About the Book:

HARD TO FIND BOOK and CD Bundle, only a very limited number of copies are still available.

The classic Edith Skinner method to speech for the stage! This bundled version contains the 75-minute audio CD and booklet that is a companion to the paperback Speak With Distinction.

Widely recognized as the most complete and rigorous text of its kind since it was first published in 1942, Speak With Distinction is an invaluable resource. It presents a comprehensive study of the sounds of Spoken English in their most important phonetic environments. This most recent revision also adds much material for comparisons of speech sounds; suggestions for accurate, efficient and conversational ways of combining the sounds into connected utterance; indications that foster a working knowledge of two dialects of speech (General American and what voice coach Edith Skinner called Good Speech for classic and elevated texts – an accent that is 'free from regional characteristics,' 'effortlessly articulated and easily understood in the last rows of the theater'); and beginning material to show application of the principles of Good Speech to well-written texts.

Revised with new material added by Timothy Monich and Lilene Mansell, some important additions to this edition of Speak With Distinction are the extensive Glossary and Index; abundant guides to pronunciations; new sections featuring such details as the complete "Ask-List" of words; a program for the elimination of glottal attacks of vowel and dipthong sounds; greatly expanded practice material of phrases and sentences; and an updated Chart showing several levels of phonetic transcription and spelling equivalents in current usage.

Speak With Distinction can be used in several ways: as a primary educational textbook for both the beginning and advanced actor; as a supplementary textbook for teachers and students who have their own methods and agenda for study; and as a reference book for teachers, speech coaches and directors.

What people say:

"Edith Skinner's book is the best book on speech I have ever encountered. It was my primer in school and is my reference book now. To the classical actor, or for that matter any actor who wishes to be understood, this method is a sure guide." — Kevin Kline

"Speak With Distinction is unquestionably the finest book of its kind, by the greatest speech teacher of our time." — Elizabeth Smith, Vocal Consultant

"Edith Skinner changed the sound of the American Theatre, and as a director of the classical repertory, I am deeply grateful to her." — Michael Kahn, Artistic Director, Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger

"The methods of Edith Skinner are among the most important elements in my continuing development as an actor. They were certainly instrumental in my winning the Academy Award." — F. Murray Abraham

"For anyone who believes that acting is the art of communication, this book is a must." — Perry Schneiderman, National Theatre School of Canada

"Speak With Distinction is the single most important work on the actor's craft of stage speech … an indispensable source book for all who aspire to act." — Earle R. Gister, Yale School of Drama

"An essential element of any curriculum for the training actor. The invaluable new edition will serve every actor to develop his or her instrument to its full potential." — William Hurt

"Speak With Distinction is the most comprehensive and accessible speech book available for teachers and students of speech." — Joan Washington, RSC, Royal Court and Royal National Theatre

About the Author:

Edith Skinner (1902-1981) was a Canadian elocutionist and the foremost teacher of Good Speech for the stage in North America. She was the go-to speech expert in Hollywood and has been credited with inventing the "Mid-Atlantic" accent popularized by such actors as Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. She was for many years a professor of drama at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, at the Juilliard School (where she was the first instructor recruited by John Houseman for the Drama Institute), and at the University of Wisconsin.