Speaking with Skill marks a fundamental change in the pedagogy of speech training for actors and speakers. The method employed in this book is already and increasingly being used by instructors on major actor training programs in the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and the UK.

Actors and other professional voice users need to speak clearly and expressively in order to communicate the ideas and emotions of their characters – and themselves. Whatever the native accent of the speaker, this easy communication to the listener must always happen in every moment, onstage, in film or on television; in real life too.

This book, an introduction to Knight-Thompson Speechwork, gives speakers the ownership of a vast variety of speech skills and the ability to explore unlimited varieties of speech actions – without imposing a single, unvarying pattern of "good speech". The skills gained through this book enable actors to find the unique way in which a dramatic character embodies the language of the play. They also help any speaker to communicate to a listener with total intelligibility without compromising the speaker's own accent; and to vary speech actions to meet different language needs.

Supporting audio provides 116 tracks illustrating the exercises described in the book.

"Knight’s clear writing and the accompanying audio files make for an engaging independent learning experience … I fully expect that Dudley Knight’s excellent new book will become the dominant text in the speech classes of American acting conservatories in the years to come. Though the book challenges conservative traditions in actor training, the skills readers/students acquire through its processes are invaluable and essential." - Voice and Speech Review