Jane Setter ‘Your Voice Speaks Volumes’

When:
December 6, 2019 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
2019-12-06T13:00:00+00:00
2019-12-06T14:00:00+00:00
Where:
Blackwell's Bookshop
Cost:
Free
Contact:
Blackwell's Bookshop
01865 333623
Blackwell’s is delighted to welcome Jane Setter, who will be discussing accents and her new book ‘Your Voice Speaks Volumes’.

About this Event

Join us for a fascinating lunch-time discussion with author Jane Setter, as we explore her new book ‘Your Voice Speaks Volumes: It’s Not What You Say but How You Say It’.

Why do we speak the way we do, and what do our voices tell others about us? What is the truth behind the myths that surround how we speak? Jane Setter explores these and other fascinating questions in this engaging introduction to the power and the science of the voice.

She will take us on a tour of the sounds in our language and how we produce them, as well as how and why those sounds vary in different varieties of English. The origins of our vast range of accents are explained, along with the prejudices associated with them: why do we feel such loyalty to our own accent, and what’s behind our attitudes to others? We learn that much of what we believe about how we speak may not be true: is it really the case, for instance, that only young people use ‘uptalk’, or that only women use vocal fry? Throughout the talk, Jane Setter draws on examples from the media and from her own professional and personal experience, from her work on the provenance of the terrorist ‘Jihadi John’ to why the Rolling Stones sounded American.

Jane Setter is Professor of Phonetics at the University of Reading and a National Teaching Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. Professor Setter is a regular commentator in the British media on issues relating to English pronunciation, speech features, and attitudes to accents and appeared as an expert on programmes such as The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Duck Quacks Don’t Echo.

This event is free to attend, please register your attendance in advance. Please note, this talk will be taking place in our Philosophy Department which is accessible via a small set of stairs. For all enquiries please email [email protected] or call our Customer Service Department on 01865 333623.