sharing event or something in between – we can help you make it creative, dynamic, interactive and engaging. Talkaoke is a format led by the participants and is all about listening, chatting and connecting. This is a great way of getting to know people and find out about latest ideas. The conversation can be funny, deep, surreal, topical or something in between.

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    We Make Podcasts

    Podcasts seem to be a very popular medium these days and quite rightly so! At The People Speak we always encourage people to use their voices to express their thoughts, listen and connect with others – even people outside of our typical social bubble. Besides, making your own podcast is a way of democratising the media and a more active way of participating and shaping the world around us. That was the reason behind starting Talkaoke in the first place. The voice in Mikey’s head said: “If you don’t like this talk show then make your own!” and that’s how it all started.


    If we had a penny for everytime someone said “have you thought about turning Talkaoke into a podcast?” we would quite confidently have a lifetime supply of falafel wraps. We just needed to make the first step and get Laura on the case. Talkaoke Shorts is an easily digestable audio slice of a longer conversation between participants of our regular live talkshow, and we have launched it this month! The first episode is a call back to the February Talkaoke at Tommy Flowers Community Pub where, for reasons only known to the universe, we we ended up talking about dreams. You can catch the first dreamy episode of Talkaoke Shorts podcast on our YouTube channel! Let us know what you think because, you know, we like to hear your thoughts.

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    Digital Apprentice for over 60s

    Digital Apprentice is a project by The People Speak that aims to empower older Tower Hamlets residents to overcome digital exclusion by cultivating their digital and creative skills, and helping them to develop and test ideas with a digital angle to life. By taking part in Digital Apprentice project you will:

    • Receive individual support with your digital needs: from using digital devices [laptop or a phone], using social media, staying connected with your family and friends, enjoying hobbies and interests, accessing programmes, opportunities and services in the area, help with online banking, GP services and everything in between;
    • Connect with other people across different ages through social gatherings such as Talkaoke pop-up talkshow and more;
    • Access free digital devices.

    We are part of the National Digital Inclusion Network, which is made up of thousands of grassroots organisations, all working to tackle digital and social exclusion by providing people with the skills and confidence they need to access digital technology.

    Who is the project for?

    Tower Hamlets residents aged 60 and over.

    How can I join?

    Please call Margot on 02070 3417 8586 or email us on info@thepeoplespeak.org.uk or pop into our studio at 27 Aberfeldy Street, London, E14 0NU. If you leave us a voicemail – we will call you back as soon as it’s possible.

    Access needs

    Please let us know if you have any access needs we should be aware of. If you are unable to get to our studio we are able to arrange for one of our team to see you at home.

    Digital Apprentice is supported by East End Community Foundation – Life Chances. Digital devices are provided by Good Things Foundation.