Permission to Speak
Permission to Speak is a fun and fiery romp through how we talk and what our voice says about us with Samara Bay, speech coach to the stars and public speaking adviser back when there was a public to speak in. Each week she interviews people who specialize in how we use our voice and people in the public eye who are USING it—what it took to find their voice, when it still wavers, the crap comments they’ve gotten for being too loud or too soft or too millennial or too anything because PEOPLE HAVE OPINIONS, and how to give ourselves permission to speak like we belong in rooms of power just as we are. Let’s destabilize the patriarchy together! Let’s talk about deep AF societal dysfunction and how it plays out on our bodies and voices, but, like, have fun doing it! Hi. This is for you.
Episodes
Samara chats with the groundbreaking psychologist and author of the new book How You Say It: Why You Talk The Way You Do—and What It Says About You, about what Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s changing accent tells us about human nature, how Hugh Laurie betrayed us, and the accent YOU have. As Katherine says, the language you use and the sounds you make are “so critical to feelings of identity, when you speak, you let a little bit of yoursel...
Samara chats with the California congresswoman who resigned in November—about how to actually run for office, the politics of politics on Capitol Hill, and what it was like to weather a very public shaming—and how to write and deliver a speech in the midst of it. With lots of swearing and free-flowing rosé, this is a bit of a departure from the rest of Katie’s press tour for her new book, She Will Rise: Becoming a Warrior in the Ba...
Samara chats with the award-winning reporter and producer of Dolly Parton’s America about ALL the delicious behind-the-scenes on the hit pod series with Jad Abumrad, plus finding her own voice on the mic, the superpower of being okay with being hated, and how to land a kickass money ask.
Host: Samara Bay
Executive producers: Catherine Burt Cantin & Mark Cantin, Double Vision doublevisionprojects.com
Producers: Samara Bay, Sophie ...
Samara and her pod producer Cat take listener questions on everything from vocal fry’s benefits – yes, benefits – to what we do if we think we’re too nasal, what we do if we can’t breathe because of anxiety (WHY WOULD WE HAVE ANXIETY), and how to stop apologizing for taking up time and space.
Host: Samara Bay
Executive producers: Catherine Burt Cantin & Mark Cantin, Double Vision doublevisionprojects.com
Producers: Samara Bay,...
Samara and her pod producer Cat take listener questions and talk big ideas—about how to stop people pleasing in a pandemic, how tiny choices we’ve made throughout our lives got us the voices we have now, what’s up with trying to convince others that we have authority, and a whole lot of Samara’s own juicy backstory.
Host: Samara Bay
Executive producers: Catherine Burt Cantin & Mark Cantin, Double Vision doublevisionprojects.com
Pr...
Samara chats with the president of NARAL Pro Choice America about what public speaking and leadership even mean (hello, AOC), how to find hope in a dystopia, and what it is to know our history—her new book tells the story of the politicization of abortion, and how WE can change the narrative.
Host: Samara Bay
Executive producers: Catherine Burt Cantin & Mark Cantin, Double Vision doublevisionprojects.com
Producers: Samara Bay, So...
Samara chats with the writer, comedian, and actress known for “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” about how to play and trust our instincts like we did when we were kids, who the gatekeepers of funny are, and why ideas are like toilet paper.
Host: Samara Bay
Executive producers: Catherine Burt Cantin & Mark Cantin, Double Vision doublevisionprojects.com
Producers: Samara Bay, Sophie Lichterman and the...
Samara chats with the author of “Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language” about the subtle ways our speech differs from men’s, and why. This is a conversation about how we talk, how we get judged, how we judge others, and what needs to change (and doesn’t!) so we can show up in the world as ourselves.
Host: Samara Bay
Executive producers: Catherine Burt Cantin & Mark Cantin, Double Vision doublevisionpro...
For this first pod in a special Permission to Speak series on “non-standard” English (ie. how you probably speak... ehem), Samara chats with the linguist and scholar about African American English: why Black kids internalize shame about how they sound from an early age, what “standard English” even is and who the heck decided, and how all of our assumptions around speaking "correctly" play out on the grand scale (hiring practices, ...
Samara chats with the UK author, comedian, and pod icon who says “be your own version of what you think an adult should look like and sound like, and only you get to decide what that is.”
They talk the Buddhism of speaking in public, surprising lessons everyone can take from standup and improv, and tips for owning all the rooms, which, spoiler: is about the sizzle, not the composition of the sausage.
Follow Viv: @vivgroskop, vivgro...
Samara chats with one of the all-time greatest speechwriters (she wrote for Barack and then Michelle all eight years they were in the White House, and before that Hillary!) and gets loads of delicious tips on world-changing speechwriting and room-changing delivery: what it really means to show not tell, how to start and how to structure the damn thing, and Sarah’s best advice for sounding like a real person up there and not “disemb...
Samara chats with the internationally beloved cartoonist and The Simpsons artist about how to be creative when the world is a mess and we’re not in the mood to make things that are optimistic or silly or beautiful. They discuss where ideas come from, how to overcome a work culture that doesn’t take you seriously, the surprise impact Dungeons & Dragons had on her career, and how to become your own best cheerleader after a lifeti...
Samara gets real real with the National SEED Project trainer, who facilitates the types of difficult conversations many of us have been in since the Black Lives Matter protests erupted, if not before—with allies, with potential allies, with ourselves. For non-Black listeners, she offers advice on getting it wrong and doing it anyway, on the choice between shame and love, and on what to do when you don’t know what you don’t know (an...
Samara chats with the Tony Award-winning performer and TED talk star known for chameleoning into characters, about how each of us invents and reinvents our voice—to stand out, to fit in, to stay safe, to take risks. She shares the secret to public speaking, how to overcome perfectionism (which is “a form of self-abuse and abuse of the art”), and brings with her about a dozen extra pod guests to drop their own mind-blowing wisdom.
Ho...
Samara chats with the expert voice coach about how to find your real and true voice under the layers of socialization that’s gotten in its way, and what stress does to all of us... which includes, among other things, literally making it harder to speak. This is the episode about feeling our feelings and saying what we really want to say, especially during pandemic times.
Host: Samara Bay
Samara chats with the founder and CEO of The Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign about the power of wearing your values on a shirt, speaking up (and not) when you don’t know enough, why Shine Theory is the answer to everything, and how we can center our own stories and teach it to the next generation, like today.
Host: Samara Bay
Executive producers: Catherine Burt Cantin & Mark Cantin, Double Vision doublevisionprojects.com
Produce...
Samara chats with the acclaimed audiobook narrator about how to lift words from a page and turn them into something that feels alive, what sexy actually sounds like (she miiiight also narrate erotica under a pseudonym), some handy over-the-counter cure-alls when you wake up with a sore throat, and the holy grail: how to actually *like* the sound of your own voice.
Host: Samara Bay
Samara and her pod producer Cat take listener questions on: how to communicate through a mask, what to do about thinking you're too soft or too loud, how to have difficult conversations with sexist coworkers or pitch old guys who don’t take you seriously, and how to use your voice to get what you want… when you’re crafting the perfect opening line on a dating app.
Host: Samara Bay
Samara chats with the television and film director about what leadership on set looks and sounds like, how to use your voice to make decisions that will not please everyone, the secret to good pitching, and who Hollywood actually *is* these days.
****What’s going on with YOUR voice? Send Samara a question for our upcoming MAILBAG episode at PermissiontoSpeakPod.com or on Instagram @permissiontospeakpod****
Host: Samara Bay
Samara chats with the internationally renowned voice doc about how to speak in our natural pitch (and all the drama that comes with that), what vocal fry is really doing to us, and our biases against women’s voice--and what we can all do to listen with more generous ears.
****To send Samara a question for our upcoming ASK ME ANYTHING episode visit PermissiontoSpeakPod.com or drop a DM or voice message to @permissiontospeakpod on IG*...
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